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/127144
Brian Pryor (91) and Tallon Vohland (7 1) battled for third place early in the main event. Vohland finished second and Pryor took fourth. Tyson Vohland sailed his Kawasaki to victories in the heat race and the main event at the L.A. Coliseum Ultracross. Mickey Thompson Off-Road c;hampionship Gran Prix' Series: Round 6 Vohlandscontrol L.A. Coliseum Ultracross By Mike Larson Photos by Ken Faught LOS ANGELES, CA, JULY 16 The Vohlan d brothers, T yson and Tallon, walked away with first and secon d p laces, respectively, in the Ul tracross main event at the Mickey Thompson O ff-Road Cham pionship Gran P rix at the Los AIM . 1 C li nge es em bobflda thO 1l seudm . Tyson .gra e. e ea on lap four In the firs t h ea t race, 24 then waited for his younger brother Tallon to catch up o n the last lap. At the finish, the two brothers jumped across the finish line jump together. In the main event, they did a repeat performance. Series points leader Jim Holley was a no show at the event, but already had a huge points lead of more than 200 points going into the L.A. Co liseum event. More tha n 43,000 spectators were on hand for the sixth round of the series . In the first heat race Yamaha rider Brian Sweaney grabbed the holeshot, but Jeff Mabery carne storming by and grabbed the lead before the end of lap one, bumping Sweaney back to second. Following the lead duo was Pete Murray, Tyson Vohland, Vince Warren and Tallon Vohland. On the second lap, Mabery slammed his way by Sweaney to take the lead and Tyson got around Murray and Sweaney to move into second place behind Mabery. Tyson turned up the heat on Mabery, but : couldn't find a way to get past. Sweaney held third, just ahead of Tallon, with Murray falling back to fifth ~p three saw Mabery and Tyson still going at it for first, but Tallon had moved up to third with A.J. Whiting runnmg in the fourth place spot followed by Sweaney in fifth. At the end of lap three Tyson made his move and zapped Mabery for the lead going into the big sweeper. Mabery dropped into second, right on Tyson's rear fender, wi th Tallon running a close third to the lead duo. Whiting was still holding fourth ahead of Sweaney and Warren. O n the fifth circuit, Tyson had established a small cushion on the battle for second, as Tallon moved in to challenge Mabery. Tallon sailed past Mabery as they blasted over the jumps on the back straight. . The final lap . saw Tyson slow down, allowing his brother Tallon to catch up so the Kawasakimounted duo could cross the line almost in formation. Tyson lept over the finish line, just a bike length in front of Tallon and they both did a clicker, much to the delight of the crowd. Mabery held third at the checkers followed by Whiting and Sweaney. In the second heat race Yamaha pilot Craig Davis got the ~ump on the field and led the pack off the start. Behind Davis, Suzuki rider Gordon Ward was treating the crowd to a rider's-eye view of the course with a camera moun ted to his ches t protector. Kawasaki Team Green's Mike Kiedrowski was running a close third after rocketin~ through the pack on the back straight, wi th Marc Peters in fourth. As the leaders carne around on la p two , Davis, Ward, Kiedrowski and Peters were running almost nose-totail. Kiedrowski turned on the afterburners and jetted by Ward and Davis to assume first place. Ward moved by Davis also and slid into the second spot, while Peters crashed and fell out of the top five. By the close of lap three Kiedrowski had already begun pulling away, as Ward maintained a solid second and Davis was still holding third. As Kiedrowski and Ward contin ued to lead ou t front, Davis got into an intense battle for third with Jeremy McGrath and Terry Fowler, with Paul Vlach not far behind in sixth. On the fifth lap , McGrath crashed and both Fowler and Vlach took advantage of the situation, moving into the fourth and fifth spots behind Kiedrowski, Ward and Davis . The final lap saw Kiedrowski take the win a safe distance ahead of Ward. Davis h ung on for third, wi th Honda riders Fowler and Vlach rounding out the top five. When the bungee cord starting gates were released at the start of the main ' event, J im Chamberlain had his Honda in front of the pack, with Kawasaki-mounted Brian P r yo r right behind him in second. Heat race winner Kiedrowski bailed off his Kawasaki as he was making a charge through the pack on the back straight on lap one and dropped to dead last. . Meanwhile, Tyson had rocketed up from his his midpack starting spot to grab third as the pack headed up the hill in the peristyle for the first time with Tallon right on his tail in fourth. As the pack completed lap one Chamberlain still led, followed by Pryor, Tyson, Tallon and Peters. Tyson began to make his move on lap two , as heblew by Pryor and then began to zero in on the leader , Chamberlain. Tyson wasted no time, and once he caught Chamberlain, he zipped by to claim the lead, dropping Chamberlain to second. Pryor held third, just ahead of an on-the-gas Tallon. On lap three, Tallon attacked Pryor as they hit the back stretch and lept past on the second jump to move into third behind Tyson and Chamberlain . Chamberlain's stint in second was short-lived, as Tallon also got by him before the end of lap three. Tyson began to pull away on lap . four, leaving·Tallon in second just ahead of Pryo r , who sl ipped by Chamberlain to take third. When Chamberlain dropped back to fourth, he got locked into a good battle for that position with Ya maha -mo unted Mabery and Honda pilot Whiting. . The top three positions were the same on lap five with Tyson ho lding .a comfortable edge on Tallon and Pryor. Chamberlain ma intained fourth, but Mabery had stalled at the bottom of the peristyle and dropped back, allowing Whiting to move into fifth. The top five was the same as they completed lap six. Tyson ma intained his quick pace out front on lap seven, with Tallon a safe distance back in second, well ahead of Pryor, while Whiting had moved around Chamberlain to take fourth. The order was the same on lap eight with the exception of Whiting, who had moved around Pryor to grab the third p lace spot. When the white £lag carne out, Tyson began to slow his pace again to allow Tallon to close the gap and by the time the two Kawasaki riders carne down out of the peristyle, Tallon was within several bikelengths of his older brother. As the lead duo carne out of the final turn and headed down the front straight; Tyson and Tallon were on ly a couple bike lengths apart and they styled their way across the line almost side bvside with Tyson taking the win. Behind the Vohland bro thers , Whiting brought his Honda home in third followed by Kawasaki pilot Pryor, while Fowler too k a distant fifth ahead of Chamberlain and a charging Kiedrowski, who carne back from his lap one crash to claim seventh. • Results 250 PRO: 1. Tyson Vohla nd (Kaw); 2. Tallo n Vohl and (Kaw); 3. A.J. Wh it ing (Hon); 4 . Brian Pryor (Kaw l; 5. Terry Fowler (Hon); 6. J im Chamberlain (Hon); 7. M ike Kiedrowski (Kaw ); 8. Jeff Ma bery (Vam); 9. Gordon Ward (Suz); 10. Jeremy McGrath (Vam).