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la...k Racing'. Robbie Peterson (16) and Edwin Honda'. Jimmy Filice (65) disputed second place, with Filice holding the position at the stripe. Northern C8lifornian Richard Oliver won hi. fim-ever C8strol 250cc . Grand Prix in Randy Mamo.. Racing colors at Road Adanu. AMA Castrol 2SOCC Grand Prix Series: Round 2 Oliver wins, Kocinski hurt By Brian Catterson Photos by Greg Mitchell BRASELTON, GA, MAY 7 Randy Mamola Racing's Richard Oliver took advantage of a heat race crash which left defending National Champion John Kocinski injured to WIn his secon~-e:v~r Castrol 250cc Grand Prix. . Cal'f' . The Pittsburgh, 1 C!":lla, nder left the competItIon behind, working his Yamaha S TZ250 through traffic at an average speed of 100.452 mph to stretch his advantage to 7.63 seconds at the checkered flag. Behind Oliver, a scrap for second place inv~l.ving Edwin Honda's Jimmy Flhce and John Lassak Racing Aprilia rider Robbie Peterson saw Filice take the runner-up slot. South African Peterson led a cluster of John Lassak machinery in the top 10, with his two teammates, Canadian Miguel DuHamel on an 'SS Yamaha and Brit Alan Carter on an Aprilia, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively. Between the Lassak pair was Mciver Racing's Donnie Greene on the Splatrnaster Yamaha in fifth position, while Daniel Coe, Doug Brauneck, Steve Crevier and Richard Moore completed the top 10. Kocinski, 250cc Grand Prix Champion for the past two years, was involved in an unusual incident in the first of two heat races on Saturday which left him with a broken right wrist and bruised left knee. The 21year-old, Modesto, California, resident had worked his way up from the fifth position into the lead by the third of the five-lap race, and was being pursued by souther!l Californian Richard Moore when both riders fell in unrelated incidents in the same mfn. Kocinski, however, bore the brunt of the crash. He was high-sided violently off the Viceroy Yamaha TZ250, only to jump up with his back to approaching traffic and be strucl~ down by .Moor~ s shding machlDe, knocklDg hIm to the ground. Kocinski received the .full attention of the emergency medical crew, who placed him on a backboard with a neckbrace for transport.. Moore, though bruised, was not seriously injured. Moore's Yamaha, however, suffered bent brake discs as well as cosmetic damage, fo~cing him ~o stay up late Saturday mght. Iromcally, Moore borrowed a set of stan~d discs (rather than the cast iron discs he'd been using) from Team Viceroy Yamaha's tuner Bud Aksland..As a result he was able to make the fmal. With Kocinski and Moore out of the way, Peterson cruised to the first heat race win, leading Crevier, Coe, Chris D'A1uisio and Ben Williams across the finish line. The second heat race saw a fierce battle between ex-Lassak teammates Oliver and Carter, but Carter smoked the tire coming out of turn seven and was thrown off the high side of the Aprilia. Filice ran second, chased by Greene, DuHamel and Kocinski's teammate Thomas Stevens. Greene and Stevens passed Filice to take second and third, while DuHamel worked backwards to finish sixth. Doug Brauneck occupiea the fifth slot at the finish. Filice was enjoying his first outing on his new machine, a production Honda. RS250 with works. NS~ suspenSIOn and a factory engme kit tuned by Louis Vallerga and Dennis Town. "It's fun now," he said, in contrast to last year when he unsuccessfully tried to come to terms with an ill-handling 'SS RS250. Lassak was also happier now, having replaced his Apnlia's trou- blesome ignition system with more reliable 'S9 parts. DuHamel's Aprilia, the third of the three, had been robbed of some of its critical components, but Lassak said it would be back in time for the next round of the series.. When it came time for Sunday afternoon's final, Oliver got an awesome start from his outside pole position, only to fall victim to the same problem he and a number of other TZ250 pilots have been plagued with, namely a sudden drop in power, and fell back through the field. Nevertheless, he completed the first lap in second place, just behind leader Peterson. Greene ran third with Filice fourth and Crevier fifth. A group of riders had gone down in the first turn, but it wasn't until lap two that they deemed the ambulance necessary and red-flagged the race. Among them was Eric Kondo, who suffered