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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127142
Runner-up Jeff Stanton (8 ) ho lds 500cc class winner Rick Johnson off during the first moto. Erik Kehoe (9) passed 125cc overall winner Guy Cooper to win moto two. but a flat in the first moto left him second overall. AMA Bel-Ray 500jRK Chain 125cc National C .hampionship MX Series: Round 2/8' Johnson, Coop'er blast Binghamton By Nate Rauba Photos by Rauba and J im Simpson BINGHAMTON , NY, J ULY 10 T eam Honda's Rick Johnson ch arged up to the front in both 500cc Nation al motos to take double moto win s and claim the overall victory at the Broome-Tioga Sports Center National MX. Flat tires on the rocky course figured . I' h id pr~mment y m. t e re~u ts an po~n ts sta n din gs In both 6 National classes. Not on ly did Johnson ge t th e perfect score, but he al so took the series points lead after two rounds when rival and points-leader going into th is round, T eam Kawasaki 's J e.ffWard, retired f~om the fir st moto with a fla t fro nt ure. Johnson now leads Yamaha's Jeff Stanton by 17 points, while Ward drops back to fifth in 'the standin gs, 26 poin ts beh ind leader J ohnson. H onda 's J eff Leisk moved into thi rd in th e sta ndings, overta ki n g Kawasaki's Ron Lechi en by one point. " It gives me a breath of fresh air," sa id J ohnson following th e first rnoto, " beca use now I can afford to mak e a mistake. But I don 't like to mak e th em because that makes life tougher for those a ro und me. I'm not goi ng to let u p or rid e relaxed in th e second moto, or for th e rest of th e series." J ohnson didn 't let up a nd overca me a first-tu m fall to eventually lead Ward across the line a t th e fini sh of mo to two. Sta nto n, wh o led early in th e second rnoto , finished second overall with a 2-3 scor e, a nd Leis k earned th ird overall af ter 3-4 m oto scores. J ohnson's H onda factory team ma te Guy Cooper made it a H onda ' sweep as he won the 125cc class with a 1-2 score. Cooper charged up in th e first moto a nd d ispl aced T eam Suzuki's Erik Keh oe for th e win wh en 'Keh oe had to slow because of a front flat. Kehoe dropped back to fourth a t th e fini sh, but came back a nd passed Coo per in the seco nd moto to go on and tak e the win. Al though Keh oe ended up second overall, he picked up valuable poi nts on points-leader Geo rge H olland after the Team Ho nda pilot lost a lap in the first moto replaci ng a fla t rear tire and fin ish ed l Sth. H oll and ca me bac k to score fourt h in th e second moto, but hi s points lead was cu t fro m 54 poin ts to 37 wi th fo ur roun ds re ma ini ng in th e series. Keh oe 's Su zuki teammate Donny Schmit wa s third overa ll with a pair of thirds a nd ma in tains th ird in th e standi ngs, but Coo per closed in an d is o nly six points behind. A crowd esti ma ted at 12,000 braved the hot, humid weather a nd was treated to close racin g in all four Nati onal motos. More than 120 riders ent ered the event, requiring I]ualifiers in each class to trim th e h eld down to 40 riders per class . . Jo hnso n went home with $1000, plus con tingencies, for his two mo to . wins, while Cooper pocketed a total of $430 plus contingen cies. 500cc Ward came up with the holes hot at th e start of th e first moto ahead of Stanton, privateer Fred Andrews, Lechien a nd Leisk. Johnso n went wide in the first turn and came o u t seve nth behind Ji m H olley, bu t quickly moved up to fourth on the fir st lap as Lechien dropped back. "I went too far into the first turn and ca me out seventh, but I had a really good first lap a nd passed a lot of gu ys," J ohnson sa id. J ohnson cont in ued passing and o n th e second lap was in th ird and moved in on Stanton, th en spent a couple of laps searching for a way around him. Wh en Johnson took second o n lap four Ward was six seconds ahead, but that lead quickly va n ished when Ward 's front tire went flat. " I could've ridden with a rear flat," said Ward, " h ut there was no way I could with a front; I cou ldn't steer the bike." Ward had to stay out an extra lap as hi s Kawasaki mechanics rushed back to the pits for a spare wheel a nd lost severa l positions, making th e order Johnson, Stanton, Leisk, Lechien and Andrews. Ward stopped on the sixt h lap of the 30 minu te plus two lap moto, but whe n the Kawasak i mech anics kept hi m off the track for nearl y two la ps as th ey struggled with the wrong axle in th e repl acement wheel, Ward elected 10 wa lk off th e track and DNF the moto. " I go t lapped by the top 15 riders, so I would've had to unlap myself to get an y points," said Ward. "I would've beat my head against th e wall for nothing, All I can do is come out and maybe take a couple of points in the next moto, which is probably more than I would make up by going back out. " That left Johnson almost all alone to the ch eckers, but Stanton hung close for a while before dropping back more than 10 seconds at the finish. " I thought I pulled away from Stanton at fir st, " Johnson sa id, "but he was right on my butt so ' I had to keep pushing. It doesn 't surprise m e co m i ng o u t of him , but it surp rised me a t that time to see him so close for a while." " I kn ew J ohnson was going a little faster th an me," Stanton said, "a nd I'd be bett er off following him, trying to get by, instead of the pressure being on me. But I'm ge tting there; I'm going to be pounding on the door soon." Furt he r back behind Stanton Leisk and Lechi en wag ed a battle for third. After exchangi ng the position severa l tim es Lei sk to ok co m ma nd wh en Lechi en dropped off th e pace wi th a flat rear tire and slowing motor. " 1 go t a rear fla t but I was still mo to ring pretty well ," said Lechien . "T he n I got some dirt in my air clea ner or some thing when Leisk stu ffed me in a powder berm. The bike ra n lik e a 250, but I stayed with him a nd go t by a few times, but he 'd just mo tor by me. So I backed off a t the end a nd took th e poin ts for fourth. " Andrews was next to the finish at a distant fifth ahead of Tommy Watts and Doug Dubach , who had charged up from a poor start. . At th e start of the second moto Stanton came out of turn one with the lead followed by Leisk, Andrews and Lechien. J o hnson ~ot sq ueezed and went down in the first tum, but quickly moved up and was fourth a t the end of the first lap. -Leisk a nd Lechien also went down early on the first la p wh en they tangled, making th e order Stanton, Andrews, Ward, Tom Car son , J o h nson and Kurt McMillen at th e end of a lap. Ward quickly moved by Andrews and Johnson flew up behind Ward, stalked him for a few turns then gOI by. Stanton held a six -second lead.