Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Dubach's jump threw Johnson off and he left th e gate poorly. ' '' T h e clock (which co n tro ls the fall of th e gate) was close to the top so I was staring at the gate," explained Dubach . " So m eb o dy must have bumped it because th e gate ji ggled a nd I went. " " H e was over th e gate before it fell, " said J ohnson. " I was a ' bit confused a n d wa sn 't paying attention when th e gate dropped." Dubach wasn 't sure what to do an d slowed going up th e start hill , but came down in fir st until Lawrence stuffed him in th e sa me place he had in the 125cc ra ce the day before. Dubach then crashed on the second lap and charged from th e back of th e pack. Dave Newell -held third briefl y over Rich Taylor, Grayson Goodman and Michael Craig. Johnson was on the move after starting near 10th , and by lap four was up to second. Lawrence had pulled out a five-se cond le ad, but Johnson quickly cut that margin and took first two laps later. Kehoe was also on the move a n d after reeling Lawrence in followed him for several lap s before making a mov e. Brooks was also charging a few seconds behind Kehoe and dropped Lawrence a lap later, then Lawren ce fell. Brian Manley h ad locked in behind Brooks a n d Iollowed him up to th e front before retiring with transmission problems. Johnson wasn 't far ahead o f Keh oe and hi s lead was reduced in th e closing laps, but th ere wasn't enough time for Keh oe to get close en o ug h to challenge. " I was trying to wat ch Keh oe a couple of turns back ins tead of watching m y pit board, " said Johnson. " All I was th inkin g about was fini shin g . M y h and hu rt but I blocked o ut th e -pa in. I di d n' t wa nt to push m y wrist, it 's still a little weak a nd I co u ld 've th ro wn m yself o n th e grou nd. " " I saw J ohnson a little ways a head a nd p ut m y m in d to ca tch ing him ," said Keh oe. " I was ei ther go ing to cras h or ge t him. ,. At one point Brooks nearl y ca ugh t Keh oe, but faded back to tak e a safe third. "I ca ugh t Keh oe a nd co u ldn ' t h old on," Brooks said, his blistered hand wrapped in a bandage. " I could see (Johnson ) up there but just couldn't hold o n." L awren ce 's fall a llo we d St eve Lamson to close in an d pass for fourth lat e in th e race, .a n d Dubach had cha rge d up to co me across th e line a cl ose fift h, but his one -la p penalty. kn ocked him back to 20th in the o ff icia l s ta n di ngs. R yan Hughes crossed th e lin e for sixth place beh ind .La wren ce. In every Expe rt class', Rick Johnson (1 0 0) 'had to pass several ri ders before taking co mmand . Here he 's ar oun d 10th in the 250cc main and leads t hird -place fi nis her Larry Brooks (44) and ru nner-up Erik Kehoe (81). Amateur Th e Amate ur p o rt ion of th e pro gram was th e largest o f th e fourda y weeken d, a nd in so me cases provid ed th e best racing actio n. The riders raced in two qualifying rno tos , with th e top ride rs adva ncin g into a fin al [o r eac h separa te class . Points were carried over from th e ea rlier motos, with th e m ain events p aying , double points . .T he 250cc Junior class was th e biggest o f the bunch , a nd featured 182 rid er s battling in six di visi ons, all hoping to m ak e th e final. In division one, Yamaha-mounted Kevin G eyer swept both m o tos to enter th e main in a four-way tie with Steve Nelson, Chris Murphy and Stephen Mitchell for low points. The fina l saw Murphy and Geyer go head-to-head with Geyer eventually co m in g out 'o n top after th e 20minute mota. Bill Crawford, who carried five points over from division five, was runner-up, with Murphy, Tommy Clowers (20) easi ly topped the M in i Expert class after w inning his first qualifier and t he main event. Jeff Dement (2 2) was second overall ahead of Danny Ulven and Spud Walters (16). Joel Albrecht was fifth. Donny Sievertson, and J aim e Knox rounding out the top five. The anticipated battle between Kawasaki Team Green members Joel Albrecht and Tomm y Clower s in th e ' 80cc Expert class failed to m aterialize as . troubles plagued Albrecht throughout Thursday's co m peti tion . Albrecht ran out of gas inthe first qualifier, and then crashed during th e ea rly running in th e final. H ow ever, Jeff Dement picked up where Albrecht left off and battled feveri shly with Clowers before Ial ling off the pace in the m ain. Cl ow ers rac ked up th e win a head o f Dem ent, Danny Ulv en, Spud Walters a n d Albrecht, The 80cc Intermediates were co rnbined in the same motos as th e Experts, but were scored separately. The final saw Michael Brandes and Tony Amaradio wage a war with Arnaradio passing Brandes late in th e moto for th e overa ll. Steve H engeveld wa s th ird a short di stance ahead o f Danny Nel son and Greg Sch ne ll. 15

• Cover