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/127119
00 00 O"l ....... Mervyn Anstie 14M) and Jacky Vimond were the top European contenders in the series. Here they battle in the second 500cc Pro moto. Pro Circuit's Mitch Payton bet Goat Breker that he couldn't take the 500cc title. Breker won the t itle and Payton lost his hair. Lech ien cruised to the ' win and t itle in the 250cc Pro class. Mike Kiedrowski flew to the overall victory with wins in both 125cc Pro motos and wrapped up the class championship. 16 In th e overall seri es standings Lechien was o n top, 43 points ahead of Smith. Jeff Ward ended up third despite his absence at th e final round, and Sommo beat Jeff Lei sk, also abse nt from this round, for fourth. " I was just out there doing my own thing," Lechien said. "I got caugh t in some lapped riders and fell back a little bit. I saw a couple guys com ing up and wicked it up a littl e bit more and tha t was about it. " Mike Larson headed the pa ck at the start of the first 500cc Pro moto with Wa tts, Englishman Mervyn Ansti e a nd Breker close beh in d . Wa tts too k th e lead on the first lap and Breker passed Anstie. Larson stayed right with Wat ts while Breker wat ched from a co up le of seconds back, but th ey all left Anstie alo ne in fou rth. Vimo nd had wo rked into fifth by lap two a nd was on the move. On lap five Larson took the leadfrom Watts, whi le back in fourth An stie ca m e u n de r a ttack from Vim ond. At the half wa y mark Larson had opened up a lit tle room on Wat ts, wh o was being hounded by Breker. Vimo nd had won th e Euro war and p ut some distance o n Ans tie. For the remainder of the race the top three remai ned close; the distance between each rider flu ctuated as th ey wove through traffic. At the finis h Larson pr evail ed for a close win over Watts. Breker was a few bike len gth s back in th ird a nd Vim ond held fou rt h ahead of Anstie. Watts, who moved to within one poi nt of Breker for the titl e, said " I feel l ik e the p ressu re' s o n h i m (Breker) and not me. I felt comfortable; I gu ess he was wor king a littl e harder th an I. " " I didn 't ride too well, and the bike was n 't wor king real good," sa id Breker. " I had to settle for third because I didn't want to crash or do something foolish. H e (Watts) just rod e better th an I did." Watts grabbed th e holeshot a t th e start of mo to two with Breker right beh ind him and th e race for the class cham p io ns h ip was o n. " U n fort unately it didn 't last lon g, since Wat ts crashed near th e end of th e first lap a nd dropped to the back of th e pack. " I just hit some bumps, go t sideways a nd fell ," Wat ts sai d after the race. T ha t put Breker in the lead with Larson, Cra ig Davis, Antsie a nd Mike McLain following. La rson stayed right on Breker, whi le Anstie moved into th ird. On lap three Watts crashed aga in while movin g throu gh the pa ck. Vimo nd got off to a poor start, but he was flying th rough th e field and had moved up to fou rt h by m id-moto. H e then quickl y closed in on Ans tie and the two battled for a cou p le of laps before Vimo nd took th ird for good. By th is tim e Breker had moved away from Larson a n d spo tted Payton at trac kside, wh o was surro unded by a large group of peo p le anticipati ng th e head shavi ng . With each pass Breker reached up and ru bbed th e top of hi s helm et as he cru ised to the win, reminding Payton of wha t was in store. Payton just lau gh ed and was overhea rd saying, " We need a wimp-out clause." Larson fin ished second to take the . overa ll victory . Vim ond was a di stant th ird to lock up third overa ll. T he races were sto p pe d wh en Breker parked his bik e and returned from the pits with th e shear s and celebra ted his class cha m pionship by sha ving his sponso r's head. Wat ts held onto second in the standings, well ahea d of Kell y And ris. Larson finished the series in fourth, two poi nts ahead of Anstie, " I felt bad for Wat ts," Breker said. " He rode a good .series and I have a lo t of respect for him. I' ve been under th e pressure of havin g to win (for a titl e) before, so I think I had so me experience o n him. I'd like to th ank my sponsors Pro Circuit! Mitch Payton, my mechanic Steve Wiseman, and Bones, the suspension guy at P ro Circuit; he's th e best. They reall y helped me ou t to win th e series." . At th e start of th e first l25cc Pro rnot o Stacey Cook jammed into th e lead foll owed by Larry Ward , Kiedrow ski , Steve Lamson and Healey. By lap two "bo th Ward and Kiedrowski di spl aced Cook , and a lap later Kiedrowski passed Ward for the lead . H ealey had moved up into third, and a sho rt time lat er took second as Ward fell back into a battle for th ird with Pa ul Winn an d Vohland. H eal ey kep t Kiedrow ski in sigh t for the firs t half of the moto and actually began to move in , bu t the n he began losin g ground. Winn had wo n th e war for thi rd and was o n th e move as he slowly gai ned ground on Heal ey. Kiedrowski kept pulling a way to t he finis h, a nd Winn could n' t quite catch Heal ey befor e the race ended. Voh land battled hi s way to a fourth- pl ace finish ahead o f Sm ith, who passed Ward on th e fin al lap for fifth. Kiedrowski grabbed th e holeshot at the start of mo to two with Lowell T ho mso n a n d Vohland right "behind. The three sta yed close for a co u p le o f lap s a n d left Darrel Martens , Eric Hi lton and Healey to battle for fourth. On th e fourth lap Kiedrowski was beginning to pull away and Vohland took second from T ho mson. Heal ey asserted himself in fourth as h e broke a way fr om Martens, Hilton and Ward . Up to th e halfway point Thom son stayed with Vohland, but th en Vohland began to pull away. Mike Young was chargi ng and pr essuring Ward, th en