Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

( A dvntiMm r n t ) Dym ond and 10 seconds behind Ward. The three riders wh o Ward clearly had in mind were Bayle, J ohn Van den Berk and Rob H err ing. H erring had caused the first ma jo r sensatio n wh en he bea t Ward in th e semis on . da y o ne , and bo th of th e o ther speeds ters ens ured th a t th e U.S. cham pi on had no easy ride to seco nd. v.in den Berk was the next sen sation . When Aus tra lia n rider from Ameri ca Je ff Leisk was lead in g the main on day one bobbled in the wh o o p s a n d sl ig h tl y h a mpered J ohnson, the Dutchman pounced, and for ni ne of the 25-lap main, none o f the U.S. stars could pass him. Ward was the first rider to sli p by Van den Berk, Bu t Ward even tually los t control in a whoop sectio n , letting J ohnson get ah ead and into .a com ma nding lead. Van den Berk , feeling th e effects of the trip from Japan after the T ok yo Supercross mo re than th e Americans, fell soo n after dropping down to third. Van den Berk wound up fin ishing six th behind Leisk. Behind Johnson a nd Ward finished Lechien and Dymond. On the second night, Van den Berk led from the start but fell o n th e th ird lap to an in side charge by Ward in the sandpi t turn . Van den Berk th en crashed again just after losing second place to J ohnson, who had been Involv ed for half th e race in a hectic tussle for third wi th Lechi en , Leisk , Dymond and H erring. At on e point or another, all riders excep t Dymond led the race. Ward mai nt ained h is slight advantage over J ohnso'n to take the win. By th e third n ight, most riders were getti ng tired and a co up le of the midfield Euro pea ns ha d already departed for th e long trip to Bol ogna, Italy, for the Masters of Mo tocross, but Bayle saved th e eveni ng. Bayle to tall y demoral ized Van den Berk and Lech ien in h is heat , bu t the Dutchman crashed heavil y, injuring his righ t wrist. H e was put into th e sem is as p romo tor s choice, a backdoo r m ethod beco m i ng incr ea singl y mor e co m m o n in Europe of en su ring that th e spectators get to see the stars in th e final, even if they hit problem s. It was a facesaver for Lechien on da y o ne after he crash ed ou t of both simis and the Last Chance Qualifier. In the sem i, Lech ien and Bayle again clashed in th e hi ghspot of th e event. John son a n d Ward led Lechien and Bayle battled for third. Lechien accepted from the outset that Bayle was faster, but put up a superbly professional show to block every move by the Frenchman, until he fin ally' succu mbed at two-thirds distance. Bayle even hauled in J ohnson after that, and the battle had been so exci ting that hardly a soul in th e stadium had noticed that it had becom e a ba ttle for second aft er Ward had fallen. T he final ~as led fro m start to finish by J ohnson wi th Ward running second. Bayle was too far back to mount a challenge aft er battling through to third. Aggressive riding by Leisk to pass Va n den Berk and Lechi en earn ed him third overall. Dym ond's chances having gone with a first lap cras h in th e wh oops, wh ich eliminated both himself and Davey Strijbos. • Results OVERALL: 1. Rick Johnson (Hon); 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 3. Jeff Laisk (Hon); 4. Ron Lech ien (Kawl; 5. Jean-Michel Bayle (Hon); 6. John Van den Berk (Yam); 7. M icky Dymond (Hon); B. Ricky Ryan (Honl; . 9. Dave Strijbos (Cagl; 10. Rob Herring (Yaml. WEDNESDAY: 1. Johnson; 2. Ward; 3. Lachien ; 4. Dymond ; 5. Leisk; 6. Van den Berk; 7. Pekka Vehkonen (Cag); B. Jo Marrens (Kaw); 9. Bayle; 10. Slrijbos. THURDAY: 1. Ward ; 2. Johnson; 3. Dymond ; 4. Bayle; 5. Leisk; 6. Van den Berk; 7. Lachien ; B. Slrijbos; 9. Ryan; 10. Herring. FRIDAY: 1. Johnson; 2. Ward ; 3. Bayle; 4. Leisk; 5. Lachien; 6. Vahkonen; 7. Van den Berk; B. Ryan; 9. Harring; 10 . Padro Tragler (Hon). SAN DIEGO STADIUM FEB. 20 IS THE ONLY AMA SANCTI~NED ~~# IN SO. CA "We're going to make it the ·best ever, guaranteed," Mike Goodwin This Is hard to believe. But the sad truth is that there are NO 1988 ANAHEIM or LA COLISEUM AMA sanctioned SUPERCROSS races. These facilities have not awarded dates to the AMA sarictioned races that have set attendance records since 1972. Only Supercross , Inc. operated by Mike Goodwin has the right via written legal contract to produce AMA Supercross in these stadiums. AMA has stated in writing that they absolutely will NOT issue an AMA sanction for Anaheim to anyone other than Mike Goodwin. Both build ings may try other events produced by another company. Supercross, Inc. hopes that after this 1988 experiment, that Anaheim and LA will return to their PROVEN WINNER - AMA SUPERCROSS featuring all the factory stars and produced by Mike Goodwin. You may have joked about past ads saying "the last or only race." That was because often times we prevailed in getting "just one more" year like Riverside Raceway has done for several years. Don 't laugh this time. Believe it. San Diego Coors Beer Supercross, Saturday, February 20, 1988 is the ONLY SO. CALIFORNIA AMA SUPERCROSS in 1988. You'll see great racing with factory teams and the Superstar Riders like Honda's Rick Johnson, Kawasaki's Jeff Ward ('87 Series Champ) , Yamaha's Broc Glover and Team Suzuki. It will be 100 hot shoes on 125 and 250 rockets challenging a track full of awesome obstacles. You'll probably hear the riders gr iping about the track being too tough. But, at least YOU won 't be complaining about a smooth car track that gets doctored up with a few small jumps and called a Supercross even through there are NO Superstars . Not one of the Factory Motocross Teams has raced a Mickey Thompson stadium race for 1'h years! The Las Vegas Thompson race had only 14 motocross riders and none were in the top 10. . Other events may imitate our advertising and even call their race Supercross. But no one else has the Factory Teams, AMA Sanction ing, and super tough track obstacles. In the end it is up to you , the ticket buyer, to decide. Do you want to pay up to $18 to see the Factory Teams, nationally ranked top riders, techn ically tough tracks and competition in the historical AMA series... or do you want to pay $21 at Anaheim to see national rider #711 win from a field of 20 or less riders? (Jeff Ward is #1 and #711 is that many riders less talented!) . Show your support for Real AMA Supercross where it counts - Feb. 20th at San Diego Stadium. A San Diego sell-out crowd will show the other stadium's they made a big mistake. San Diego Amateur Day - Sun. Feb. 21 - Call CRC (805) 272-8889 SEE THE .FACTORY RIDERS AT THE SEASON OPENER Atlanta Stadium January 30th Coors Supercross Tickets $15 discounted to $12via mail. $3 service charge per order. 'Mail to P.O. Box 4527, Laguna Beach, CA 92652 AMA S A N C TI O NE D eoou t SXI ......ucN . ~~~~~~~~~ " . ~, i' . ~DUN"LO:P i N Annual Warehouse Clearance i Road Race Rain Tires I 1·5% -- 40% I I I~DUNLO.P I i .l~~~"%w.:~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ . Off Sale Items Slicks & Call (619) 7~5-2939 ~ Sale ~nds Februa-.':y 15

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