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/127124
Aprilia does handle well. "The fro nt end is rock solid," Stephens said. Lei sner had . h is April ia riding o n Dunlop .radials while Step hens kept the ori ginal Michelins . . Brauneck was h appy with the perform ance of his Yamaha. "It go t p r ogressivel y slower durin g th e week, bu t we took it apa rt and go t it perfect; 1 dropped five seconds this morning (T h urs day). It 's basicall y stock, but we matched a few ports . At th e end of yesterday 1 th ought it was a p iece of j u nk, but now mine is no slow er than Coe's Ro tax." Shobert was ge tting an ed uca tion on mak ing two-strokes work. " It went good.vhe said. " I don't know if I'm lacking hor sep ower or gearing, bu t we' ll find o u t an d change th e tran smi ssi on. I' m j u st learning about the thing. It 's it little hard going back a nd .forth to the Superbike, but today is okay because 1 ca n just th in k abou t th e 250." The fin al, however, was a di fferent story. With Sa tur day 's sche d u led running of th e 250cc Gra nd Prix class getti ng ra ined o ut, the race was moved to Sunday and Sho bert was forced to 'i urn p direct! y to the 250 after ridi ng 200 miles on the Su perbike. Du e to the new , tighter schedul e th e race was also shortened to 100 kilometers. 'When th e green flag waved to start th e IS-lap race, Carter jumped into th e lead heading into turn one. . Kocinski.imea nwhile, was mid-pack and crossed th e finish lin e in ninth pl ace after th e initial lap . O n e la p la ter , Kocinski was through a nd into th e lead , clo sely followed by Carter, Shob ert, Ballington, Oliver , Laycock, Coe, Stevens · and Peterson. Carter was staying with K ocinski as the p air pulled away from th e nine-rider duel for third. Kocinski .turned in a 2:01.6 on the fourth lap, but Carter stayed close. The man making the mov e was Coe, charg ing from sixth to join the now four-rider d uel 'for third. On the sixth lap , Coe used his horsepower advantage to charge into third p lace ahea d of Stevens, Sh obert and Ballingt on. Further back came Brauneck, O liver, Lay cock, Leisner, Peterso n an d a charging Moore. Kocin ski started to get clear from Carter o n laps six and seven , and held a 2.5-second ad vantage on lap eig h t. Carter closed ' it back up to 1.5seconds on lap nine, but laps 10 throu gh 13 saw Kocinski mas ter the traffi c more successfull y than the Brit, p ull ing clear to 5.7 secon ds o n lap 13. • Meanwhile, th e battle for thi rd was intensifyin g. Stevens a p peared to have the edge through th e infield, while Coe had th e adva ntage on the banking. Ballington and Sh ob ert were relying on experien ce, and were h anging tough. Moore was impressive in h is 250cc debut, getting past the m ore experien ced riders for a solid hold on . .s eventh p lace. O n the final go -around, Ballington led Shobert, Coe and Stevens onto th e banki ng from the infield portio n of the 3.56-mile course. Coe go t sideways in six , causing Stevens to back off and lose his drive. Coe, however, motored on, caugh t th e o ther two and drafted past Ballington a t the finish line for third place. It was the Cycle Magazine test rider 's finest racing mom ent. Moore, Peterso n, Bra uneck and Leisner ro unded o ut the top 10. " I had horsep ower an d was geared for the draft," Coe sai d. " I knew if I' played my cards right 1 could get th eir dr aft. You 've got to have a fast motorcycle, especia lly if you get out. ridden ." , " T he track was rea lly slic k, " England 's Alan Carter fin ished a respectable second on the Bob Pave-owned, John Lassak -tuned Yamaha. Thomas Stevens (231) leads Shobert. Ballington and Danny Coe; this order was reversed at the finish. Kocinski said. " It was super slick, that's why the lap tim es weren't as good. 1 don 't know if it was oil fro m th e Superbikes o r wha t, but 1 couldn 't believe how slick it was o ut there." Ball in gton was happy with fourth place. " T hat was good fun," he said . " I go t away and didn 't loo k back , corni ng out of th e .chicane. I th ou gh t 1 h ad third, but th en he got by me at th e line." Stevens, comp lete with tire marks on the right rear of hi s bike's sea t afte r a collision with a lapper, said, " I had to shut off so 1 didn 't hi t Dan ny and 1 couldn't catch back up ." . Greene fou ght fro m his 12th row . starting position to fin ish II tho " I had no one to dr aft, .but at leas t 1 fin ished. 1 o n ly had six laps of • practice in th e last four days." Results 250 GP: 1. Jo hn Kocinski (Yam); 2. A lan Cart er (Yam); 3. Dani el Cae (Rtx): 4. Kork Ballington (Han); 5. Bubba Shobert (Han); 6. Thomas Ste vens (Yam); 7. Richard Moo re (Yam); 8. Robert Peterson (Han); 9. Doug Braun eck (Yam); 10. Andy Leisner (Apr); 11. Don Greene (Yam); 12. Eddie laycOCk (EMe); 13 . Richard Olive r (Yam); 14. Gar ry Griff it h (Yam); 15. Stefa no Carac chi (Yam). r-