Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ty Davis (1 9 1 ) won his f irst 125cc supercross event whi le Jeff ' Matiasevich (201) took the 125cc Western Regional Championship. Lech ien took command of the seco nd sem i an d quickl y pulled aw ay from th e battle for second between H awthorne and Sommo. At the halfway point Lech ien was doing radical crossups for th e cro wd while Sommo force d his wa y to seco nd. A few laps la ter H aw th orne fought back, but Som mo was n' t to be left beh in d . As Lechien h ead ed for th e fin ish line for a n easy 'win , Som mo ju m ped to th e in side of H awthorne enterin g a tig ht· turn, clippin g him an d p uttin g bo th riders in th e d irt. T hey go t up together, with H awthorne sq uee zing Som ma o ut o f th e n ext tu rn . So m mo charged back a few tu rn s la ter an d ram med Ha wthorne fro m the . in sid e and hi ghsid ed, gi ving H awth orne the tra nsfe r p osition. Last Chance Qualifier Somma ca me back a nd led from start to finish in th e LCQ. Watts m oved by J oJo Keller early in th e ra ce, th en m oved in on the leader and passed whe n Somma go t ca ugh t in traff ic. Watts nearly cras hed in th e next section, gi vi n~ th e lea d back to Sommo. He ad ing into th e fin al lap Watts was close, but o ne of th e few ruts in th e track kn ocked h is bik e into ne u tra l an d let Som mo slip aw~y for th e win a nd a spot in th e mam. 250cc Main Ward co nti n ue d h is stri ng o f h olesho ts a t th e start o f th e m ain foll owed by Glover , Leisk, Johnson, Bowen a nd Holland. Gl over stayed 'righ t with Wa rd , J ohnson moved by Leisk o n lap two a nd Lechien was a t th e tail en d of a close battle between Bow en a n d Holland. Once by Leisk, J o h nson go t on th e gas and m oved in on G lover within two laps. Gl over he ld J ohnson a t ba y for a nothe r lap as Ward began to slip away. Further ba ck H olland go t around Bowen an d Lech ien was a lso by a short time la ter. Wh en Joh nso n fina lly fou nd a wa y by Gl over on la p five o f th e 20lap race, Ward was a lready severa l seco nds away. J ohnson ch arged and had cu t tha t margin by the h alfway po in t. After bei ng passed byjohn son , G lo ver bega n to fade as Leisk go t by and Lech ien, w ho had passed H oll an d , began to m ove in . J ust after th e halfway point Ward en tered a pack o f la p ped rider s, a llowing Jo hnson to mov e in on hi s rear fender. On lap 12 Lechien pass ed G lover bu t co u ldn ' t pu t a n y dista n ce on h im. J o h nson was sticki ng aw hee l under Ward a lap lat er , but Ward h eld him.off until th e 14th la p when J oh nson fin all y got by. " I didn ' t hit - th e stu tte r bu m ps quite righ t an d h e got a dri ve an d go t underneath m e," Ward sai d la ter. Ward sta yed close for th e nex t two laps, then d ropped so me tim e trying to set up J ohnson for a p ass. " I tri ed to stuff underneath him in th e firs t turn an d h e jumped th e foll owi n g double and I didn 't," sa id War d . Back in th ird L ei sk was a half-la p beh in d a nd had Lech ien closing in. G lover co n tin ued to fa ll o ff th e pace and soon had H oll and p ressurin g from behind. Ward closed in o n Joh nson's rear fend er w ith j u st o ver two la p s remai ni ng and set u p a battle to th e fin ish. Ward tailed J ohnson closely looking for a pl ace to pass, and on the last lap, in the fi nal co rner, tried to mak e h is m ove. Wa rd went inside o fJohnson a nd p ulled a lo ngside, but co u ldn ' t ge t th e dri ve exiting th e hard -packed , slick turn a nd ca me across th e fin ish line just behind J ohnson. Lechien h ad moved by Leisk for th ird o n la p 19 an d fin ished just in fron t of the H ond a p ilot, w h ile H olland go t Gl overlat e in th e race for fift h. Dubach was n ext across th e line in seventh , follo wed by Fisher, Stanton a nd O'Mara, who overca me a crash which sm ashed h is exha ust p ipe. .. "I th ink I had some better lin es," sai d J ohnson a fterwards. " When I ' finall y go t by I h ad to change my lin es to his (Wa rd 's), and "I wasn't rea ll y co m forta b le on th e in side. I wasn't accelera ting hard o u t of the turns an d h e staye d ri ght with m e. H e m ad e so me aggressive ch arges and rod e well." The win m oved J ohnson 12 points ahead of Ward wi th three ro u nds to go . " I feel blessed by do in g as well as I am. T h ings j ust don' t happ en this good for people," J ohnson said. " T h e last co uple o f la ps I tri ed every th ing b ut there wasn 't eno ug h traction to sq ueak up in th ere," Ward said. "Going into th e last corner I m essed up in the st u tter bumps. I was goin g to try a nd go u nd ern eath and bump him out of th e line, bu t he held h is groun d