Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

r- OO 0') . ....... This rock knocked several 125cc contenders out of the first moto. Willie Surratt clinched the 250cc class title with 8 -7 finishes. .on him. Larson moved by ' Ortner while Ward moved up into fifth after a slow start. At the beginning of lap four Frank suddenly slowed then came to a stop with a seized motor. Watts inherited first and had a few bike lengths on Somma. Ward was . on the gas trying to catch up to Larson, but at the end of the lap did a head plant going into a corner. ftLs Watts pulled away Larson moved in on Somma and tried to make a pass on the seventh lap. The two riders entered the uphill U-turn side by side and Larson held it on longer on the outside, slamming the outside berm. Somma drifted outside as they exited the corner and they collided with Larson going down. Larson didn't lose much time getting underway again, but Somma was gone with second. The top three spread out to the finish with Watts collecting the win over Somma and Larson. Fourth was yet to be decided as Staten was being challenged by O 'Donnell. O'Donnell tried to get by in the last turn but couldn't get the drive to the finish. The overall order read Watts, Somma , Larson, Sta ten and O'Don nell. . "Frank was going super fast," sai d Wa tts afterwards, " but his bike blew up which was lucky for me . I ha ted to' see it because he was riding so good. I wasn't goi ng to take a ny chances and just h ung in there." Bria n P ryor blasted into the lead at the start of the first 250cc P ro mota followed by Nelson, Vince Warren and Brooks. Brooks quickly passed Warren and by lap two had taken the lead from Pryor. Warren fell back and Kiedrowski moved into fourth ahead of Frank, Davis and Michael Craig. Kiedrowski was on the move a nd was into second by lap four, . while Frank moved up a position also. At mid moto the order was Broo ks, Kiedrowski, P ryor, Frank, Nelson and Davis. Kiedrowski spent the second half of the race trying to catch Brooks and moved to within a few bike lengths as they headed into the last lap. Frank had gone into third on the sixth lap but was way behind the leaders. Brooks had several lapped riders to contend with on the final circuit but he was able to cut his way through them while Kiedrowski go t stuck and never . got close at the fini sh. Frank was alone in third, well ahead of Pr yor, Davis and Kalas . Frank jammed into the lead at the start of mow two ahead of Brooks, Surratt, . Kiedrowski , Dean Matson and Kal os. Brooks took th e lead o n the first lap, a nd by th e beginning of lap three Kiedrowski was up to second a nd close to th e lead er. Kal os moved up to third j ust a head of Frank, while Surratt dropped back to seventh in one lap. Kiedrowski pass ed Brooks at the beginning of lap five and q uickly put : some distance on hi m . A lap la ter Frank worked arou nd Kalas and the order was set. At the end of the mo ta Frank closed in o n Brooks bu t couldn' t get by and took th ird. Jeff Stanton gave Kalo s a race for fourth but Kalas held his ground. Kiedrowski was the overall winner with his 2-1 score, Brooks was second with a 1-2 and Frank's pair of threesgave him third overall. Kalas was fourth and Davis finished fifth overall. As the 125cc Pro class left the line for the first moto Matson led Jimmy Gaddis, Jeff Stanford and Manneh. Gaddis grabbed the lead at the top of the big uphill but at the bottom of the following downhill Manneh took over the point position. Kyle Lewis was on the gas and moved into fourth on the first lap then went into second on lap two. For the nexttwo laps Lewis put the pressure on Manneh and the two riders pulled away from Matson. Craig was ru n ning fourth a head of Pa ul Winn, Chris Young, -Kied ro w ski , and Gaddis . Lewis took the lead at the beginning of lap four only to be repassed by Manneh moments later. Lewis charged back though arid got Manne h on the down hill and - the two stayed very close throughout thelap, O n the next lap the two were still fighting for the lead, th en on lap