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/127200
In the first 250cc moto, Lechien (4 ) led Jeff Ward (1 ) in the opening laps. Ward eventually passed Lechien and took the moto w in. Honda's Larry Ward (971) avoids tangling with Suzuki's Todd DeHoop (18) while.charging to second place in the 125cc second moto. The only battl e th at rem ain ed was between j oh nso n and Wa rd. However , Ward even tuall y ba cked o ff knowing he would wrap u p second o vera ll with a third in th e mot o. Once free o f Wa rd, j ohnson set his sig h ts on the leader, Lechien , who was ap p ro xima tely seven seco nds a hea d of the Honda rid er. j ohnson, who is still recover ing from a serio us wri st injury, looked 10 be ga in ing slig ht ly on Lechien near th e end o f th e m ot o. But j ohnson 's a tt ac k tapered off as Lechien cruised a head for the win. " My wrist feels fin e, bu t I sta rted to lose my grip towards th e end ," said j ohnson. " 1 just wasn 't aggre ssive eno ugh at th e sta rt a nd let th em get away . T ha t's where I lost." Crossing th e fin ish line in fourth pl ace, a short distance behind Ward, . was Tichenor with Dym ond a few seconds off his pa ce. Ro u nding ou t the top 10 was Yamaha 's Shaun Kalos , Andrews, H a wth o rn e and Sommo. 125cc The first I25cc moto sa w a see-saw di ce for the lead between Kiedrowski a nd Cooper. Kiedrowski came out of the first turn in the lea d j ust inches ahead of Cooper, Suzuki's Todd DeH oop , Honda 's defending champ George Holland, Kawasaki rider jeff Em ig and Suzu ki's Erik Kehoe. Brad shaw , as well as Honda's Larry .Ward and two other riders, went down in a firstturn pileup. Bradshaw remounted in last place then picked off three riders on the first lap, 18 by the second, a nd wo ul d eventually finish 12th in the moto. Kehoe p ulled out of the race on the second la p with a broken p iston ring. Up fro nt, Kiedrowski led the way wi th Cooper breathing fire behind him. For the next seven laps, Kied rowski maintained the lead un til he crashed in a corner, let ting Cooper take charge. But two la ps la ter, in the sam e corner tha t Kiedrowski had crashed, Cooper tagged a lapped rider's rea r wheel and bailed, giving the lead ba ck to Kiedrowski. Cooper reco vered in second a nd set after Kiedrowski one more time. After tak ing the white flag , Cooper as he worked his way up from his seventh- place start. By th e seventh lap, Bradshaw was pressuri ng Cooper and forced the H o nda rider into making a mistake. Cooper's frolltwhee l was h ed out as he approach ed th e triples, which forced him to double the j u m p s instead of tripling them , and Bradshaw flew by Cooper and into the lead. Out in front , Bradshaw was u nstop pable, as he quickly ex tended h is lead o ver Cooper. However, Cooper's troubles weren 't over yet. Breathing down his neck was Larry Ward, who passed th e Honda rider a la p la ter. With a few lap s remaining, Bradshaw enjoyed a modest lead that carr ied him to the mo to win. The victory also catapulted the Yamaha rider into the 125cc points lead over Kiedrowski, who could do no better than eigh th in the mo to. Larry Ward finished up in second ahead o f Cooper, La Ro cco, Schmit, DeHoop and Kehoe. • Damon Bradshaw (45) passed winner Guy Cooper (10) through the whoops in the second 125cc moto . set up Kiedrowski in a turn before the triples. Cooper lat er said that he . went wide in . the turn a nd used the extra drive coming out' 10 triple the jumps, wh i le Kiedro ws k i o n ly jumped the first two. Coope r. fin ished inches ahead of Kiedrowski for the win. . Finishing third was H o lla nd, who spent the entire rnoto defe nding his position from H o nda privateer rider Do n n y Schmit, wh ile fifth went to Yamaha's Mike LaRocco. Moto two featured th e same intensity with H olland taking command after the opening la p . He was pursued by Cooper, Schmit, DeHoop, La rry Ward, Den ny Stephenson and Bradshaw. H o lland led for five lap s before crashing and injuring his shoulder. Cooper i n h e ri te d th e lead over Schmit, whil e Bradshaw forc ed his way into third, just ahead o f Ward. T he top four riders were inches apart as the y battled for positions. Bu t the rider to watch was Bradshaw, Results ' 250: 1. Ron Lochien (Kaw) ' 2·1 ; 2. J eff Ward (Kaw) 1-3; 3. Rick Jo hns on (Hon) 3-2; 4. Ronnie Tichen or (Suz) 5-4 ; 5. Keith Bow en (Suz) 6-6; 6. M icky Dymond (Yam) 9- -5; 7. Fred A ndrew s (Hon) 8-B; 8. 1 24); 9. Ray Sommo (Suz) 10-10; 10. Jeff Hicks (Hon) 11- 11; 11. Doug Dubach (Yam) 7-15 ; 12 . Denn is Hawthorn e (Kaw ) 14 -9; 13. J eff Stanton (Hon) 4-dn!; 14 . M ike Fisher (Kaw) 13. 12; 15. Kurt M cM ill en (Hon) dn! -13; 16. Jo hnn y O'M ara (Suz) 15-19; 17. Mike Morr is (Suz) 23-14; 1B. Jo e Maur er (Kaw ) 20 -16 ; 19. Chu ck Reed (Kaw ) 16 -29; 20 . M ike Roth (Yam) 22 · 17. 125: 1. Guy Cooper (Hon) 1-3; 2. M ike Kiedrowski (Hon) 2-8; 3. Damon Bradshaw (Yam) 12- 1; 4. Mike LaRocco (Yam) 5-4; 5. Donny Schmit (Hon) 4· 5; _ 6. Larry Ward (Hon) 11-2 . 7. Denn y Stephenson (Kaw) 7- 9; 8. Todd DeHoop (Suz) 10-7; 9. Ty Davis (Suz) 9·10; 10. J eff Matiasevich (Kaw) 8-12; 11. George Holl and (Hon) 3- dn!; 12. Dale Spangle r (Suz) 13- 11; 13. Er ik Kehoe (Suz) dn!-6; 14. Jeff Emig (Kaw ) 6-dn!; 15 . Greg Bow en (Hon) 15-1 4; 16. M ich ael Jones (Yem) 18 -13; 17. Grayson Goodman (Yam) 17- 15; 18. Billy Wh it ley (Cag) 16 16; 19. Jeff Glass (Hon) 14-18; 20. J ames Eickel (Yam) 19-19 FINAL NATIONAL CHAM PIONSHIP 2500c M X SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Stanton (30 6); 2. Ward (290); 3. (TIE) Tichenor /Lechien (198 ); 5. Kalos (176); 6. Dubach (172); 7. Andrews (169); 8. O'M ara (163); 9. Dymond (14 1); 10 . Hawthorn e (124). NATIONAL CHAMP IONSHIP 125cc M X SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bradshaw (249); 2. Cooper (246) ; 3. Holland (24 5); 4. Kiedrowski (244); 5. Schmit (225); 6. laRocco (20 5); 7. Larry Ward (19 3); 8. Kehoe (169); 9. (TIE) Ma tiasevich /Davis (149). 9