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/127125
... :x: ~ u > CD ~ o :x: Q. Steve Oster (6 0 ) chases Bryan Birkestol in the 125cc Pro class at Albany. Oster got by and took the overall w in and Birkestol scored second overall, 36 Faria's machine worked well in event IOand he captured his first win of the meeting while Oxley became the bridesmaid for the third consecutive round. The third round ended with another commanding performance by Ermolenko. He easily won over Sisemore and Pfetzing. Schwartz ended up being bitten for the second consecutive time when Pfetzing out gunned him in event 13. Schwartz had the situation well in hand but he bobbled as he neared the end of the first circuit and Pfetzing took full advantage. Schwartz quickly gathered it in before anyone else got by but he couldn't get back at Pfetzing. Lucero stayed in the main-event picture by posting a three point effort over Ferrell in event 14. Errnolenko gave the fans a big thri ll in his fourth ride in race 15. Ermolenko got a poor start a nd found himself stuck behind McConnell and Collins. He sp lit them as they came off tum two and took over the lead . T he fa n s roared their approval of the move an d Ermolenko roared away to another win. Faria was next up and he kept the fans roaring as he jumped int o the lead over Gary Hicks in event 16. He rode a spectacular wide line and . victory was his for the taking but then the infamous Faria luck reared its ugly head. His bike misfired as he came off the final bend. By the time it came back to life, Hicks had blown by for the win. On paper, event 17 should have been a war but it didn't tum out that way. Faria, Schwartz and Ermolenko were joined by Billy Hamill. Schwartz rocketed off the line while Hamill beat Faria and Ermolenko into the first bend. Faria got past Hamill on the back chute and pulled up to Schwartz. With his bike running well this time, Faria looked outside at the end of the opener but Schwartz shut the door. Schwartz carried his lead all the way to the checkered with Faria second and Ermolenko a distant third. That win by Schwartz turned out to be very important , It meant that even if he finished one position beh ind Ermolenko in the main, he would still be the overall series champion. All H icks had to do to make the main was wi n heat 18. He couldn't do it. The win went to Pfetzin g with Hicks second. T hey had 10 points each and had to sit and wait for event 20 to see if they would be part of a runoff for the last spot. The final heat pulled onto the track. It matched Sisemore with Christian, Oxley and Lucero. A win by Lucero planted him directly into the main. Second spot would tie him with Pfetzing and H icks and if.Ox ley won he would also be in the massive tie for the final main event starting spot. . Oxley gated from the pole and took Lucero wide. Christian tried to take advantage of that situation but couldn't get by before they separated Oxley, who had not taken a win in the series up to that point, finally got the job down when he had to. Tied with IO points and facing the runoff were Hicks, Oxley, Pfetzing and Lucero. Hicks became the lucky man ' to draw the pole with Lucero, Pfetzing and Oxley ranging from positions two through four. Referee Irwin Moon tripped the gate and Hicks jammed his Weslake into the lead just ahead of Lucero and Oxley. Pfetzing had bike problems and broke before he turned for the first bend. Hicks had the lead and was carefully g uarding the pole forcing Lucero to take the high road and the 1985 California State Champion turned in a crowd-thrilling four laps. Lucero went deeper into the cushion every lap and threw giant dirt roostertails off his rear tire. He was all over Hicks but the youngster fai led to wilt. The fans urged Lucero on but he ran out of time. Hicks earned the ticket io the main while Lucero earned the admiration or the crowd for the most exciting ride or the night. Schwartz drew the pole for the main and was the first to react to the gate but Ermolenko narrowly guided the Pick Your Part/PCL! Shoei/Kal-Gard Weslake into the lead in the first turn. Ermolenko moved to a one-bike length advantage as they came off two on the first lap. Faria, trying to head into the British League with a win, checked the outside but Schwartz fought him off and maintained the second place standing. If Faria had gotten by and Ermolenko stayed in front, Errnolen ko and Schwartz would' have to runoff for the overall title. There was a reaso n for Schwartz' determined effort. Schwartz' ba ttl e with Faria let Ermolenko length en it out and he won by three lengths. Schwartz took seco nd. Ermolenko had won the battle but Schwartz took the war and he was very happy when he talked o r his title after the end of the four lapper. . " I won the series. That is what I was aiming for," he said. "My pit crew and I, it ge ts us going and we " can't wait for opening night on April I." Just a few feet away, Ermolenko was accepting the congra tulations Irom well wishers. "We worked hard tuning engines for tonight and they seemed to work, " he said. "We are just going to put those in the corner now and wait for the National Championships. The track was well conditioned, the weather was perfect and the crowd was boosting me." When asked what happened in the ride when he finished third, the number three in the world reponded, "As soon as' the gate went up, I got stuck just a bit and I got filled in because the track had a 101 of dirt on it. It literally stopped me." Results Results ' Cl ::i 3. Mon ty Harris. MA IN: 1. Sam Ermolenko; 