Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126985
had moved into second by lap two and Shobert took third from Hames on lap four. The race was red flagged at the midway point when Wood·Rotaxmounted Mark Corsetti went down in turn two. Rookie Corsetti, making his debut as an Expert, reportedly was pushed into the waJl by another rider. He was transported by ambulance to nearby Harbor General Hospital in Torra~ce with possibl~ back injuries, but.his mJurles weren t believed 10 be senous. Pearson led Chandler, Shobert, Hames, Harley-mounted .o~m How· ard of California and OhIO s Geo~ge Roeder III into turn one foll<;l~mg the single-row restarL POSitIOns changed little until lap seven, when Chandler saw his chances of another Ascot win, and any title hopes he might have had, fade. complet~ly away when a flat rear tue put him out of the heat race and out of the National. "The valve stem' pulled out of th~ rear tire three laps from the en~, Chandler said. "I noticed It c~mm~ out of turn four. I was hopmg It would hold up, but it just complelely went.". . H Pearson's Circle Bell/ShoeI/ ap Jones/SuperTrapp/Carlisle/HiPoint/ND Red Line/Kal-Gard/ Megacycle/RK/Works PerURiC?k Reed/Mikuni/K&N/Grand Pnx Plast.lDod~e Bros. Honda cros~ed the line 10 first place, while. Chandler's misfortune left Shobert in second. Roeder moved past Howard and Hames to claim the last transfer to the main even t. Rookie Villella led the veterans into turn one at the start of heat four, but was dropped to third corning <;lut of turn two by Harley-mounted Mike 'Garrison of California and More· head. Morehead passed Garrison on the back straight 10 takeover the lead, but the race was stopped mom~nts later when Ohio's Don Estep bailed off hard, into the waJl, going into tum three. ''I'm very suff," ~step said a!t~r the incident. "I got mto the turn,.It broke loose, my foot got caught 10 a hole, the bike did about four wobbles, then it pitched me. I Just couldn't hold it." GF Racing's Ronnie Jones, of Oklahoma led Garrison, Morehead and Maryl~d's "I'm going to ~ake no prisoners" Rodney FarriS mto turn one at the restart. Morehead passed both Jones and Garrison to take over the lead by the end of lap one. By the midway point, Jones was pressuring Morehead for the l~d, while Villella had bumped GarrIson arid Farris to fourth and fifth, respectively. By the seventh lal?' Morehead was powering away on hIS KKIF&S H·D/Laube's/Storz/j. W. Hunt/Dragoo Harley·Davidson, while Villella's Wood-Rotax single had bumped Jones' ':'-twin. l:Io~da to third, setting the fmal bmsh~ng order. Farris finished fourth, earmng a semi berth, while Garrison ~ad . been bumped to sixth by Aaron ~l. VilleJla's second place earned hun the distinction of being the first rookie to qualify for a Natio.nal main event in 1987 a feat whIch most likely will e~ him Rookie of the Year honors, even though he rode most of the year as a Junior. Semis Springsteen powered away w.ith the holeshot at the start of the fust 10-lap Expert semi, but Day held ~he lead at the end of lap one with Springsteen second and Eklund third. . The race was stopped on lap three when Mike lnderbitzin fell in turn two. He was not seriously injured. .. tl-4 V ..0 o ~ u o Carr scored his first National half mile win at Ascot. Day held onto the lead and puJled away to take the win followi~g the restart. Springsteen, settled mto a comfortable second and held on for the duration but Eklund lost the battle for trn;d to Iowa's Rich King when King passed him just after the restart and held off the Gardner Racing pilot - just barely - all the way to the checkered flag. . . The second semi was a dogfight between Garrison, Howard, Hames, Chad Felicio and Farris. Garrison grabbed the holeshot, leading .Howard, Hames, Felicio and Farns ~ut of the hole, but by the midway powt Farris had taken the lead for good and was setting the pace ~o~ Howard, Felicio and Hames. Fehoo eventually bumped I:I~w3!d to third, set. ting the final bmshing order. Last Chance Qualifier Only one rider would transfer from the LCQ to the National, and the crowd wanted that rider to be Springsteen they weren't disappointed. Hames nailed the holeshot, followed by Eklund, King, Howa~d and Springer, who began carvwg hiS way through traffic. .By. the fourth lap Springsteen was 10 ~Irst place and .by lap six he w,!s·puJlmg away. Spnnger easily won the LCQ, leavwg Hames, Eklund, Felicio and Howard to load up their trailers. Camel Challenge . Morehead was first off the line at the start of the five·lap Cal!lel Challenge sprint race, leadmg Parker, Carr, Shob~rt,.Chand.ler (who had a new tube 10 hiS rear ure) and l8-year-old Villella into turn one. Parker held the lead over Shobert, Morehead Carr and Chandler