Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Doug Dubach (3) holeshot j ust about every moto he raced and f inished second in the Open Expert class and third in the 125cc division . Johnson returns, sweeps Mammoth Motocross By Nate Rauba and Ken Faught MAMMOTH LAKES , CA, J UNE 22-25 A three-month layoff due to a broken wrist hasn 't slowed down H on da 's Rick J oh nson. T h e multi -ti me ch a m p io n returned to action with a three-class sweep at the 22nd Annual Mammoth Motocro ss. J ohnson lo ves to ride at th e h h M sa n d y, roug . am ~ o t co urse lo cated In the Sierra Nevada mountains, a nd he li kes th e people who run a nd come o ut to wa tch th e races. But this year he was raci ng Mammoth no t j ust because he likes th e event, but because he needed the train ing to get back up to speed followi ng the wr ist inj ury he suffered in early March. And J ohnson go t p lenty of trainin g in the four-da y event since he had to work ha rd to win each of the three, 35-m in u te pl us o ne-lap Expert class main events and earn a $5000 bo n us for having the best combi ned score for all three Expert classes. J ohnso n also earned $ 1800 for each clas s win from the $20,000 pro p urse. " It feels really good to sweep all three classes," said a somewha t weary J ohnson following th e final day of compe tition. "Today it was on th e verge of fun a nd work. I' ve been train ing ha rd th e wh o le week, and that's what th is was all about train in g." J ohnson 's training got off to a somew ha t leisurely start on Friday in th e Open Expert class whe n he pa ssed Yamah a's Doug Dubach ea rly III the main a nd motored on to a n II-second victo ry. Dubach held o n to second a nd fin ish ed well a head of Brian Myerscough, who had passed T yson Voh la nd o n th e fina l lap whe n Voh land slo wed w it h an injured shou lder. Johnson had a much toug her tim e in the I25cc Expert class the next day as he !I!et fierce com p~ti tion and was a t a slight weigh tdisad vantage o n the long up hill aboa rd the 125, the mach in e where performa nce -is mos t affected by th e . 8000-foo t altitude. After starting th e fin al aro u n d seventh, J ohnson had to fig h t Steve La mso n, Suzu ki 's Erik Keh oe, La rry Brooks and Dubach before he go t a shot a t Su zuki's T y Davis, who led much of the race. Even after Johnson got by, Davis fought back and nea rly repassed h im o n th e final la p. O n the fina l day , J ohnson agai n had to work up from a back- IO sta rt to ta ke first fro m Ph il Lawrence, . then had to maintain a q uick pace as Keh oe also charged u p from a poor start a nd presented a th reat late in the race. Also charg ing th rough ou t the race was Broo ks, who held o n to th ird despi te a bl istered ha nd. But it wa sn 't a ll Expert class raci ng on th e mo untain. A record 1300 ent ries meant several divisions of Junior a nd Interm ediat e classes, a nd for the fir st tim e a sepa ra te day of co m pe titio n, w hi ch prod uced the largest turnout, was held o n T h ursday for .Veteran a nd Min i class ride rs. Wom en 's classes were also represen ted. A trad itio nal two-mote for ma t was used with th e top overa ll finis hers adva nc ing to th e ma in events in each class , a nd poi nt s from each moto fin ish carried over wh ile the main cou nted for double points. In Ex pert class racing, th e to p rid ers adva nced d irectl y to the main fro m the first moto, wit h mo to two more of a last chance qual ifier. T he event a lso d rew a record number of spec ta tors as a pproximat ely 5000 fan s rod e th e sh u ttle busses fro m town to the track in order to 'wa tch the action from th e pi ts or fro m th e hillsides. "T he people here ge t to co me up close," explained J ohnso n. "T hey' re rea l race ent h us iasts a nd th ey lik e to see th e best man win ." Pro From the beginning of Expertclass heat ac'tion on Friday , it was obvious there would be a