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/127134
, Kawasaki's Tallon Voh land sailed to the victory in the Ultracross main event at the Rose Bowl. Jim Holley took the win in his heat race and finished second Vohland in the main. padding his already huge points lead. Jeff Mabery (5 4) held second t hroug h most of the ma in event, but a crash dropped hi m to fourth . just ahead of Tyson Vohland (4) . Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix Series: Round 5 Vohland wins Rose Bowl UItracross By Mike Larson Photos by Kinney Jones PASADENA. CA, MAY 7 _ Kawasaki T eam Green 's T allon Vohland claimed the victory in the VI tracross main event at the Mickey T hompson O ff-Road Ch am pions h ip Gran Prix at Pasaden a 's Rose Bowl. Vohland worked his way up from a mid-pack . k hid starting spot to ta e t e ea on lap three, where he stayed 22 to th e checkered flag : Series point leader Jim Holley padded his already substantial point lead by winning his heat race and bririg ing his Yama ha home in second in the main event. Holle y now leads the points chase by more than 200 poin ts, with a total of 334. Holley's nea rest ri val is Kawasaki 's Tommy Watts who has 123 points. A heavy rain shower just before th e start of the event left the track very muddy, but by th e time th e motorcycles took to the tra ck, th e truck, buggy and ATV classes had already dried out mo st of th e trac k. The rain d idn't dam pen the 41,138 spec ta tors' enth usia sm much, as th e motorcycle races got the loudest response from th e cro wd. ' . In the first heat ra ce Yamaha rider Phil Lawrence got th e jump on the rest of the 16-rider pack and led th e field around on lap one. Kawasaki 's Tyson Vohland wa s clo se behind Lawrence, followed by Holley, Paul Vlach and Gary DePillo. Holley started to make his move on la p two , as he stuffed his way past .Vohland to capture second, then set hi s sights on the lead er Lawren ce. Behind th e lead tri o, Kawasaki 's Mike Kiedrowski wa s c ha r g i ng towards th e front as he had mov ed by DePillo a nd Vlach to assu me the fourt h p lace spo t. On lap th ree, Yam ah a/O 'N eall Accura te Ra cing-sp onsored H oll ey saw the o pe n ing he was looking for a nd slipped past Law ren ce to take the lead. Vohland foll o wed H oll ey's lead a nd also passed Lawrence to grab second. Lawren ce held o n to th ird , with Kied row ski rig ht o n his rear fen der in fourth. From t ha t p oin t o n th in gs rem ained th e sa me, wi th H olley s tre tc h i ng o u t a s ma ll lead o n Voh land and Lawren ce taking third. Kiedro wski held fourth a t the .Ilag ahea d of Vlach a nd Watts. Suzuki Country Raci ng/FMF/Kal Gard/Malcolm Smith-backed Gordon Ward took th e early lead in th e seco nd heat race, with Kawasaki pilot Mik e Pascarella fo ll owing closely in second. T all on Vohland held th ird, just in front of a cha rging Ch ris You ng. . Suzu ki -mo un ted Ward was holding off the adva nces of Pascarella and Voh land o n lap two , whi le Young fell com ing o ut of th e big sweeper a nd dropped ou tof co nte nt io n. Ward contin ued to hold th e lead at th e close of lap three, with Pascarella and Vohland in hot pursuit. As the lead trio started lap four, they had pu t a little bit of distance o n th e battle for fourth th at was being waged betw een Brian Sweaney, Ka wasaki 's Frankie Brundage and T erry Fowl er. JT Racing/Levi Blu/Dirt Digit/Maxima/Kawasakisponso red Pascarell a stu ffed hi s way by Ward on lap five, th en sho rt ly after that Vohland also snuck by to tak e second. , Pascarella held th e lead through' the next two laps to claim th e win, while Vohland and Ward held the second a nd th ird place spo ts, respectively. Fowler came ou t on top of th e battle for fourth, with Sw eaney rounding out th e top five. At th e start of the main event, Yamaha's Jeff Mabery had the quick reflexes and got the holeshot, while , Tallon Vohland came from near the middle of the inverted start to jam hi s way ' into second. Edelweiss Ka wasak il O' N ea llScott / Arai / Krause/Pro Circuit/Simons l Maxima-backed Watts was in third foll owed by his Kawa saki teammates Brundage a nd Kiedrowski. On lap two, Mab ery led a six-rider freigh t train, with Vohland, Watts, Brundage, Kiedrowski and H olley following Close behind. Kawasaki l Ar a i/H i-P oint/ Sp ro cket Specialis ts /Sco t t l Ma x i m al D MC /R a ce Tech-sponso red Vohland mad e his . bid for the lead o n lap three as he sto le the insi de lin e from Mabery in a hairp in and gra bbed the top spo t. After Vohlan d assumed the lead , Mab ery and Wat ts sta rted an inte nse battle for th e second p lace spot, wh ile Brundage, H oll ey an d Kiedrowski were with in stri king distan ce of the battle for second. The orde r was unch anged through th e next two laps as Vohland led a t th e close of lap five, with Mab ery, Watts, Brundage and Holley in tow . Holley broke into th e top four on lap six , wh en he sliced his way pas t Brundag e a nd zero ed in on Mabery ' a nd Watts' du el for second. In the first' half of lap seven , Kiedrowski bailed off hi s Kawasaki and dropped o ut of the race. With under two laps to go in the nine-lap race, Vohland was on cruise control out front, holding a comfortable cu shion o n th e fight for second between Mabery, Watts and H oll ey. The fight ended on lap eight, when Mab ery. bobbled in a tight righthander and Watts plowed into Mabery 's Yamaha, send ing Watts over the bars. Mab er y didn't fall , but Holley just escaped th e coll ision and he slipped by to take second a nd Brundage grabbed third. Mab ery managed get going again in fourth, while Watts remounted well back in the pa ck. Holley tried to ca tch Vohland, but to no .a va il, the Kawasaki rider motored through th e last lap and took th e victory. H olley finished second, while Brundage claimed third. Mab ery and T yson Vohland rounded o u t th e top five at the checkered flag . .- Results 1. Tallon Vohl and (Kaw ); 2. J im Holley (Yam); 3. Frankie Brundage (Kaw ); 4. J eff Maber y (Yam); 5, Tyson Vohland (Kaw); 6. Gordon Ward (Suz); 7. Terry Fowl er (Han); B. M ike Pascarell a (Kaw); 9. Paul Vlach (Han); 10. Robert Naughton (Suz). POINT STANDINGS 1. Jim Holley (334); 2. Tommy Walls (123); 3. J eff Mabery (121); 4. Tyson Vohland (104 ); 5. M ike Kiedrowsk i (90); 6. Frankie Brundage (B7); 7. SCOll Tyler (B5); 8. Rick Ryan (77); 9. Tallon Vohland (74); 10. Brian Manl ey (71 ).