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/127129
the two clipped in the whoops with both riders going down. Sommo was there and was sudden ly in second again, but he was about five seconds behind the leader. Ped erson maintained that advantage to the finish and Somrno claimed the last transfer spot just ahead of a charging Kurt McMillen. McMillen charged into the lead of the La st Chance Qualifier with Jeff . Hicks, Allan Dyck and Stanton in pursuit of th e o nly transfer pos ition. McMillen quickly pulled out a sm all lead, while Stanton spent th e first three laps working to second. Once th ere he co u ld n 't put a dent in McMillen 's lead and event ua lly fell back later in th e race. Hicks pi cked up the ch ase, and although h e charged closer near the en d h e couldn't com e close and McMillen got the only ride in th e main. At th e start of the 20-lap main, Dubach finally shook th e bad lu ck that has pl agued him at the start of several mains and came up with th e holehot and led Ward , Tichenor, Kehoe, Johnson, Matiasevich and Lech ien to the second turn. Ward grabbed first exiting the hairpin on the hill, while Johnson moved by Kehoe with Lechien right in hi s tracks. On lap two J ohn so n passed Ti ch enor for third th en . spent another lap looking for a way pa st Dubach . When he found it Ward had already built' a four-second lead. Lech ien had been followin g Johnson 's lines and also passed Dubach on the third lap, while Kehoe put th e move to Tichenor for fifth. With a clea r track a head of him Johnson began cha rging a fter Ward and was noti ceabl y faster on some parts of the course. But Ward only gave up a second th en settled into a pa ce th at kept Johnson just over three seconds behind. Lech ien stayed close to Johnson and th ey pulled aw ay from Dubach, who had Kehoe and Tichenor close behind. Over th e next few lap s Johnson co uld onl y gain 10ths of a second per lap and Lechien began to lose ground. At th e halfway point Ward began lapping riders and Johnson was able to gain a full second in one lap a nd move within s tr i k in g di stance. Lechi en was now a distant third while Kehoe had finally found a way by Dubach. Tichenor was sixth ahead of Matiasevich, Glover, Manley'and Holland, who rounded o u t the top 10. A lap la ter Johnson had eli minated Ward 's advantage and was sticking a wh eel al ongside Ward. At the beginning of lap 13 J ohnson charged in side of Ward on th e front straig ht to tak e th e lead. Further'back Tichenor came up on Dubach to start a ba ttle that would last for th e rest of the race. It didn 't tak e long for J oh nson to put a couple of seconds on Ward, and th e margin grew even faster when Ward nearly slid out in a tight turn. But that margin was quickly erased wh en Johnson crashed upon landing from a double jump. Ward sq u ir ted by and into a small lead while Johnson recovered not far behind. Johnson tried to charge back and less than a lap later he bri efly dropped his Honda again, this tim e in a tight turn. Lechien was wa y backby now and . Keh oe had a sm a ll cus h io n on Dubach, who continued to hold Tiche nor at bay. With only a few laps remain ing Ward held a coup le of seconds over Johnson , but as they thread ed through lappers Johnson quickly moved in. On lap 18 Johnson made his move over the triples and Ward fought back in th e following wh oop (Contin ued to page 2/ ) cAgOj0l1l011 211lBhphmBfJ ephBfJBI1t: 28th RUNNING SANCTIONED SATURDAY APRIL 23 8 pm. .RICKY GRAHAM DOUG CHANDLER STEVE EKLUND CHRIS CARR WITH AATVA FOUB WHEEL PRO Z;Oee PROGRAM ON THE TT COURSE . 80% PAYBACK GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS ' - ADULTS $12.00, CHILDREN (9 - 12) $6.00, 8 AND UNDER FREE J. C. AGAJANIAN'S TICKETS AVAILABLE AT TICKer~A4~Il=~ M AT MAY COMPANY MUSICPLUS , ANOSPORTMART. T1CKETMASTER CHARGE . (213) 480·3232 or (714) 740· 2000 18300 S• .VERMONT AVE.; GARDENA (213) 321- 5323 • (213) 515·5115 FREE V PARKING FOR STREET MOTORCYCLES I' SYNTHETIC WBRICANTS CASTOR WBRICANTS OCTANE BOOSTERS - NITRO ADDITIVES RACING GAS KURT HAll & THE HUMAN RACE TEAM OVER 50 HIGH PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FREE CATALOG 1flIIIZfi(j}&!J§fi)fltl)@@ 800-242-0489 Klotz Special formula Productl"lnc. Box 1134 Fort Wayne IN 46857 • (219) 749·0489 3. Research & DevelOpment Cen ter. lOng Beach. Courornlo 19