Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

H~lIand's John Van den Berk (2) was suffering i from the flu and could not finish the second mota. He's still second in points. Suzuki's Erik Kehoe claimed his first GP win of his career after claiming 2-1 scores at the Steele City 125cc USGP . World Championship 1.25cc MX Series: Round 1.1. Kehoe rules 'at Steele City USGP By Davey Coombs Photos by Tom Mueller PIlTSBURGH, PA, AUG . 16 Team Suzuki's Erik Kehoe scored the first Grand Prix win of his career with a 2-1 tally in Steele City. Kehoe overcame a first moto, first lap crash that left him barely inside the top 20 to ta ke the runner-u p spot beh ind defending U.S. . I Ch . 12.5cc N ationa ampron MIcky Dymond, then staged a 10 second hea t runaway to nail -down the victory. Behind the winner came Dymond, wh o cou ld only muster a second moto seventh after a cou ple of m ishaps, a n d reigning l 25cc World Ch ampion Davey Strijbos, fro m th e Netherlands. Rounding out the top five overall were two young America n u pstarts, Ohio privateer H onda rider Fr ed Andrew s a n d Suzuki's Ronnie Tich en or. T he Cagiva-mounted Strij bos is in serious jeopard y of losin g hi s champ ions hi p to rival countryman J ohn Van den Berk with just one ro und of the 12 race G P series left althoug h in Pittsburgh Str ijbos picked up severa l valuable points o n the fluridden ed co ntender. The eyes of Europe have bee n o n these two young Dutchmen th roughou t the season, as they have turned the l2 5cc . titl e chase into th eir own priva te war. T hey fo ught in Holland, argued in No rt hern Ireland, and have cras hed to th e gro und together in a heap on more than one occasio n on th eir way to the titl e. The America n rou nd was no excep tion, th ough this bout was cut short by Va n den Ber k's illness. The nearly 10,000 fans on hand at Steel City. Racew~y fo! the first 1?5cc Grand Pn x held m this country smce 1981 were trea ted to a claSSIC usagainst-the m matchup that featured th e best fro m both si des of th e Atlantic. J oi ning the Dutch leaders in America were series co nte nders from 10 different countries, incl udi n g Ita ly, C zech o slo vak ia , a n d J a pan , wh ile American Na tional stars such as Keh oe, Dymond, Eddie Warre n, Rick y Ryan, a nd a host of o thers carried th e flag for the host country. Two prominent U.S. stars, T eam Suzuki's George H olla nd and Kawasaki fac to ry superstar Ron L echi en , were a lso o n ha n d to compe te in the race. H olla nd too k sick after Saturda y's prac tice and scra tched from the event so as not to jeo pardize his ru nner- u p ra nking in the l2 5cc Na tio na ls. Lech ieri's absence was not qui te as simp le. The one-time U.S. champ did no t a ttend Sa tu rday 's organized pra ctice sessio n , and whe n he arrived at th e facil it y for the Sunday session he was to ld by AMA officials th at he wou ld not be allowed to compe te. T he ruling Federa tion of Intern a tional Motorcycling (FIM) states in its code that all riders must be present for Sa turday' s train in g sessio ns, a nd when Lechien fai led to provide a reaso nabl e excu se for hi s ab sen ce, th e . AMA rul ed th at he be deleted fro m the entry. Protest followed appeal, but th e efforts of Kawasaki, on behalf of Lechien, and the promoters, on behalf of the spec ta tors, could not sway the FIM jury, who had already upheld the AMA decision and would not reopen th e matter for discussion. Lechien left the facility an hour before th e first moto. In Sunday's timed training sessions to determine starting positions, Strijbos stopped th e watches at 3:31.82 for the day 's fastest lap on th e long and rolling Pennsylvania circui t, with GP ra cing's new est star, Fr enchman Jean-Mich el Bayl e, second fastest with a half second deficit. Dymond was set to go to the gate third, with Kehoe and Suzuki stablemate Donny Schmit rounding out the top five. America n ex- pa tri o t Bobby Moore, th e one-time king of th e SoCaI minicycle circuit and presen tly the o nly Yank going