a suspected broken wrist. Jon Cornwell also went down in the melee, continuing the same bad luck he bad the previous weekend when he crashed in Canada and badly damaged his Frank Ciampiniowned Aprilia. He had borrowed Donnie Greene's '88 Yamaha for the AMA Nationai, and now that was crashed, also. Oliver explained his troubles: "It's a wierd problem where the bike dies suddenly if you overrev it and then shift. It falls on its face and takes a few seconds to come back on the pipe. It used to be just an inconvenience, but now 1 think it's dangerous." Oliver had a point, as earlier in practice Brauneck's John Hasty Yamaha suffered the same quirk and Stevens ran into him from behind. Neither rider fell, but Stevens' front . tire had exploded. Clearly, there was potential for disaster. During the delay, Stevens' crew took time out to change jetting, going slightly leaner since Thomas felt it was hesitating. Maybe they shouldn't have, as the Yamaha lasted just four laps before seizing and stranding the Floridian out on the course. It was decided that the race would go the full 2O-Lap distance following the restart, and it was again Oliver who led into turn one. This time he had no such problems and led the field across the stripe to begin lap two. Peterson gave chase, with Filice, Stevens, Crevier, DuHamel, Coe, Greene and Brauneck all in hot pursuit. Moore in ninth led Carter in 10th as both riders were trying to make up for their heat race crashinduced last-row starting positions. "I was seventh the first time around before the red flag," said Carter in obvious disgust later. DuHamel and Coe got by Crevier on lap two, as Moore and Carter passed Brauneck. A lap Later, Crevier fell even further back as the Moore! Carter duo went by him. Lap five saw the beginning of Moore's downfall, as Brauneck got back by him, and then Crevier follo.wed suit on lap eight. Moore tried to stay with Crevier, but his borrowed brakes gradually deteriorated resulting in a 10th-place finish, disappointing in that it came after his best-ever, thirdplace finish at Daytona. The halfway point, lap 10, saw Oliver stretch out a significant advantage over Peterson for the first time, one which would only get bigger. Filice was closing on Peterson in second, as Coe closed on DuHamel who was running fourth. Carter had gotten by Greene for ,sixth, with Brauneck right behind Crevier and Moore continued to run alone. The next few laps saw a flurry of position swapping' as Greene and Carter both passed Coe. Shortly thereafter, Coe lost touch when he was held up in the esses, a section of the track with just one line that makes passing difficult. Lap 16 saw the inevitable pass of Filice over Peterson, positions they would hold till the finish. OLiver cruised to the win, with Filice second, Peterson third, DuHamel fourth and Greene fifth. Carter had to settle for sixth, one place in front of Coe. Brauneck, Crevier and Moore rounded out the top 10. "I may have had a bit of motor on them, but they were pulling away .from me in the back," said Peterson, who's sponsored by Lassak Racing,. VP Fuel, House of Wheels, Bob Pave, White Brothers and Kal-Gard "Richard seemed like he just had it together better than Robbie and me," admitted Filice, who's sponsored by Edwin USA, Honda, Shoo, Kushitani and Michelin. "I live in California, but this is my home track," Oliver elatedly told the crowd. "Everyone cheers me in every turn and I can feel it." Oliver is supported by Randy Mamola Racing, Arai, Dunlop, House of Wheels, Kushitani, AlpineStar, VP Fuel, AP Lockheed, Kosman, KalGard, Castrol, Ohlins, Air Tech and Supertecb. Also present in the winner's circle was Castrol representative Walter Von Schoenfeld, who was celebrating his birthday. "It's a wonderful birthday present for me to see the riders perform like this," he said. • Results 250 GP: 1. Richard Oliver (Yam); 2. Jimmy Filice (Han); 3. Robbie Petarsen (Apr~ 4. Miguel DuHamel (Yam); 5. Don Groena (Yam); 6. Alan Carter (Apr); 7. Danial Coe (Yam); 8. Doug 8raunadt (Yaml; 9. Steve Cravier (Apr); 10. Richard Moora (Yam); 11. Cam Roos (Yam~ 12. AI SalaWlrria (Yam~ 13. Clifton Biganey (Yam); 14. James Bonner (Yam~ 15. Jooaph Cole (Yam). AMA/CASTROL 250cc POINT STANDINGS: 1. Rich Oli_ (36): 2. Donnie Greene (2n 3. John Kocinoki (20); 4. (TIE) Richard Mo«e/Danny Coe/ Miguel DuHamel (1 B~ 8. Jimmy Filice (18); 9. Robbie PeterMn (13~ 10. Steve CnMer (11 ~