Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Pro class champs Mike laRocco (left) and Fred Andrews. Rick Lindell (723) took the Plus -25 class championship. wh ile Robbie Neeley (1 ) topped the Seniors. Mike laRocco (1 9) and Bob Hannah (6 4) lead the fi rst 250cc Pro m oto . Keith Bowen (21) was the win ner. Florida Winter AMA Motocross Series: Final Round LaRoe.eo, Andrews wrap titles in Cocoa By M ike and Anne Adair COCOA , FL, J AN. 21-22 Yamaha's Mike L aRocco won 125 and 250cc Pro titles an d Hon da 's Fred Andrews earned the 500cc title in the muddy final -round of the Florida Winter AMA Motocross Series at Diam ondba ck Park. LaRocco com me n ted aft er th e even t, "Eve n on dry da ys Cocoa is the toughest tra ck on th e circ u it. It was rea ll y kind of fillin g th a t th e cha mpions hip be decided here." La Ro cco had qui te a week, in add itio n to becoming the first rid er to win dua l Pro class ch am p io nsh ips in th e series, LaRocco a lso co m 'p leted hi s high school co urse work in Michigan. Yamaha 's team manager Keith McCarth y, who was on hand to assis t a t th e Cocoa rou nd , said , " Mike is a talented rider. Thoug h he is tot all y dedi cated on th e tra ck, he kno ws hi s education is a lso impor tant for th e long ru n." Bri an McElro y 's G ear/Cag iva top ped th e I25cc class fo r th e seco n d week in a row a nd Keith Bowen's TUF Suzuki took th e 250cc honors at Cocoa. T he A MA / Wor ldSpo rts sa nctio ned , SCO Il US A. Bo yese n Wiseco , Ipone, Dunlop , G ear, TU F, P o wer M is t-sp on sored , Bea ch Spo rtcycle- pro mo ted eve nt cha llen ged not o nly ride rs, but offici a ls, scorers a nd specta tors as wel l. A massive sto rm system dri zzled o n Sa t urday's Am ateu r s how th en d um ped an a weso me seven in ch es o f rain o n th e track overn ight. P ro series leader in th e I 25cc class J a y Mann w it h d re w before th e co mpetition. The Kaw asaki /VP E Bo yeseri -sponso red rider sa id, " I wrecked on a jump in th e Expert d ivisio n on Sa turday , trash ed m y sho u lder an d kissed goodbye to th e lead in three classes. Um bre llas were mov ed ba ck a n d th e start ga te "dropped for the first 125cc m ota. J ohn Kitsch, Cri s Col eman, Todd Neal , La Rocco an d Brian Mc El ro y a ll go t good tr a cti on . Kitsch 's TU F Suzu ki too k th e pathfind er ro le a nd held o ff La Rocco un til th e fina l la p. Kitsch exp la ined , "LaRocco was pe rsis te n t, and wh en I fi nally d ropped th e bike, m y kickstarter was packed with mud and wouldn 't come out." LaRocco cruised to th e win ahead of McElroy with Kitsch salvaging fifth . L aRo cco sa id smi ling, " I n eeded a Yamaha Wave Runner today in stead of m y YZS. " In moto two Swede n 's Anders Sven sson', McElroy and Carl Vaillanco u rt wak ed LaRocco , flooding his goggles. Svensson led a lap then hounded McElro y until LaRocco took over a t th e h alfway point for . the win. Svensso n sai d , " It was fun to co m e here a nd race. I wat ched two of the seri es races, bought a bi ke th is wee k, and rode the best race of m y li fe here today." . As McElro y celebra ted h is overall wi n h e sa id , sha king hi s head, " I su bmerged th e bike in a lake during p ra ctice. It was full o f mud and gu nk. Wood y (Kyle) clea ned it th e best h e cou ld a nd didn ' t thi n k 'it wou ld run two la ps. " La Ro cco exp la ine d , "McE lro y was selling a good pace, b ut this is a good track to pass' on. I ca ugh t u p for a wh ile bu t then made mistakes." T ea m u zu k is Bob H ann ah expressed his a n gu ish a fter being injured in the sta rt 01 the first 250cc rn o to . Han na h sa id , " Yo u kn ow th at I love th is tra ck a nd a lways .loo k forward to racing here. Un fort unately I on ly las ted two turns before ge lli ng injured." At th e ga te dro p , Ha nnah a n d La Rocco sp lashe d side by side to the first turn. On th e fir st jump. Vaillan court , Mike Pa scarella , J ohn Dowd a nd J oJ o Kell er mad e it a fiveway bailie for th e lead. Hannah went down in th e n ext turn, LaRocco led Dowd , Kell er , Pascarell a a nd Vaillancourt. Hannah added, " It was no o ne 's fault. I th ink a S uzuki bogged in front o f me, I let off , got tagged a nd flipped. There wa s nowhere to hide. I tried to cra wl under the bike, but th e pack ra n over me. My last m istake was stic ki n g up m y right a rm. It go t chewed up prett y bad wh en I stuc k it up from th e slop. " LaRocco ope ned up a huge lead, as Dowd dumped h is Suzuki in a rut a nd Kell er moved up to second. Bowen rode 'relen tlessly and pi cked o ff first Vaillancourt then Pascarella. Dowd and Kell er for second a t th e flag . , MOIO tw o sa w Vaillan court 's Honda in a qui ck lead, with Dale Spa ng ler. Bo wen , Ke ll er and La Rocco in the hun t. Bowen passed Vaillancourt on ly to find Kell er on h is fender. Bo we n sa id, " Ke ll er ja m med inside a nd I never tho ugh t th at I would ever move that big 01' boy."

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