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Florida's Thomas Stevens (5) had his best result of the season, topping Robbie Petersen (16) in a near race-long battle for second. Defending National Champion John Kocinski won his fourth race of the season and stretched his points lead over Rich Oliver to 15 points. AMAjCastrol 250cc Grand Prix Series: Round 6 Kocinski marches on at Mid-Ohio By Paul Carruthers Photos by Bert Shepard LEXINGTON , OH, AUG 6 T eam Viceroy Yamaha' s John Kocin ski took a gian t step towards takin g h is third success ive 250cc National Championship today a t the Mid-Ohio .Sports Car Course, winning his fourth race of th e season in typical _ru naway fashion - averaging 88.207 hi h 1 Ii 1 mp In t e 21- ap Ina . 8 Kocinski 's cha m pio ns hip hopes were furth er enr iched by th e sixth pla ce fini sh of hi s nearest cha lle nge r Rich Oliver. The Randy Mam ola Racin g rider crashed his Yam ah a TZ250 twice, o nce in practice and ano ther tim e in h is heal race, injuring hi s righ t sho u lder. The Califor- ' nian was no t up to par by race tim e and rode gamely to fini sh sixth . Second pl ace behind Kocin ski was his Viceroy teammate Thomas Stevens . For th e first tim e this seaso n, the Floridian d isp layed th e form and co n fiden ce t hat m ad e him th e seco nd-ra nked 250cc rider in 1987 a nd he beat J ohn Lassak Racing's Robbie Petersen in a stra igh t figh t. . . .Aprilia-rnounted Petersen equaled ever performances fro~ the hi s' bestearlier Road Atlanta and Brainerd r~>l~n~s of .the cham p io nsh ip by finishing third. . Splatrnaster's Donnie Greene and J ohn Hasty Racing's Doug Brauneck battled throughout for fourth p lace with Greene getting the nod as Braunec;k suffered a bro ken Iootpeg on the fina l lap. Ol iver, Ca liforn ia n J ames Stephens, Connecticutian Chris D'Aluisio , Californian Ri chard Moo re and Georgian Cam Roos rounded out the top 10 finishers ; all were Yamaha TZ250 mounted. . Kocinski 's victory extends his poi nt lead over O liver to 15 points, 96-81, with only two rounds remaining. Greene ~old~ down t~ird in t!Ie cham p ionsh ip WIth 64 pomt~ while Petersen vaults to fourth with 52. Three rid ers, Stevens , Brauneck and Da!1ny Coe, ar e tied for fifth in th e .series with 45 1?00ntS. When pr actice began on Thursda.y, riders f?und .the no toriou sly slI p p e ry Mld-~hlO Sports Car Course even sticker th an m pa st years . That , co mbined with ra in sho wers, shortened practice time for many. It was during Friday's practice th at . Ol iv er ' s" m isfortunat e week end bega n. !'t th e, en d o f t he long ba ckstraight hi s th rottle hou s.mg . ~pu n, ca usm~ th e front brak e to Jam m ,~he of~ pos~tlon . . I realized It was Jammed and had to turn th e throttl e a nd put t~~ blO:kes o~, b~t I was out of roa d,. Oliver said. I must ha ve been gomg over 100 mph and I had to lock up th e front wh eel so I didn 't hit th e tire wall. I bashed my sho ulder pretty good." The first heat race got underway with Kocinski nailing the holeshot. He would lead every lap, cruising 10 a -t.8-second wi n. The battle for second was a m ini preview of the final as Stevens and Petersen pulled clear from the pack behind them. Petersen would take the second spot with Stevens settl ing for third. Green and Ben Williams rounded o ut the top five. The second heat race saw O liver arrive in turn o ne first, but Bra uneck was soon past and leadi ng the fray. Bra uneck woul d pu ll himself clear from the fray, and on the th ird lap Oliver crashed. " I thin k this crash was caused by being hurt from yesterday," O liver said. "I just don't have much strength and it's hard to control. There's a dirt spot on the inside and I just hit it and went down. It's my fault. I just don 't have th e str ength to ride the bik e lik e I want. I'll have to lower m y expectations for tomo rrow." Coe would hold off William Himmelsbach and Moore, who suffered from a warped front di sc, to finish second. Stephens rounded out the top five. " Man, that tra ck is so me th ing else," Brauneck said after the heat race win. " I lost th e front end three tim es going into turn nine on the same lap. Both ends are j ust sliding th e whole tim e." The track co nditions were much improved by Sunday'S final , and warm, su