Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Mike Brown took wins in both the 125 and 250cc Expert classes. .' . . __'* .' "t: The 51 cc f inal prepares to leave the line during intermission of Saturday night's pro event. Don Leddy (left) and Staci Stoller were interviewed by Motoworld's Larry Ma iers in front of the fans after finishing 1-2 in the 51 cc class . Brown doubles at Miami Amateur 51 By Mike and Anne Adair ' MIAMI , FL, FEB . 18 Mike Brown swept the 125cc and 250cc Exper t divisions in the opening round of the G rand Slam of -Mo tocross Series a t Miami 's Joe Robbie Stadium. Brow n 's Kawasaki T eam Green teammate, Hank Moree, al so doubled with wins in the 250cc B and 125cc You th class. T he AMA sa nc tio ne d, WorldSports promo ted, Scott USA, Dunlo p , Boyesen and Wi seco -sponsored series will include th e Miami , Atlanta , Daytona and T ampa Supercrosses and t h e Gainesville Outdoor National Mo tocross. According to series coordinator Bob West, " We are featuring a five-star seri es to crown th e best of th e best from th e amateur ra n ks. Th is is th e first year we have exte nded the series from a three to a five-race co ntest." T h e Later G ator Mo to r Cycle Cl ub pro vided a n enthusiastic co rps of comer person nel for the event. Track Designer J ohn Savitski took 16 to ns of dirt a nd created a supercross circui t, coveri ng th e same grass used just la st mo nt h for th e Superbowl. Ka wa saki /B arrs/B ell /FMF/ P Jsponsored Bro wn co m me nted, . " It was a cha lle nging tra ck to ride, but n ot as fast as , ex pec ted. The dirt was tac ky, a nd tra ction was good, but th e surface robbed th e b ike of power and allowed for little sp ring." In th e 125cc Expe rt final , Eric Mel.ear's hol esh ot was self-era sed with a cras h. Brown descr ib ed th e a ct ion , say i ng, '" wa s beh ind Met.ear , Jeromy Bueh l and David Beckington . After Mel.ear, fell, , m oved by Buehl an d th en reeled in Becking ton in th e wh oops for th e win." Beckington added, '" didn 't do uble o n the tabletop an d Mik e ca ugh t me rig h t there. He's a bett er su percross rider." . Ka wa sak i / A ns we r / Barrs / Sco ll US A- backed Bu ehl , w ho e n de d seco nd sai d , " With th e soft d irt , found tha t every la p wa s a little d ifferent for m e." In 250/500cc actio n Gen e Nau mec's A XO / Ma x ima / Mi dlO w n Kawasaki provided th e best test for Bro wn. Bro wn held the point, however , whi le Naum ec dealt wi th T odd Nea l before taki ng over seco n d with on ly two laps to go. Brown said, " I had a good lead a nd th ought tha t , had it made, th en I fell. The tab letop was so spongy it grabbed m y fron t wheel. Wh en I go t up, Naumec was close. My a rms had rea lly pu m ped up badl y a nd I barel y fended h im o ff to the flag." Da vid C u rry, the Cou ntdo w n Series 500cc A winner who finished fourth in Mi ami , ex p la i ne d , " I sw itched to a 250cc m achine for supercross. It is a lot quicker th an an open b ike and more su ita b le to the tight tu rns." In 125cc B actio n Bill y Silvaro le passed Dea n Baker the n erred. Silvero le said, " I a lmost cras hed o n a do u b le a n d Baker and Anth on y Paggio go t by." Precision Perfor- mance/Si lverole Cycl e-backed Silverole regained the lead for the win. Runner-u p Pagg io admitted, "It was my first supercross a nd I was a li tt le nervous ." Hank Moree had to hustle to ea rn his 250cc B win. Kawasaki/ MX Fox! Barrs-sponsored Moree said, " I worked up from fourth. Billy (Silverole) had the lead and I passed him on the triple for the victory." J eff Curry, who trailed Moree to th e 125cc Youth clas s flag, said, " Han k knows h ow to hit th e jumps better an d it paid off for him." Proline H onda/Sm ith/ An swer/ Pro Ci r cuit-ba ck ed J o e R o g e rs ripped o ff the ga te a n d led all th e wa y in the Plus 25 class. In Sen ior class ac tio n, J ohn Winfrey passed Paul Ea ton a t th e midway point a nd eve n tua l third-pl a ce rider Frank DePaulo said, " I was running with th ose gu ys until my mo tor seized . Don Leddy sta rred in th e Pee Wee. division, leading Stacy Stoll er for a win under th e lights at th epro event. The cro wd chee red th e little guys as th ey gamely a ttac ked th e same obstacles as th e pros. In th e 65cc divi si on , Mi chael Q uartermaine upset Ricky Carmichael. Carmich ael cha llen ged Quartermaine and Zegan Brau n for the win , but th en got stuck in a rut and . ended up third. Zya Braun cras hed while leadi ng th e 85cc 14- 15-yea r-o ld class and Chris Manning gl adl y scooped up the win. Ezra Lusk led all but th e first lap for th e 85cc ( 12-13) win. R u n ner-u p T ony Haynes sa id, " I had the holeshot but fell. Ezra wa s too fast for m e to ca tc h up. I gu ess that 's su percross for you. " lack Freeman ea rned his first win ever in the 125cc C class. Seminole H onda su p po rted Fr eeman said happily aft er th e race, " Riding this track ga ve me a whole new apprecia tio n for th e pro riders a nd the ha rd rac in g th ey do ou t th ere. " • Results 125 EX: 1. M ike Brown (Kaw ); 2. J eromy Buehl (Kaw ); 3. Gene Naum ec (Kaw l; 4. Er ic Mclear (Varni ; 5. Todd Neal (Kaw ).• 250 /500 EX: 1. Mike Brow n (Kaw ); 2. Gene Naumec (Kaw); 3. Todd Neal (Kaw ); 4. David Curry (Kawl ; 5. Paul Sparks (Han). 51 : 1. Don Leddy (Vam); 2. St acy St oll er (Vam). 65: 1. M ichael Ouertermaine (Kaw); 2. Zegin Braun (Kawl ; 3. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw). B5 9·13 : 1. Ezra Lusk (Kawl; 2. Tony Haynes (Vam); 3. Steve Eller (Honl. 85 14 · 15 : 1. Chris Ma nn ing (Han); 2. Zya Braun (Kaw ); 3. Tray Small (Kaw). SR; 1. John Wi nfre y (Han); 2. Paul Eaton (Vam); 3. Don Leddy (Vam). . PLUS 25 ; 1. Joe Rogers (Han); 2. Boots Stelling (Ya·m); 3. Leve n Buchaltjan (Ka w) . 500 NOV: 1. J ohn W infr ey (Honl; 2. Billy Sexton (Han); 3. Sal Romano IKaw). 125 B: 1. Billy Silva role (Kaw); 2. Anthoy Paggio (Kaw ); 3. Dean Baker (Han). 250 B: 1. Hank More e (Kaw); 2. Billv Suva-ere (Kaw ); 3. J eff Lampe (Han). 125 C: 1. lac Freeman (Hon t; 2. Vannick Truch i (Han); 3. Joe Lonon (Yam). 250 C: 1. Steve Rodriquez (Han); 2. Scan Taylor (Han); 3. Mark Violette (Han).

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