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/127175
r ~ ~ I 0") 00 0") ,.......; ........ c-, .... ro ;:1 .... ..0 v ~ A.J. Whiting (7 0 ) and Jeff Matiasevich (71) chased Ray Sommo in the second 125cc Pro moto. Matiasevich won the overall with a 1-1 score. Jeff Ward (5 5 ) overcame a poor start in the sec ond 2 50 cc Pro class . moto to pass Damon Bradshaw (64) on the last lap for the overall win . .cMC/Dodge Truck Golden State Nationals: Round 3 Manley, Matiasevich& Ward 'shine at 'Sunrise By Ken Faught ADELANT O , CA, J AN. 22 Team Kawasaki's Jeff Ward earned his third consecutive win at a Golden State Nationals event after surviving two knock-down, dragout 250cc Pro class motos at Sunrise Valley Cycle Park with Yamaha 's Damon Bradsh aw, Honda's eff Stanton and Kawasaki's Ron Lechien. R eigning Supercross Champion R ic k Jo hnson la ed an im ortant role in the overall results as he p laced third in moto one behind Ward and Bradshaw, but a first-turn pileup sideiined the factory Honda rider in round two, giving Ward a nd Bradshaw an easier shot at the overall. Ward and Bradshaw battled in th e final round with Bradshaw sett in g th e early pace. Ward worked his way u p a fter a poor start and made a trem endous charge on the last lap a n d pulled in right behind the factory Yamaha rider: Shortly before th e finish Ward managed to stea l the lead for the rnoto and overall win ahead of Bradshaw. J eff Matiasevich and Brian Manley ma de it a clean sweep for Kawa saki as th ey won th e 125 a nd 500cc Pro classes, respectfull y. Matiasevich's win came after chasing Rodney Smith and Michael Ra y Craig for a short time in each moto, Both times Matiasevich gained the upper hand within th e first four la ps and proceeded to pull away with a pair of easy wins. Manley's win in the 500cc Pro class was also relatively easy. Manley put a pair of good starts to use and led Scott Bro wn across the finish lin e in each moto. In both rounds J eff H icks a n d G reg Zi tterko p f battled furious ly, bu t when it was all over H icks stole third overall with a 4-3 score, reversing Zitterkop f's tally. With the b~inning of the Camel Supercross Senes only a week away, many of th e top National riders used Su n rise' as a warm-up race and a chance to get th eir bikes dialed in. The course, which was a treat to spec ta tors, was a sandy stadium-style 'tra ck featuring severa l tab letop, double and triple jumps. Also used were severa l whoop sections and tight, technical turns. Many riders claimed that this was th e best track that they had seen at Sunrise and said that it was th e best tra ck of th e GSN thus far . Due to a large number of riders in th e 125 and 250cc Pro classes, qualifiers and a point system were used to determine riders for th e main. The point system allowed the t op 10 riders in th e seri es to automatically transfer to th e final while all others had to go at it in two heat races and a Last Chance Qualifier. In the first 250cc Pro class q ualifier Kawasaki 's Ron Lechien led Suz u ki's Johnny O 'Mara and Erik Kehoe from start to finish for the easy win. The second heat race saw J oh n so n come from a bad start to pass Mi cky Dym on d on the la st lap. After being passed b y Johnson , D ym ond dropped to ' fourth a llowing J eff Stanton and Bradsh aw to co ll ect seco nd and third. In th e La st Chance Q u a lifi er Yannig Kervella chased Michele Fanton but could never get within striking distance to tak e a poke at Fanton's lead. Fanton scored the win over Kervella with Guedard Yann, Corey Cope and Todd Lehmann rounding out the top five. Wh en the final fina lly rolled