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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127154
.... iJ.) ..0 o .... u John Kocinski and Miss Camel celebrate in the w inner's circle. o Alan Carter (2) leads Andy Leisner (6 ) and '89 National Champion J ohn Kocinski (1) early in the 250cc race. AMAjCastrol 2S0cc Grand Prix Series: Final round Kocinski supreme at Sears Point By Brian Catterson Photos by Henny Ray Abrams SONOMA, CA, ocr. 2 Team Nordica/Roberts' John Kocinski took advantage of a rare mistake by teammate Thomas Stevens' to win the final race of the season and clinch his second consecutive National Champion ship. T he 20-year-o ld Kenn y Ro berts protege came back fro m a poor start, ri di ng his Yamaha 8 TZ250 through the field to win by a 37.25-second margin at an average speed of 84.029 mph. Kocinski won srx of seven races thi s season to tak e the titl e, defeating Steven s in the point sta ndi ngs, 120 to 94. H e won $2870 for his firs t p lace finis h. Stevens, the only other rider with . a chance at the title, jumped the flag at th e start and led the first two laps befor e coming into the pits for a stopand-go penalty. He then charged through the field to a seventh-place finish. Second p lace in the race went to Lassak Racing's Alan Carter. The Englishman fmally put together a good ra ce, keeping it on two wheels to just beat Mciver Racing's Donn ie Greene at the checkered flag . Fourth place fell to Hasty Racing's Doug Brauneck, who wrapped up th ird place in the point standings. Since the Nordica/Roberts riders are s p o ns o red by PJ -I Lubricants, th ey're -n o t elrgible for Castrol mon ey, and th e $7500 first-place share of th e $40,000 payou t went to Brauneck. The first Saturday morning fivela p heat race saw Kocinski lead wire to wir e, desp ite str uggli ng with a se ve rel y underg eared machine. Kocinski explained th at the bike was red-lining in turn eight an d he had to back off the gas to speed up. " T ha t was my first good pr actice," he said afterwards. Carter 's teammate Rich Oliver ga ve chase in secon d, he and Kocinski clear ly th e class of the field , but Ol iver was havi ng to over-rev hi s mo tor to keep pace. " I don 't have the horsepower that Kocinski's got," said the only other 250cc rider to win a race this year. "We have to run it short so it'll rev. 1£ we gear it taller, we won 't have the acceleration." Beh i n d th e lead duo, An dy Leisner, S te phan . Crevier, and R ichard Moore battl ed for third. Moore moved from fift h to third on th e' first lap, but his efforts were in vain as he mistoo k the white flag for the chec kers a nd rode straight through the turn one chicane. By the time he rea lized his mistake it was too late, and'his hopes of a first -row grid position disappeared; he'd have to start from the last row in the final. Moore's miscue promoted Apriliamoun ted Leisner to third , with Crevier fourth and Al Salaverria to fifth. Crevier and Salaverria both rode Yamahas. The second heat was a bit more exciting, featuring one of Stevens' now patented come-from-behind charges. Filice jumped into the lead at th e start, but his dominance was short-lived as Carter put a move on him th e first tim e th ey went through sweeping right-hand turn 10. Stevens initially held fourth, but he passed Brauneck for th ird before th e comp letion of la p one. Two laps la ter he passed Fil ice for seco nd. The next tim e around, Stevens tried an o utside pass for the lead coming out of turn 12, but Carter moved right over to the dragstrip-side hay bal es, leavi ng him no room to get by. On th e last lap , however, Steven s did I?et past, taking th e checkers first with Carter second, Filice third , Brauneck fourth and Gr eene fifth. As th e starter pi cked the green flag up off its perch to begin th e final , Stevens dropped th e clu tch and left the remainder of th e 30-rider field sitting ori the line, putting a lid on his ch a nces of taking the cham p io nship . O liver, Carter and Leisner chased Stevens up the hill, with Kocinski temporarily running sixth. Stevens led the first two laps aro und the circu it, but he p u lled into th e p its . at th e start of lap three for a manda tory black-flag-induced lO-second stop-and-go penal ty. " I knew I jumped th e star t," said a dejec ted Stevens after the race. " I probably co uld've come into the pits a little faster to save some time, but it wo uld n' t have mattered; I'd still be second in points. I beat everyone excep t the one that counted. Just give me some tim e ..... With Stevens in the pits (li terally and figuratively ), Oliver moved to the fore, but his race soon came to an end. Cresting the turn two hill on lap six, his transmission stuck in fourth gear and he raised his hand and moved to the side of the track. He soldiered o n, slipping the clu tch mercilessly, bu t it gave up at th e halfway point. With Ol iver go ne and Steve ns working h is way back from h is penalty stop, Kocinski too k the lead. "When Tom (Stevens) jumped the start, I knew I had the championship." said Kocins ki. "So I just cruised.' . Cruised, indeed. Kocinski left the field in the dust, turning a best lap of 1:47.75. . 