well. I'v e go t to win' the next two races. I ca n' t rely o n him having a bad race." George Holland (3 ) and Lechien battled during the main with Lechien getting by and eventually working up to third at the finish . "I'm pretty ha p py with m y rid e," sa id Lech ien . " I rode rea lly ha rd a n d ca ught up. It was rea lly 'excitin g I'm sti ll sha king right now! If I co u ld learn h ow to ge t a good sta rt I' d be a lo t bett er o ff." ''I' m glad that I stayed o n thi s ti me a nd go t some co n fide n ce back ," Leisk sa id. " I tried to ride sa fely, stay o n a nd get a good fini sh ." " Lappers were givi ng us a few problems a nd I got by G love r and a la pped rider at the same tim e," H oll and said. "I ro de good for the first few la ps, but once Rick got by me I started m akin g a lo t of m ista kes ," said Gl over. " At th e end I was in vol ved with some la p ped ride rs .. . and it j us t ha nded George a pl ace." 125cc Main Mich ael Craig led fell ow Califo rni an Ty Davis at the star t as Mati- . asev ich, yet ano ther Ca lifornia rider, charged u p to th ird a fter a terrib le sta rt and bein g slo wed wh ile ge tti ng arou nd a first-turn pi leup. Davi s quickl y took the lead from Cra ig , a nd as ' they head ed into lap two Ma tiasevich stu ffed u nde r Cra ig a nd . forced h im wide down the sta rt stra ig h t to tak e seco nd. Cr a ig tri ed to re talia te in the first turn ,.a nd as they flew o ver th e followi ng doub le the two ri ders coll ided and ended up in a h ea p o n the other side. " I went to th e o utsi de, he went in s id e a nd h e p it ch ed h is bike sidewa ys in the air a nd too k us both o ut," Matiasevich said. " It was a pretty st upid move on hi s part." That moved Washing ton 's Larry Ward to second a head of Rober t : Ha yes, Rick Simmett and Den n y Stephenson. Mari asevich go t u p near the back of the pack with a brok en cl u tch lever a nd Cr ai g retired. Davi s wa s ab le to pull ou t abou t five seco nds o n Ward whi le Hayes began dropping off th e pace a nd even tua lly fell wa y back. Indian a rid er LaRocco was o n the mov e a fter a poor start a nd ba ttl ed wit h both S te p he nso n a nd Sim mett before goi ng to third lat e in the race. Ward charged aft er Davis la te in the race a nd got to wi th in a co up le of seco nds o f hi m ;, bu t Dav is kept h is speed u p a n d took h is firs t Su percross win. Ward was seco nd, La Rocco a di stant third a n d Arizona 's Rob ert Na ug hton moved by Step he nson o n th e last lap to tak e fo urth, . Mati asevich 's l-tt h-p lace fi n is h gave h im th e Western Regi o n al Championshi p , while Pennsylvan ia 's Mich ael J ones' sixth kept h im in fro n t o f th e Eas tern Regi onal sta nd ings. " I feel great, I'm g lad I d id it," sai d D avis. " I was pacin g m yself, and wh en La rry sta rte d ca tchi ng me, and we were in la p ped ride rs, I sta rte d ge tti ng p rett y ten se. I had to keep remindin g m yself to relax , a nd I did." • Results 250 : 1. Rick J ohnson (Hon); 2 J eff Ward IKaw ); 3. Ron Lechien (Kaw); 4. Jeff Leisk (Hon); 5. George Holl and (Hon); 6. Broc Glover (Yam); 7. Doug Dubach (Yam); B. M ike Fishe r (Kaw );9.J eff St ant on (Yam); 10. J ohnny O'Ma ra (SUl ); 11. Lary Brooks (Kaw); 12 . Ronnie Tichenor (Suz); 13 . Dean Matson (SUl ); 14. Fred An dr ew s (SUl ); 15. J eff Hicks (Hon); 16. Erik Kehoe (SUl); 17. Brian Manl ey (SUl ); 18. Keith Bow en (Kaw); 19. Ray Somm o ISul ): 20 . Corey Cope (Kaw); 2 1. Denn is Hawth orne (Kaw ). 125: 1. TyDavis (SUl); 2. Larr y Ward (Yam); 3. M ike LaRocco (Yam); 4 . Robert Naughton (Cag); 5. Denny Stephenson {Kaw ); 6. M ichael Jones IYam); 7. Ji mmy Gaddis (SUl ); 8 . Rick Simm et IHon); 9. Todd DeHoop (SUl); 10. Mike Kiedr owski IKawl; 11. Jason Lansford (Kaw); 12 . Mark Crozier (Hon); 13. Roben Hayes ISul ); 14 . Jeff Mat iasevich {K aw]: 15. M ichael Kurze ia -- (S uz); 16 . Keit h Campbell (Yam); 17. M ichael Stahl man (Yam); 18 . Brian M cGary (Yam); 19 . Damon Minor (Han); 20 . Chris Young (Yam). POINT STANOINGS 250: 1. J ohn son (167); 2. Ward 1 1551; 3. Lechi en (140); 4. Glover (104 ); 5. Holland (101); 6. Kehoe (96); 7. Leisk (86); 8. Stanton 1 60); 9. (TIE) M icky Dymond/ O' Ma ra (54). 125 W ESTERN REGION FINAL STANOINGS: 1. Matiasevich (82); 2. Kiedrowsk i (75 ); 3. Ward (71 ); 4 . Davis (66); 5. M ichael Craig (51); 6. Young (411 ; 7. Gaddis (36 ); 8. Kerry M ulligan (33); 9. M ike Pascarella (29); 10. Sim met (28). 125 EA STERNREGION: 1. J ones (89); 2. DeHoop (84); 3. Hayes (67); 4. Coleman (63); 5. LaRocco 157); 6. Stephenson (50); 7. Naug hton (49); 8. Kenny Kizzar (39) ; 9 . Carl Vaillan court (37 ); 10 . Billy Wh it ley (34) . 11

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