six Manneh emerged wi th a huge lead and Lewis was nowhere in sight. Winn had moved into second with Matson on his tail, At this point a rock emerged in a deeply rutted corner and several riders gathered at one spot and beca m e spectators. Craig was knocked out of the race along with Kiedrowski and Davis , who had been running a conservative sixth to protect his point lead and save himself for the 250cc race. "I wanted to play it sa fe, there was no need to push it," Davis said. " I have to try hard in the 250cc class. " O n the eighth lap the rock claimed Manne h's chain, but he was able to get going just behind Winn. Matson, who had gone down in the first 250cc race and gashed his arm then went to th e hospital and had it sti tched up, began to slow down and allowed both Young and Gaddis by. Winn pulled away to the win as Manneh limped in stuck in second gear. Young ca me up on Manneh a t th e very end but Manneh held him off to tak e second. Gaddis was fourth and Matson fifth . Davis rod e in 18th aft er sitting ou t severa l laps a nd wrapped up th e 125cc titl e. " I came around th e corner and the Bader Manneh won the 125cc Pro class and moved into second in the final standings with a 2-1 performance. Paul Winn was second overall. Ty Davis only had to finish the first 125cc moto to secure the t itle; he almost didn't when a rock derailed his chain and broke the cases . chain derailed a nd broke the case," sai d Davis. " I tried to put it back on but I sawall the oil coming out so I deci ded to push it out. of the way and saw everyone else there." Winn grabbed the holesh ot a t the start of the second moto followed by Lewis, Manneh, and A.]. Whi ting. Lewis took the lead on the downhill, and Manneh moved to second a short time later. Whiting passed Winn on lap two and near the end of the lap Winn went down and dropped several positions. Manneh stayed close to Lewis and took the lead on . the fourth lap. Lewis hung onto Manneh for a lap , then Manneh began to pull away. Back in third - Whiting came under pressure from Craig, while Kiedrowski held fifth over Gaddis. Manneh extended his lead over the ' second half of the race , while Craig searched for a way to get past Whiting. At the finis h Manneh cruised to the win well ahead of Lewis . Whiting had gained som e ground on Craig heading into the last lap, but by the last turn Craig had closed th e gap. Whiting went to the in side a nd tried to block Craig's lin e, but Craig shot to th e o utside a nd go t a good dr ive to th e fin ish lin e and passed Whiting in the ai r for third. Manneh took the overall win, an d Winn's 1-7 was good for second. You ng was third with a 310 score. " I knew there were several guys in the first race that popped chains, so the last couple of laps I didn't go in one rut and just started to cruise just to ge t the win," said Manneh. Antunez easily won the first 80cc Expert mota, but the second moto was a different story. Butch Smith kept Antunez at bay until the final lap when Antunez got by to take the win a nd sweep the series. Joel Albrecht and Dustin Evans battled over third with Albrecht taking the position at the end. In the first Vet Pro moto Staten led from start to finish. In moto two he started near the back of the pack, but steadily worked his way through the field and took the lead from Phil Douglas on the last lap. • Results 80 EX: 1. Buddy A ntunez (Suz); 2. Butch Smith (Suz); 3. Joel Alb recht (Kaw); 4 . Dana Wiggins ~ (Suz); 5. Dustin Evans (!Caw). 125 PRO: 1. Bader Manneh (Kaw); 2. Paul Winn (Suz); 3. Chris Young (Yam); 4. J immy Gaddis (Suz); 5 . Dean Matson (Han I. 250 PRO: 1. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw); 2. Larry Brooks (Han); 3. Billy Frank (Yam); 4. Shaun Kates (Yam); 5, Ty Davis (Han). 500 PRO: 1. Tommy Wans (Kaw); 2. Ray Somm a (Han); 3. M ike Lar son (!Caw) 4. Rex Staten (Yam); ; 5. Doug O'Donnell (Han). . VET PRO: 1. Rex Staten (Yam); 2. Ross Maeda (Suz); 3. Mark Brooks (Han); 4. Val Tami en i (Han); 5. Al an Olson (Yam). 9

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