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/127177
The Mark Vanscourt/ Joey Lane Kawasaki KX250 duo captured fourth overall and th ird in the ,2 5 0 cc class w ith four minutes to spare. Brett Duncan and John Braasch. Jr. were the overall winners in the 125cc class aboard a Yamaha YZ125. 22 eigh t minu tes of Roeseler a n d La Porte o n adj usted time. But th e sprint did not put Hunnicu tt any further ahead of h is 250cc rival. " I ca ug h t up to Ted com ing in o n the second loo p and followed h im through the rocky sectio n at th e end," said Pfeiffer, " but I didn 't see him agai n after that. We had prob lem s p uttin g th e gas in at th e second pit. " . T he Vanscourt/Lane Kawasak i conti nued to make good tim e in fo urt h ove ra ll and Darl and a n d Ru ssell slipped back to fifth. Robbie No lan a nd J eff Martinez moved up past fellow CR250 pilots J eff Kaplan and Craig Adams, who lost time cha ng ing a front brake a nd th en had to battle wit h a rear flat , and th e Parry/Forward duo came in at th e head of the Over 30 pa ck. W hi le Six ber y a n d Eveland worked feveri shly in the p its to repa ir a malfunctioning rear brake, Parry . and Forward continued to enjoy a trouble-free ride. It was La Porte, with an eigh t m inu te lead, H un nicu tt a nd th en Pfeiffer as the front-runners raced dow n p it row for th e second tim e. Despi te th e rough terra in , th e KX500 duo never mi ssed a beat. Roeseler was more th an 10 m inutes ahead o n adjusted tim e when he handed over to La Porte for the last time and with on ly 50 mi les to go there was little the competition co uld do to sto p th e T eam Green charge. Hun ni cutt's bid fo r the 250cc honor s was not going nearly as well. "T he p ipe broke go ing ou t o n th e last lo o p , " sa id th e Ka wasa ki! Dunlo p /T s u ba ki / Renth a Il Pro - . Circui t / AXO /Tri ck /B el - R a y/ Sm ith -spo nsored racer. " It got so noi sy it was hurting my ears and about five miles from our pit it broke comp letely and go t such a big hole in it th at the bik e hardly ran a t all." The former 250cc MX World Champion. Danny laPorte. did most of the rid ing on the LaPorte/Roeseler team. It was his first Parker 400. Frant ic wo r k b y Ka wa sak i ' s mecha nics had th e KX250 back in the race but Pfeiffer had already slipped by to tak e over the Class 21 lead. " I caugh t up a bi t o n the next sectio n but I was still three minutes behind o~ tim e wh en I go t back to Mid way and I didn 't th ink I could catch him ," said H unnicu tt. With less than 50 mi les left in the race, Roeseler took over for a last ditch crack at the 250cc class titl e. " I passed (P feiffer) at Swa nsea bu t I knew I ha d to beat h im by one minute 15 secon ds to wi n it on tim e," said Roeseler. " I knew what I had to do and I went as hard as I co uld all the way." Wh ile Roeseler battled to make up lo st t i me , P fe iff er wa s ba ttl in g tro ub les of his own. " I ran in to a Quad com ing o u t of Midw ay a nd wad ded the bi ke," said th e Yam ah a / Beach Yamaha / Du nlop/ Roy's Boys-backed racer. "T he guy turned around right in front of me and I hit him and went down. I ripped my fender off and I got a fro nt flat ." Pfeiffer was onl y a mile out of his pit bu t he knew there was no time to change the fla t tir e. " I knew I was goi ng to be in trouble in th e rocks with th e tire," said Pfeiffer, " but th ere was nothing I could do . I kn ew I was goi ng to be o n the edge to win it. " The 250cc pi lots gave it all they had in th e final stages of the race and it was up to the SCO RE's offi cial ti me kee pers to decid e th e final ou tco me . Wh en th e ti mes were tallied, the Roeseler/ LaPorte KX500 took the o vera ll win II minutes ahead of the 250cc competitors with an average speed of 58.35 MPH, and . Pfeiffer took second overa ll just 18 seconds ahead of the Hunnicutt! Roeseler KX250. "Wha t a day," said Roeseler. " We had a flawl ess day on th e 500 and I nearl y go t first a nd second in th e same race. First a nd thi rd isn 't bad , bu t first and second would 've rea lly been some th ing." T he Va n scourt /Lan e KX2 50 screa me d home 'to cl aim fourth overa ll, with Martinez and Nolin just four minutes behind in fifth , and sixth overall and first in the Over 30 div is io n we nt to the P arry/ Forward KX500. Mike Six bery and J im Eveland brought th eir Thou sand O aks Yam aha-ba cked YZ250 i n three minutes behind P a rry to clai m ' second in Cl ass 30, and Da vid Callaway and Ch ar lie Bar ney (Kawa. saki of R iverside) narrow ly edged OUt the Anderso n/ Burke H onda to ta ke thi rd in class, despite having to change gas tanks in midrace. Seventh in the o verall sta ndings and second in Class 22 went to Yamaha p ilo ts Randy Morales and Jimmy Coffey, wi th an average speed of 53.97 mph. " We were up to third overall a t o ne stage but J im my clipped a big rock and went dow n pr etty hard," sa id Mo ral es, wh o thanked Burb ank Yam aha , Sinisalo, Scott, AXO , Dallas Baker P rod ucts, and h is Mom and Dad. The Darlan d/Russell bid for Class 22 honors crossed th e fini sh line 10th overall aft er breaking a silencer in the third loop , and J ohn Braasch and Brett Duncan continued their racelong domination of th e l 25cc com petitors to tak e the Class 20 win in . II th overa ll. The Yamaha team 's 52.66 MP H avera~e brough t them home a full 20 minutes ahead of second-placed Bob Rieger and Roger H urd (Kaw), with KX I25 pi lots R ick Kryger and J ohn Alexander in third. R ichar d J ackson and J oh n Etchart averaged 50.29 mph o n th eir wa y to th e Class 40 victory (16th overa ll) and came o u t alm ost half an hour in front of second-placed Ro n Gray and Rolf Tib blin. _ Results 0 / A : 1. Larry Roeseler/ Danny laPorte (Kaw ): 2. Kurt Pfeiff er (Yam); 3. Ted Hunn icu tt / Lar ry Roeseler (Kaw); 4 . Mark Vanscoun / J oey Lane (Kaw); 5.- Je ff Mart inez/Robbie Nolin (Han); 6. Kenny Parry/S cali .Forw ard (Kaw ); 7. Rand y Mor ales/J immy Coff ey(Yam); B. J eff Kaplan /Craig Adams (Han); 9. M ike Sixbery /J im Eveland (Yam); 10 . Jeff Dar land/Bobby Russell (Han); 11. Jo hn Braasch/Bren Dun can (Yam); 12. Brian Never . stich /J ohn Drew (Hon); 13. David Calla wa y/ Char lie Barn ey (Kaw ); 14. SCOll And erson /M ichael Burke (Han); 15. Richard J ackson /John Etchart (Han); 16 . Pranccts O!!rd eu x; 17 . Bob Rieg er/Roger Hurd (Kaw ); l B. R,ck Kryger / J ohn Alexander (Ka w).