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/127149
gated third against World team riders Doncaster and Casta gna. Erm ol enko qu i ckl y m o ved ou tside to the cushion an d set sail, making up lo st ground. By th e end of the first lap Er m ol enko was second behind Castagna , an d within in ch es of th e leader at. the beginning of lap two. Ermolenko muscled .h is m achine around Castagna at th e en d of lap three and pulled away on the rear wheel much to the enjoyme nt of the American flag waving fans . CastalPla came home second, Doncaster third and Correy fourth. Two-time Wo rld Champion Bruce Penhall defeated multi-time World Champion Ivan Mauger in a best of three Ma tch ra ces before the sta rt of the fifth round of competition. The U .S. team scored its second 1-2 finish of the even ing in event 15, when reserv e ri der Eddie Ingels of northern California took a p opular vic tory ahead of teammate Kelly Moran, and the World team's Ni emi ., and Collins. T he USA team m oved ahead to a 10 POint lead with th e . . score 44-34. Event 16 saw Ermolenko co ntinue h is string of victories winning his fourt h ra ce of the event, followed by Crump, Eriksen a ndCorrey. Randy Green jumped out into the lead in event 17 ahead of Castagna and Shawn Moran. Green led laps one and two with Castagna gaining fast. Castagna moved past.Green on the inside on la p three and hel d on ;' to wi n . The World team trailed the USA tea m 40-50. Race 19 or" th e sixth and fi nal round began with an outside start to finish leading ride by Ermolenko, wh o defeated Collins, Niemi ana teamma te Correy. Shawn Moran insured the Americans' IO-p oi nt lead by wi n ning race 20 ahe ad of Crump, Eriksen and . Green. The fin al race of the evening saw th e World team close the points spread to six. Castagna b lasted off . the lin e and led the first two la p s, bu t on lap three Doncaster moved to th e outside and into the lead. . holding on for the win with Castagn a seco nd, over Kelly Moran and Ingels. The World team picked up five much needed points, but that wasn't enough as the Americans won 57-51. The Friday night ba ttle was over but the war wou ld be decided the following night on the half mile. ' Do u b ts about the Americans' chances of winning the match started to arise at the end of the first night's races . Team manager Peter Rovazzini said, "I told our guys, 'Yo u should step all over them.' But this is not going to be any cake-walk . I can tell you, tomorrow night is going to be rea l serious." _ . Wo rld team manager Ivan Mauger on the other hand seemed even more confident a fter his team's fine performance. " I think this was probably the most exciting racing we've had here, because my guys have all got their own bikes here, and I think , that's made the difference, because previously -ou t of my six or seven ri ders I' ve had two or three with their o wn b ik es, a n d ' then the others borrowed bikes. T here was o n ly a six -point differen ce a t th e end o f the night, but the most significant thing is th at every ra ce was brilliant." - When as ked ab out his selection for ' the World team, Mauger resp o n ded, " I cou ldn' t get one or two o f the guys that I reall y needed , so I had to go for in-depth strength, and it's prov ed to be very good because a ll of the guys scored pretty good, except Kai Niemi, a nd Kai ha sn 't ri dde n for ne ar ly two wee ks, h e'd been o ff in jured, and if you don't ride for tw~ weeks , a nd then yo u fly halfway Track Information: Friday, September 9 Registration & Tech Inspection . (205) 362-2261 Saturday, September 10 YAMAHA ~"36I AMA/CCS S. Florida and Southeastern Championship Sprint Races Races Start Noon BRAKES Sunday, September 11 Monster Bike Shootout, Vance & Hines National 600 & 750 Supersports~ Combined Supertwins PLUS Round #8 EBC Endurance Challenge Cycle News Advertising gets results. EBC Call 404/934-7850 East SUZUKI rKa~GaRDJ . ~DUN.£OP , ~T~_ 213/427·7433 West