'Ca rter was pushed hard by Leisner for second, until a spring retainer pulled out of the AJ Racing Aprilia's exha ust and holed the header pipe. Le isner slowed dramatically and was passed by a hard-charging Greene on a Dennis Moran-tuned Yamaha, but he didn 't want Greene to get away. Leisner tried hard to keep up with Greene, eventually crashing when he ran into a backrnarker in turn four on lap 17. Leisner described his bike as a " 250 that turned into a 125. The backmarkers smoked me down the straightaways!" Greene closed on Carter, and the du o waged a war for second place. Carter once ran off the track at th e exit of tu rn three, taking to the dirt, but he held o n to his pl acin g. On lap 17, Gr eene o ut braked Carter into turn II, but Carter blew pas t Greene at the trac k's edge com ing o u t of th e carousel and heading uphill. " He must have had a heart a ttac k," said Carter abo u t his pass on Greene. "T here was about this much room (ho lding his hands about two feet apart), and I went right through." Green e p lanned a last-turn, lastlap move, and it a lm ost came tog ether for him when Carter got out of shape in turn lO on th e fin al circuit. But when Greene mad e hi s move, goi ng up th e in side with a late-braking maneuver, Carter just moved over on him. "He slammed the door on me, 'Bam!' " said Greene. With Leisner go ne, the battle for fourth p lace was being waged by Bra u neck, Crevier and Moore. Brauneck had a miserable start, and was pas sed by Moore, who started on the last row. But Moore faded, and Brauneck got by. " I was thrashed from pass ing all those guys," said Moore. Crevier also got around Moore before it was over , but not without a fight; he collected some of Moo re's rubber on his leg. . Stevens pu t on a charge of epic proportions, passing 23 riders and turning a fast lap of 1:47.3 on his way to a seventh-place finish. Surprisingly, the last rider he passed was Fil ice, who was battling inco nsistent brakes, usi ng different lines and relying heavi ly on his rear brake. "My forearm p umped up, and I cou ldn't feel the brakes, so I started breathi ng hard to get more oxygen into m y blood," said Gr eene after th e race. Greene is sponsored by Survival Game, Dunlop , Shoei, Cas trol, RK, Kal-Gard, Kush itan i and ERC. " I was go ing to sett le for second or th ird ," said Carter, who's crashed while runnin g ou t front on a number of occasions this year . " I' m not a good pacesetter, but if anyone passes me I ca n kee p p ace. " Carter is sponsored by Bob Pave, Arai, Cas trol, Bassani, Lockheed and ND. "When Rich (Oliver) went wide, I thought he went in too hot; I figured he knew I was catchin g him ," said Kocinski. " But when I came around I saw ' plus 12' on the board and the next time it said 'p lus 14' so I knew I had him. On the last lap , I took it easy. I though t, 'Hey, I did this many good laps, I'm go nna take it easy.' .. Kocinski also praised the mediumco m po und Dunlops, sa ying they were th e most consistent tires he used all year . Kocinski is sponsored by Nordica, PJ -I, Shoei and Takai. " It 's easier to get th e title than to keep it, " said Kocinski in summary. " When you' re number one, you 're th e target.", • Result s 250 GP: 1. J ohn Kocin ski (Yam); 2. A lan Carter (Vam); 3. Don Greene (Yam); 4. Doug Brauneck (Yam); 5. Stephan Crevier (Yam); 6. Richard Moore (Yam); 7. Thomas Stevens (Yam); 8. Jimmy Fil ice (Han); 9. Eric Kondo (Yam); 10. David Busby (Vam); 11. Chris D'A lu sio (Han); 12. M areell o Del Giudice (Vam); 13. All an Scott (Han); 14. AI Salaverr ia (Vam); 15. Gary D'Alusio (Han). FINA L POINT STANDINGS 250 GP; 1. Jo hn Kocinski (120); 2. Thomas Stevens (94); 3. Doug Brauneck (65); 4. Richard Oliver (56); 5. Al an Cart er (521; 6. Richard Moo re (50); 7. Don Greene (481; B. Staphan Crevier (45); 9. Andrew Leisner ( 36~ 10. (T1EI Kork Ballington/ J immy Fil ice (2B); 12. Chris D'A1usio (22); 13. J ames Stap hens (2n 14 . Daniel Coo (19); 15. David Busby (1B); 16 . (TIE) Robbie Patersen /Er ic Kondo"(14); 1B. Mar cello Del Giud ice (13); 19. (T1E) Jon CornwalllWilliam Himmelsbach (11).