Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jo hn ny O 'Mara (20 ) le a ds Ron Lech ien (4 ), ' Ron TIchenor (11 ) a nd overall winner Jean -Michel Bayle (111 ) a t the s tart of the first 250cc Pro moto as Jeff Stanton (7 ) gets nailed and prepares to hit the dirt. Although he got this close in the first moto. ' Ty Davis couldn 't qu ite catch 125cc Pro class overall winner Jeff Matiasevich in e ither race. Bayle conquers Perris MX By Nate Rauba and Mike Koger Photos by Kinney Jones and Rauba PE RRIS , CA , JAN. IS Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayl e to p ped several American factory stars for th e overall victory in the 250cc Pro class in round one of G oat Breker ' s ina u gural California Winter Series at PerrisRace- 16 wa . Ba le, the current 125cc I score toChampion, used a 1-2 World nab th e win ahead of Honda 's J eff Sta nton and Suzuki' s J ohn n y O 'M ara in th e o ve ra ll sta ndings . Bayle closely foll owed Kawasaki 's Ro n Lechien for most of th e fir st moto befo re scoo ting by with two laps remaini ng to take the wi n. In th e second ro und Bayle had to fig ht wi th O 'Ma ra a nd M Racing's Bria n Manl ey before h e' co u ld secu re second, a nd by th en Stanton had a few seconds o n him 'tha t he would keep 10 the finish. Sta nton fell a t th e star t of the fir st mot o and worked hi s way back 10 fift h at the fini sh , and hi s second.rn o to win ga ve him th e edge in the tiebreaker with O'Mara 's 3-3 score fo r' seco n d o vera ll. Manl ey a n d Yam ah a' s Dam on Br ad sh aw rounded o ut th e top five. In the 'I25cc Pro class Ka wasak i' s Jeff Mat iasevich held off lat e cha rges by Suzu ki's Ty Davis to win both motos for th e overa ll win, wh ile Ron T urne r mot ored 10 th e O pen Pro class win with a two-mot e sweep. The event marked Breker's prom o ting debut since he recentl y purchase d th e lease 10 Perris Ra cewa y. Breker formerly rod e for the Kawasaki a nd Honda team s before retiring at the end of 1985. then mad e a bri ef co meback i n ea rly '88 with an uns uccessfu l venture into the 500cc Grands Prix. A turnout of more th an 400 rid ers ma de Breker happy a nd kept th e raci ng goi ng until sunset, but th e large tu rnout also crea ted scoring problems as severa l riders lined up a nd raced in the wrong classes or wi tho ut even sign ing up. O 'Mara grabb ed th e holesh ot of the first 250cc Pro moto, but Lechi en dove under him in the second turn. Bayle got off third and on lap two stuffed O 'M ara over a berm to mo ve into seco n d. S u zu ki's R o n n ie T ich en or h eld fourth ah ead of Manley, Jann Guedard and Yam ah a teamm at es Shaun Kal a s and Bradsh aw . Once into second Bayl e immed ia tely pulled up to Lechien, a nd for th e next six laps of th e 10-lap mota the two pl a yed a ga me of ca t and mouse to th e deli ght of th e cro wd. Lechi en seemed to be pla yin g with Bayle, go ing just fast enoug h 10 keep him at ba y. But accordin g to Lechi en it was no ga me. " I was just having troub les with th e tra ck and my bike." said Lechien , " T he forks were jarring m y arms so 1 co uld hardl y hold on , so I let him . slide by a nd think he could take me so I ca n sur prise him in th e next m o to ." Bayle slid by o n lap eig h t th en slip pe d a way fo r ' t he w in o ver Lech ien. O 'Mara spent th e entire race i n third, w h i le Br adshaw worked his way into fourth at th e finish and Sta nton ca me back from his first-t urn fall 10 cla im fifth. " I pass ed Le ch ien once a nd he repassed me very aggressively, " Ba yle sa id throug h a n interpreter. " So I stay ed behi nd hi m a nd waited for h im 10 make a mistake." O 'Ma ra led everyo ne to th e first turn ag-ai n in moto two foll owed by Sta n ton, Ba yle, Manl ey, T iche nor, Bradsh a w a nd Lechien . Sta n to n qu ick ly sto le th e lead on th e first lap whi le Ma n ley bri efl y sli pped by Bayle. Brads haw a nd Lechi en went dow n togeth er soo n after a nd neither rider sho wed much speed after that, " Lech ien went under me, we go t togeth er a nd we both went down," sai d Brad sh a w. " I go t up a nd rod e lik e a n old lad y after tha t." It took Bayle a co up le of laps 10 ge t by O 'Ma ra for second, a nd wh en he go t th ere Sta nton was go ne. O 'M ara go t off th e good line and fell back to fourth behind Manley a short tim e later. Bayle cha rge d tow ards Stanton a nd left a cl ose baili e between Manl ey. O 'M ara , Ti ch en or a nd Kal os behind, but Stanton just rod e steadi ly a n d m aintain ed a few seconds o n th e Frenchman a ll the way 10 the fin ish. O 'M ara rep assed Manley a few laps before th e finish , a nd Manley ca me under fire from Kala s a nd crossed th e line just in front of th e Yam aha rid er. Tich en or had problems with hi s arms pumpin g up a nd drop ped back 10 sixth . " We're here to race and do som e testing," said Stan to n. " I go t a good sta rt, rod e my own pace and pulled away." " I had a tough tim e with Man ley, a nd wh en I passed him Stanton was alrea dy a hea d, " said Ba yle. " I was thinking abo ut the overa ll a nd didn't want 10 cra sh." Mat iasevich ho lesh ot th e fir st 125cc Pro mota tai led by Denny Stephenson , Jimm y Gaddis and Larry Ward. Gaddis hooked hi s front wheel an a no ther bike a nd crashed ea rly on the second lap as Davi s mov ed in on Ward. Stephens on soo n dropped back to fourth , a nd Ward fell o n th e fourth lap a nd Davi s scoo ted by. Matiasevich had opened u p a decent lead, but Davis charged and closed the gap late in th e race. At th e fini sh Matia sevich took th e checkers just a few feet in front of Davis. Ward faded but still pi cked up third well a head of Stephenson and Ra y Somma . Mati asevich cha rged 10 the front at the start of rnoto two with Gaddis, Somrno, Davis and Ward cl ose behind. Once aga in Davis put on a cha rge which carried him to second, and when he go t th ere Matiasevich was severa l seconds ahead. Da vis cont in ued to cha rge and reeled th e leader in lat e in the race. but he ' co u ldn 't get clos e enough 10 try anything and Matiasevich took th e wi n. Ward claimed third o nce again over Gaddis and Sammo . ' Robert Laine passed Fred Conover on th e first lap of the opening 250cc Novice divi sion o ne class moto and stayed o ut front to take th e moto win. J erem y Hughes worked up through th e pack for second, th en cam e back to win th e second round for the o ve ra ll vict ory. Will Di ckson claimed second in mota two for the

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