2. Bobby Schwanz; 3. M ike Faria; 4. Gary Hicks. SERIES 0 / A: 1. Bobby Schwa rtz (35): 2. Sam Ermolenk o (34 ); 3. Mike Faria (32 ~ 4. (TIE) Rob Pfett ing/Stever Lucero (2 1). Steffy, Oster ' storm Albany SX By Clay Light ALBANY, OR, MAR. 6 Washington speedsters Scott Steffy and Steve Oster controlled the tempo in the Professional classes today during Motocross Northwestsanctioned supercross at Albany Speedway. Steffy aced both 250cc P ro contests; Oster did likewise. to win the 125cc Pro shootout. Oster's wins weren't easy, however. Fellow Washingtonian Bryan . Birkestol, 'o n a Honda, challenged Kawasaki-mounted Os ter's every move. Oster and Birkestol fought for the lead in the first moto while a battle waged behind the duo between Dana Anderson and Scott Grimm. ' Oster prevailed in the first contest, despite incredibly muddy conditions, with Birkestol taking second over Anderson. Mo to two saw Birkesto l push his Honda into the lead. Conditions in mo to two were m um better. T he sun made an appearance, drying out the course to near perfection. Birkestol . ini tially enjoyed a six-second lead over Oster, but by the fifth lap Oster had moved to within a wheel of Birkestol. Oster made his move late in the rnoto and went on to a narrow victory, good for a I-I overall win. Birkestol (2-2) and Grimm (4;3) followed. Steffy, who rode impressively during 250cc qualifying at the Seattle's round of the AMA/Coors Supercross Series , rode in a similar fashion today en rou te to a I-I demolition of the 250cc P ro class. The first moto had Yamahamounted Steffy, ' Grimm and Kell y Butler launching into the top three positions. Steffy had early pressure from an impressive Gnmm, but Grimm couldn't hold Steffy's pace and faded, allowing Steffy to take an easy moto win. . Steffy again blurred to the head of the pack in moto two. Bu tler held down second while Grimm commanded the number three spot. Butler ' drop ped back, allowing Grimm to settle into the number two spot. Grimm rode another superb race, bu t once again, Steffy prevailed at the finish . Steffy carded I- I wins and was the only rider in attendance to clear the sets or triple jumps coming into the home stretch . Grimm logged consistent 2-2 finishes; Bu tler netted third overall (33). Yamaha-mounted J eff Daily and Brett DeVries waged brutal ba ttl es in bo th 125cc I ntermediate motos. Daily suffered from his usual poor starts, but overcame huge deficits and nip ped runner-up DeVries in both contests for a I-I overall win. Lance Rudge posted a first mo to third and finished fourth in rnoto two behind Daily, DeVries and Monty Spalding for a 3-4 third overall. The day's largest class was the 32rider, 125cc Junior event, which offered the best racing action or the day, next to the Pros. Washington's Jon Kuebler and Oregon 's Dan Kinion, both aboard Hondas, split moto wins in the class with Kinion coming out on top of moto two, but got around Chad Berry and Donovan Hertwig late in the moto to take second and second overall. H en wig (4 -3), Berry (3-4) and Suzukimounted Rian Gant (7-6) filled the top five overall. BO BEG: 1. Russell Postma; 2. John Rushing; BOJ R: 1. Trayi,. Berry (Yem); 2. Zach Rund (Kaw ); 3. Anthony Renfro. 125 J R: 1. Dan Kin ion (Hon); 2. Jon Kuebler (Han); 3. Donovan Henwig. 125 INT: 1. Jeff Daily (Yam); 2. Brett DeVries; 3. Lance Rudge. 125 PRO: 1. Steve Oster (Kaw); 2. Bryan Birkestol (Hon); 3. Scott Grimm . 250 PRO: 1. Scott Steffy (Yam): 2. Scott Grimm; 3. Kelly Butler (Yam). Nolin nails Lost Coyote HS win . By Bob Bell PLAST ER CITY, CA, MAR. 6 Honda 250-mounted Ro b Nolin wheeled across the finish to take the overall victory at the AMA Distri ct 38 Tankslappers Lost .Coyote Hare Scrambles. "The course was great, but I sucked lots of dust the first two laps. O ne time around wo uld have been enough on this course," said Nolin. The Tankslappers Motorcycle Club set up a very rough and tight 25-mile course which had many riders using first gear more than they had in years. A good start was critical as the twisty canyons allowed for little passing in the four-lap race. .As the banner dropped Joey Lane jumped his 250cc Honda into the early lead but was quickly swallowed up by Open ri ders Todd Cary and Bru ce Lerud. T om Moen was close beh ind, pushing La ne to fou rt h a t the end of the bomb ru n. Nolin had gotten a mediocre start but was now breathing down Lane's neck. As the pack spread OUI Steve Walker began to make his move . He . came from a poor start, lunged past several riders and started a fierce battle with Nolin. " I got a rive-kick start. Whe n I caught Rob, I just followed him, figuring he was going fast enough," Walker said. . This duo was definitely flying as they moved in on Moen and Lane, then Walker went down. This left Nolin alone in his quest for the front position. On the second lap Cary maintained the lead wi th Lerud 15seconds behind. No lin was now up to third and only rive seconds behind Lerud. Lane was another 40 seconds back as the lead foursome pulled away from the rest of the field, It became obvious at this point that Nolin was going to be the man to beat. H e was attacking the course much harder than the riders around him. Lerud beca me h is next victim just before the end of lap two. T hen Cary p ulled into his pit for repairs, leavi ng No lin dust free. Lane contin ued to ride hard as he too pushed past Cary and Lerud to take second. The only thing left for No lin now as to j ust make it to the finis h. La ne could only hope for a mistake at this point to have any chance. What most