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/127145
00 00 O"l ...... Guy Cooper (5) took a second-place start in the first 125cc race; passed Holland and won the Tom Morgan (Ward's mechanic) and Brian Lunniss (Johnson's mechanic) try to keep their riders cool by fanning them with their pit boards. 8 Marino the weekend before Ohio , and Ward were ba ttl ing for the lead, as Lechien picked off Stanton and Fisher. Lechien quickly caught up to Ward before crashi ng over some whoops. Lechien , however, lost no positio ns but did lose a few seconds to Ward. Ward contin ued to chase Leisk, but Leis k was holding his own a nd wasn 't budging. An interesting sit uation had developed a t th is point.Ward kn ew th at if he didn 't pass Leisk and if positions stayed in this order, then Leisk . would become the overall winner over Lech ien - Ward's teammate a nd good friend. Wh en Lechien caught up to Ward arou nd the halfw ay point, Ward admittedly pulled over and let his Kawasaki teammate by. "No one told me to let Ro nnie by, I did it o n my own," said Ward. " We are o n th e same 'tea m , and I to ld Ronnie that if I was ahead of him, and with cha mpionshi p po in ts on the line, I'd let him by. He's in the cham pio nship hunt ; I'm out of it. " Once irito second pl ace, Lechien wasn 't content to stay there a nd set after Leisk. Less than a lap later , Lechien was searchi ng for a n ope n-. ing around Leisk and wasted no ti me in taking advantage of one. Lechi en sh ot into the lead, wh ile Leisk tried to stay close to th e Kawasak i rid er but couldn' t. In stead, Leisk found himself with Ward ho t on hi s tracks, wanting to pass th e Australian. With two laps to go , Ward roosted past a tiri ng Leisk and took over second. Lechien cros sed the fin ish line mot~. Cooper finished second overall via a 1-5 tally. Ron Lechien's win in Ohio was his first National overall victory of the year, and he did it in style by winning both motos going away. • with more than five seconds to spare over Ward, who fini sh ed a few bike leng ths ahea d of Leisk. Fourth wen t to Fisher follow ed by J ohnson and Sta nton. " I tried my hardest but ca me up short," sai d Leisk. " I started ge tting a little tired , and I think Ward was pl ayin g with me a li ttle bit there a t the end. Lech ien was going real fast , he deserved to win today." After crash ing twice and placing 14th in the first moto, fourth place fin isher Fisher said, " I didn't get th e holesh ot, but I did come out of th e first tum in the lead. After that I tensed up a little bi t and they go t by me." • Results 125 NATIONAL; 1. George Holland (Han) 2- 1; 2. Guy Cooper (Hon) 1-5; 3. Donny Schm it (Suz) 4-2; 4. Ty Davis (Suz) 3-3 ; 5. Derriclt Roe (Kaw) 5-8 ; 6. Lerry Brooks (Kaw) 7-7; 7. Mike LeRocco (Yam) 11-6; 8. Todd DeHoop (Suz) 16-4; 9. Ronnie TIchenor (Suz) 9-10; 10. Jason Upshaw (Hon) 812; 11.Keith Bowen (Kaw) 12-9; 12. Dale Spangler (Kaw) 15- 11; 13. Jeff Glass (Han) 13-16 ; 14. Erik Kehoe (Suzl 6-DNF; 15. Chris Coleman (Kaw) 10DNF; 16. Jon Agin (Han) 17- 15; 17. Stacey Cook (Han) 20-13 ; 18. J im Chester (Suz) 29 -14; 19. Corey Schweitzer (Han) 14-DNF; 20. M ichael Andrews (Suz) 19-17 . 500 NATIONA!'; 1. Ron Lochien (Kaw l 1-1; 2. Jeff Leisk (Han); 3. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 5-2; 4. Riclt Johnson (Han) 2·5 ; 5. Jeff Stanton (Yam) 4 ·6 ; 6. Dennis Hawthorne (K8W) 6-8; 7 . M ike Fisher (Kaw) 14-4; 8. Fred Andrews (Han) 7·10; 9. Jeff Frisz (Kew) 9-9; 10. Shaun Kalos(Yam )8-11; 11. Tommy Wans (Kaw) 16·7 ; 12. Tom Carson (Han) 11-12; 13. David Hand (Han) 10-13; 14. Jeff Hicks (Hon) 12·15; 15. Kurt McMillen (Han) 13-1B; 16. Billy Frank (Yam) 15·17; 17. Ray Somma (Hon) DNF14; lB. Dag Boyasen (Kaw) 34-16; 19. James Kapitan (Han) 1B-20; 20 . Gary Bronikowski (Han) 17·DNF. AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX POINT STANDINGS; 1. Holland (431); 2. Kehoe (364); 3. Cooper (350); 4. Schmit (3451; 5. Brooks (261}; 6. Tichenor (25B); 7. LeRocco (217t B. DeHoop(206); 9. Bowen (l72t 10. Davis (138). AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 500cc MX POINT STANDINGS: 1. Johnson (18 1); 2. Lochian (l 66t 3. Leisk (153); 4 . Stanton (145); 5. Ward (116t 6. Andrews (114 t 7. Wans (102 t 8. Carson (87t 9. Fisher (72); 10. McMillen (60).