at the end of the first lap. Villella was running sixth, his single obvi~usl,y down on power against the nauon s top twins, and he was a bit reluctant to join the fray. " "Those guys are pretty fa~t, Villella said afterward. "I ""as Just trying to finish, watching those ~uys battle and I didn't want to get mto the m'iddle of all that." . . Carr, working with very httle nme, mounted a charge from four~ place, while Morehead was fadmg fast because of, "no brakes - the rear brake (lever) would go all the way to the ground." Carr was riding on Parker's rear fender by the end of lap two, and passed his teammate for the lead on the front straight at the end of lap three after setting up Parker commg out of turn four. Morehead followed in third Chandler was fourth and Shobert ~as running fifth. Morehead faded to fifth on lap Bryan Villella, riding in his first Ex~rt race, qual~ied fifth fastest and took second place in his heat to qualify for the National. four while Shobert got around Cha~dler to take over third. At the finish, the order read Carr, Parker, Shobert Morehead (who had repassed 'Chandler on the final lap), Chandler and Villella. "I've made more money from ChaJlenge races this ye~ than I did all of last year," Carr S31d. How did Carr go from fourth 10 first in a short, five-lap sprint? ','It wa just consistent riding," he saJd. "I put in five hard laps and ran down low on the race track and it worked g ood. " National Fifteen riders sat on the starting grid for the final, 20-lap Nati~mal haH mile of 1987. Row one was filled out by Boody, Parker, Morehead, Pearson Graham, and Poovey. Rookie Vill~lla found himself lined up on the inside of row two, next to Shobert, carr, Cornwell, Jo.nes and Roeder. Farris, Day and Spnngsteen filled 6Ut the back row. Pearson nailed the holeshot with Graham Poovey and Parker on his rear fender. Carr was running about fifth Shobert was sixth and Boody was~ff the line about eighth. By the end of the first lap, Carr had moved up to third place, and at the end of the second lap he led a tight, five·way battle for the lead that included Pearson, Graham, Parker and Shobert. Boody was running sixth and ~orehead was beginning to make hiS move from seventh. Carr simply took off and left the field for the next few laps. Graham watched from second and Parker watched from third as Carr powered away. Shobert held down fourth while Boody and Morehead rounded out the top six. Poovey was seventh and Pearson had faded to eighth. The six riders fighti~~ for .sec0!ld place jockeyed for posltlon connnuously, trading high lines for low lines and banging handle~ars as they exited turns two and four 10 a brutal display of aggressive ri~~g. On lap 10 Villella became a VICtIm of that aggression while exiting turn four. "I got a little close to somebody and my front end got pushed out," he said. Villella's crash brought out the red £lag. Carr picked up where he left off when the .race was restarted..He quickly power"ed away, leaVing Graham to hold off Parker, More· head, Boody, Shobert and ~O?vey, ~l of whom were within stnking distance of second place. Graham saw second disappear on lap 17 when first Parker then Boody powered by. Graham was dropped to fourth, ahead of Morehead, Shoben, Poovey and FarriS. Carr cruised to victory by a co.n· siderabLe margin on lap 20, while Boody manag~ to get 3!0.und Parker in the late gomg to brush second. Shoben settled for fourth, and t.!"te championship, behind Parker, whIle Morehead finished fifth. Graham, Poovey, Farris, Jones, and D.ay rounded out the top 10, whIle Roeder Pearson, Villella, Springsteen ;nd Cornwell filled out the final five. "When you're in the lead, ,~very little sound makes you wonder, said Carr after the race. "~ut there were~'t any noises. Mert (Lawwlll) really did a great job." . "I had my momentum up and Just about the time they stopped the race (on lap 10) I was coming up," ~aid Boody. "There was somethmg wrong with tbe clutch, warped plates, and I couldn't get off the start. When I finally got by Parker on the last lap, Chris was too far ahead. I figured second was the best I could do. . tl b' "You would.get ahead a Itt e It and someone would get a good drive and stuff you," said Boody. "It was an awesome race." . Moorehead said he went for a Wild ride at one point during the National. "In the main event I hit the wall out of turn two and Bubba ran up my leg," Morehead said. "I wa in a tank slapper all the way do the back straight. The only way I could get out of it was to let go of the hars. Those guys got away from me, and then I caught them! The motorcycle ran good all day. I just flat got beat." "Everything happened on the last lap" said Parker. "Bubba passed two guys and I got passt;