full-time on the l25 cc world circuit, q ua lified six th fastest at 3:34.68. Moore has struggled o n the Europea n circu it this seaso n w ith asso rted injuries and mechanica l woes, though in recen t ro unds he has begun to find hi s speed. Moore stood eig h th on th e points table com ing int o hi s home cou nt ry's GP, and hoped to show old U.S. rivals a thing or two abo u t world cu p racing. " It wo uld be grea t to wi n here," said th e Mugen-Honda ri der. " I've spe nd the last two years over th ere (Euro pe), and so metimes it seems like all th e fans here in the States have forgotten about me. If I can just mak e a good sho win g here, it would make my whol e season worthwhile." Moore's cha nces at Steel Cit y were indeed real , as th e long stra igh t stretches and hill sections su ited his u ltra-tri ck works Mu gen Honda quite well , though he wa s forced to lea ve half of th e m otorcycle in Euro pe. T he extremely high cost of shi ppi ng machines to and from th e States meant th a t severa l of the visi ting foreigners had to try a nd loca te rides here in Ameri ca. Three local motorcycle dealers, H onda! Kaw asak i of Irwin, Gibsonia Cycle, a n d H onda House, ca me to the rescue for more than a few Eu ropeans, and their help in finding bikes, tra ns porta tio n, and practi ce facil it ies meant a great deal to th e GP reg ulars. . Wh en th e riders left the paddock fo r the first moto s ta rti ~ gate te m pera tu res m ea sured a p p ro xima tely 95°, and many of th e riders and team managers feared th e recent month-long drought would cause dust problems. But whe n privateer, holeshot artist Toni Carson blew into the lead in turn one, conditions were optimum . The Yamahamounted Van den Berk sat in second, with Keho e, Moore, Dymond, and Strijbos hanging close in no particul ar order. First lap mishaps would eventually place Honda-mounted La rry Brooks, Yamaha Support rider Todd DeHoop, Schmit, and Italian Cagiva pilot Massimo Contini at the . back of the pack, though Kehoe 's back section fall was the most notable of all. The Suzuki pilot was thought by most observers to be the fastest rider on the track, and his slip came as a surprise. " I was in third behind Carson and one of th e Europeans (Van den Berk), a nd both went into th e sweeping off- . camber too slow," said Kehoe later. " I moved to the inside and dove under, and just out of the corner I caught some grass and my front wh eel washed. " Kehoe picked himself up a nd reen tered th e top race in 20th. Up front, local hero Carson was making th e most of his early lead, denying the pressing Van den Berk and Moore in every corne r. It was not until th e third lap th a t Carson co nceded hi s lead to Van den Berk in a slow sweeper; and soon ' Moore was by as well. At that point the front five freight train read Van den Berk , Carson, Strijbos, and the Hondamounted Bayle, who so mehow got by Dymond. Kawasaki 's Eddie Warren was' also running near the front, but exiting a long rolling corn er he caugh t a hay bale and sent his ride end over end. On the very next lap it was Bayle's turn to find the ground. Coming up th e hill tow ard a steep six-whoop stretch, Bayle's Honda broke loose a nd spit the Frenchman off in a highsider. He was slow to get up, and hi s moto was for the most part over. Dymond also got off on the lap, dropping hi s bike just after the grandstand tabl etop, but he was back on track quickly. The lead erboard had GP regulars Van den Berk, Moore, and Strjjbos occu pyi ng the top three sl?o ts '!it this p'omt, and a lap later It was Strijbos in the number two spo t. Moore lost third to th e recovered Dymond shor tly th ereafte r. With th e fans cheeri ng him on, Dymond began to pick up the pace and press th e leading Euros. Everyone around the course seemed pleasantly surpris ed to see how fast the Europeans really. wer e early in th e race, but for th e fans it was time for a Yank to take over. Dymond took an inside line against Strijb os

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