Dubach / Johnso n ba ttle th rough out the weeken d as J oh nson had to reel th e Yamaha teamster in to win the Open Expert q ua lifier. At the start of th e m ain it was the sa m e story as holesh ot specialist Dubach led J ohnson, Myersco ug h, Vohland a nd Sco tt Bro wn a ro u n d th e firs t ci rcu i t. J ohnson pl ayed a ca utio us wai ting ga me, the n mad e hi s mov e a t th e beginnin g of la p fou r. " Doug (Du bach) was go ing r eally . fast," said J oh nso n. " 1 don't like to follow any body, especially on th is track beca use of th e roos t a nd rocks. I was looking for lines, a nd didn 't want to be a hero a nd pass ·too q uickly." Once into th e lea d J ohnson qu ickl y began to pull away a nd wo uld build u p a 15-second lead before backi ng o rr near th e end. Dubach stayed alone in second a nd slowly dr ifted back with no rear brak e. " I tried to hang with hi m , but had probl ems wit h th e rear brake," Dubach said. " After the halfway point the pedal was h itting th e fra me a nd I rode as smooth ly as I cou ld." T he best battle of th e race was for thi rd as Myerscough was passed by Voh la nd j us t befor e the halfwa y poi nt, but wo uld n' t let him ge t too far a hea d. Vohland would pu ll awa y slig h tly, bu t Myerscough al ways reeled him in and was close eno ugh to overtake Vohla nd wh en he hit a hole near th e end of th e race and separa ted hi s shou lder. Voh la n d d idn 't go down in th e in cident and came ac ross th e line in fourth , ho lding hi s so re shoJ'l'der. Mike Pascarell a, aboard a Suzuki Co un tr y Ra cin g 350c c-ki ued RM250, rode a steady pace a nd came up through the pack to cla im fifth o ver Ti m McClintock, Brian Manley', Mike Yo un g a nd J im Ellis , while Brown dropped back to comp lete the top 10. In Sa tu rda y's 125cc Expert action, John so n h ad work ed up from aro und 10th in hi s qualifier before he fin ished thi rd. All th e action was up fro nt as Dub ach a nd Davi s battled th e w ho le wa y, a n d just wh en J ohnson joined that ha ttie he fell in a n o rr-camber turn. Mich ael Crai g led P hil Lawrence to the finish in . th e o ther qualifi er. Da vis sho t into the lead at the start of the main while Du bach shoved La wre nce out of the way at the bottom of th e downhill to ta ke u p th e chase. Keh oe follo wed in thi rd over Steve Lamso n, Brooks a nd J ohnson. Davis set a qu ick pace a nd was a few seconds ahead of Dubach by th e second lap, wh ile J o hnso n mov ed in on Brooks a nd the two rapidl y closed in o n Keh oe. Jo hnson eve nt ua lly p a ssed Brooks, then go t Keh oe a nd went looking for Dub ach. At the halfway point he found the Yam aha rid er a nd eas i ly passed him when Dubach slowed sligh tl y due to a rear flat. Dav is was a bo ut se ve n seco n ds ahead , but withi n tw o laps the margin was go ne a nd soon J ohnson was once again out front to stay . " Davis ma de some m istakes a nd pick ed a bad lin e arou nd so me lappers. I went to the inside a nd passed him ," sa id J oh nson. " I saw Dubach a nd Keh oe o n my pit board , then saw J ohnson and kn ew I had to go faster," Davis said. "T here were two lappe rs in a rut a nd I went wide." Dav is didn 't give up, th ough , a nd kept J ohnson in sig ht to t he checkers, pullin g close a t one po int. "1 saw him bobble a nd th ought I coul d ge t h im , but tim e ra n o ut," said Davis. For J ohnson it was hi s first ride on a 125 in several years . " T he bike was fast, but my extra weight evened it ou t," said J ohnso n. Dubach cruised home third wh ile Todd DeH oo p, wh o was cha rging the entire di stan ce, passed Broo ks on th e last lap when Brook s' rear axle came loose a nd derai led th e chain just before th e fini sh . Brook s had to rem ount the cha in twi ce' befo re lim ping home fi ft h in front o f Keh oe. At the start of th e 250cc main, Dubach j umped over the ga te and was immediately penal ized one la p.

• Cover