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Team Nordica Roberts' John Kocinski dominated the 250cc Grand Prix class at Sears Point. leading every lap of the f ina l. AMAjCastrol 25Occ' Grand Prix Series: Round 9 Kocinskj ·wins again in Sears Point 250 GP . By Paul Carruthers . Photos by Mike and Dennis Scully(Flyin' Past Photos and Carruthers SONOMA, CA, AU G. 30 Newly-crowned National Champion John Kocinski rode his Bud Aksland- tuned, Team Nordica Roberts 'Yamaha to his fifth win of the series during final round action at Se'a rs P oi n t Internationa l • Race~ay. . KOCInski led every la p of the 20-lap even t, leading home 8 T eam MacLean 's f our-tim e World Champio n Kork Ballin gton a nd Sears Point local Don Green e. Vance & Hines' Randy Renfro w finis hed fourth with J ames Step hens ro und in g o ut the top five. " Ever yth i n g was perfect ," Kocinski said of his wi n. " I couldn't ask for better. Bud (Aksla nd) did th e best job as usual. I trained hard for thi s race. I went home after Memphis - with people loo king down on me for finishing second th ere - a nd I wanted to win here. Kenny told me not to kill 'em here too bad. Those g uys better be ready n ext yea r , because I wi ll be. This number o ne pl a te will be li ke a target. " Kocinski , who wrapped u p the ch a m p i o n s h ip i n Me mph is o n Aug ust 9, fini shed the year with 159 points to Ballington 's 110. Greene held on to third with 102 and Ren frow finished fo urth with 91. Step hens managed to pass Calvin R ayborn III in the point sta ndings for fift h when Ra yborn cras hed in th e fina l. Kocinski 's winning started 'in the - hea.trace. T he Little: RO\k, Arkansas n a tive . who now resides In Mod esto , California, led th e openi ng five-lap heat flag-to-flag, Green e gave chase ' a nd held on to Kocinski for th e entire distance, bu t he cou ld n't make a pass. Kocinski' s teamm ate. R a yb orn fi n is he d third with R ich Oliver founh and Doug Brauneck fifth . Kocinski turned times in th e midto-high 1:47 ra nge and hi s heat race wou ld be th e quickest of the two, placing him on th e pole for the" fina l. The seco nd heat race was a Bal. ling ton/ Rerifrow ba tt le th at sa w Ren frow leading th e on ly lap th at coun ted - th e fin al one. Ball ington led in to turn one and held th e lead unti l th e fo u rt h la p ; R enfrow sq ueezed by the T eam MacLean pilot and won the race to th e flag. Third p lace went to Ball ington's team mate Alan Caner with Alan Ingl is putting his Ro ta x into fo urth . Stephens ro unded out the top five in the second; heat. T he fi nal started in the same ma n ner as the opening hea t race. Koci ns ki led Green e as th e two pulled clear from the 23-rider field. Ball ing ton was third, in what may be hi s final race in the U.S., ahead of Renfrow and Carter. Don Greene leads Kork Ballington in the 250cc GP class as they pursue Kocinski; Ballington ended up getting past Greene to finish second . The order stayed co nsistent with Kocinski breaking clear from Green e by the fifth lap and leading by 2.5 seconds. Ball ingto n, meanwhile, was on the move and gai ning on Green e, a nd Carte r led a charging Ra yborn and Renfrow. In glis was holding off Step hens and O liver. Ra yborn was on th e mo ve, passin g Carte r and beginning to ga in on Ballington until lap eigh t wh en th e Quail Valley, Ca lifornia, resident lost th e from end and cras hed in turn four. On lap 10, Ba llington moved pas t Green e a nd into second. Lap 12 saw Canadian din tra ck : ch a m pio n , Jo n Co rnwe ll cr a s h unhurt in turn two. Two la ps later, Carter crashed while chasing Ren frow. " I highsided ," Carter said. " H e (Renfrow) go t through the traffi c a nd I trie d to get by too , but I highsided." . Renfro w was hav ing his own problems as he later co mplained of ridi ng poorl y du e to his forearms . pumping up. " I rode awful today," he said. " I don 't kn ow wh y, bu t they kept pumping up and I just didn't have th e con tro l I usuall y do. " The Rayborn a nd Caner cra shes put Ste phens up into fifth wi th Oliver six th after disposing of Inglis. Kocinski went on to win by inore th an four seconds 'over Ballington, after slowing down in th e lat e stages of th e race. Ballington 's big scar e came on the 17th la p when he slid the H onda out of turn II , but he managed to save it. Garry Griffith , Andy Leisner a nd Brauneck rounded o u t the top 10 fini shers. • Results 250 GP: 1. John Koc in sk i (Yam); 2. Kork Ballington (Hon); 3. Don Greene (Hon); 4. Randy Renfrow (Hon); 5. Jam es St ephens (Yam ); 6. Richard Oliver (Hon); 7. Al an Inglis (Rot); 8. Garry Griff ith (Yam); 9. Andrew Leisner (Hon); 10. Doug Breun eek (Yam); 11. M ike Sullivan (Hon); 12. Joe Mon toya (Yam); 13. Way ne Mo ntoya (Yam); 14 . Doug Toland (W-R); 15 . Yoshi o Ishiy ama (Yam). ' AMA 250cc GRAND PRIX POINT STANDINGS; 1. John Kocin ski (159); 2. Kork Ballington (110); 3. Don Greene (10 2); 4. Randy Renfrow (9 1); 5. Jam es Stephens (73 ); 6. Calvin Rayborn III (72 ); 7. Richard Oliver ( 66~ 8. Alan Carter (56); 9. Doug Br~un_ (39); 10. Gar ry Griffith (37).