nny conditions greeted the 28 starters. Kocinski aga in nailed one of h is patented hol eshots, leading h i s teammate St evens into th e first corner. Petersen wasn't letting them ge t away, however, and he o utbraked Stevens at the end of the bac kstraight to move into second place. At the end of the first lap, Kocinski was clear - leading by 2.13 seconds on his immaculately-prepared, Bud Aksland-tuned Yamaha. The 21year-old wouldn 't look back, turning in nine quick laps in the I:37-range before slowing brie£ly for four laps and then upping the pa ce aga in to drop into the 36s. At the end of three laps, Kocinski led by over six seco nds and that would grow to 22,48 seco nds at th e end of his 21·l ap assault. Petersen and Stevens would continue to battle for the majority of the race, even touching brie£ly at the end of the backstraight on the second lap. " At the end of the backstraight he (Pe tersen) let off and then I let off," Stevens said later. "We didn 't h it hard, but he had nowhere to go and had to back off, I just tried to stay as consistent as I co uld." Stevens would begin to get the better of Petersen on the 17th lap as he 'pulled out a second lead th at wo uld stretch to some three seconds at th e finish. " He go t better breaks in traffic," Petersen said. " But he ma de the breaks and I didn't. I'm happy." Early in the final, Greene held a lo nely third - bu t Brauneck slowly but surely reeled h im in and on th e ni nth lap they were together. Bra uneck wou ld lead the 17th and 18th laps, bu t Greene would lead the final three with Brauneck losing his ' Iootpeg on the final go-around. "I found it was kind of hard to ride it without a footpeg," Brauneck said. " T hat was the fastest I've gone all weekend, " Green e said. " Bu t it wasn't pulling real good. Something just wasn't quite r ight. It wa s disappointing wat ching those gu ys pull awa y from me." Sixth pl ace was held by James Stephens until th e 10th lap when he was passed by Ol iver, who du e to his heat race cras h had to sta rt at th e rear of th e field. Oliver would cruise to a lon ely, yet painful sixth place and Stephens would do likewise , sa ns pain, in seventh. D'Aluisio turne d in an impressive effort on his Yamaha TZ250 , co ming from II th on th e third lap to fight th rou gh to eigh th, leaving a battling group behind him. That group co nsisted of Moore (ridi ng for the first tim e as part of John Lassak Ra cing's effort), Cam Roos, H immelsbach, South African Brent Van De Stadt (on another J oh n Lassak Yamaha) and Coe. The five wou ld battle fo r th e maj o rity of th e race with Coe losin g touch late when he was forced wide by Van De Stadt. : Co e was also hindered by a wrong gearing choice and the resulting overrevving motor. Moore would get th e nod at th e finish lin e for ninth, leading Roos, Himmelsbach, Van De Stadt and Coe. " I got a bad start and five more got me in the Spoon," Moore said. " T ra ffic was weird and I didn 't want to take any chances." Oliver was in pain , but wa s pl eased to have finished: " I' m just numb. I'm happy where I am ." Kocinski thanked Bud Aksland and th e rest of his crew, plus sponso rs Viceroy, Motul, Shoei, T akai,' Dunlop, Cam 2 and Yamaha. " I had th e fastest bike on the track and good tires," he said. ' 'I' m surprised we got the combination as good as we did with the practice getting cut because of the rain." Results 250 GP: 1. John Kocinslti (Yam): 2. Thomas Stevens (Yam): 3. Robbia Petersen (Apr): 4. Don Greene (Yam); 5. Doug Brauneck (Yam); 6. Richard Oliver {YamI: 7. James Stephens (Vam): 8. Chris D'Aluisio (Vaml; 9. Richard Moore (Vaml; 10. Cam Roos (Vaml: 11. Will iam Himmelsbach (Yam): 12. Brent Van Da Stam (yam): 13. Danny Cos (YamI: 14. Ben Williams (Yam~ 15. William D. Knott (Yam). AMAICASTROL 250cc GP POINT STANDINGS: 1. John Kocin""i (961 2. Rich Oliver (81); 3. Don ; Grasne (641; 4. Robbie Petersan (521 5. (TIEl : Thomas Stevena/Doug 8raunecklDanny Cos (4 5); 8. Alan Caner (41t 9. Richard Moore (33): 10. (TIE) Chris D'Aluisio/Miguel DuHamel (31); 12. Cam Roos(231; 13. James Stephens (19); 14. Ji m Filice (16); 15. Will iam Himm elsbach (12t 16. Steve Crevier (11); 17. AI Salaverria (81 18. Benjam in ; Williams (7t 19. Jon Cornwe ll (6t 20. (TIEl J im Dewitte/Eric Kondo (41 .