Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Recently, the Washougal track has been criticized for being too dusty; this year's event had ideal conditions. Privateer rider Donny Schmit (9) chases Jeff Emig, who led the early stages of the second 125cc moto. Schmit is f ifth in the point standings. 125cc 8 When the gate dropped for the start of the first 125cc rno to, Bradshaw powered h is facto ry Yamaha into the lead a head of priva teer Honda ride r Donny Schmit, Kiedrowski, Honda's defen din g Nationa l Champion George H olla nd , Suzuki's Todd DeHoop, Cooper, Honda's Larry War d, a nd Kawasaki riders Jeff Emig and J eff Ma tiasevich . By the end of th e first lap, Brad sha w had alrea dy developed a sma ll ga p between h imself a n d Ki ed ro wski, wh il e Cooper began hi s charge to the front of th e pack. Two laps lat er, both Cooper a nd Holland roosted by Sch m it, taking over th e third- a nd fourth-place pos itio ns. T h is mad e the top order Brad sh a w, Ki edro wsk i , Coo per, H oll an d , Schmit, Del-loop, Larry Wa rd and Em ig. Head ing into lap three, Kiedrowski was chippi ng a way at Bradsh - saw's lead until o n ly a few inc hes separa ted the two riders. A few tu rns later, Kiedrow ski shot h is Shane Nall ey-tuned H onda CR I25 into th e lead with Cooper now press uring Bradsh aw . " Damo n messed u p in the whoops and I got hi m ," said Kiedrow ski. Then Cooper quickly overtook Bradsha w. " I di dn 't wa nt to be o u t in fro nt so ea rly in th e race," sa id Brad sh a w. " I wanted them to set th e pace. I don't lik e being o ut in front th e ent ire race." At th is point, the three lead ers had developed a sizea ble adva ntage .over th e rest of th e field. Four laps lat er, Brad sh aw made a sur prisi ng move wh en he stopped in th e mech an ic's area for a cha nge of goggles. T he p it stop cost Brad sh a w abou t eig h t seconds, but he didn 't lose a position. "Whe n I go t behind them. " said Bradsh aw , " the ir roost sta rted h it ti ng my goggl es and m y swea t sp lashed on the insid e of th e len s. I co ul dn 't see a nd I had double visio n. I had 10 pull off and get my o ther goggles. I didn 't have a choice. I just co uldn 't see." With a fresh pa ir of goggles, Bradsh aw set off after Kiedrow ski a nd Cooper with vengeance. Four laps later, with Kiedrow ski enjoying a seven-second lead, Brad sh aw was searchi ng for a line around Cooper. Following abo ut 10seconds back was Hollan d, th en ca me Schmit, La rry Ward, DeH oop, Em ig a nd Suzuki's Er ik Keh oe. . Bradshaw finall y found an open ing and passed Cooper for second place on th e last lap. " Whe n Dam on stopped for goggles I was just sittin ' behind Kiedrowski an d slowed my pace a bit ," said Cooper. "T hen Bradsh aw began catch ing back up, so I tried picking up my speed. In th e back section of the track, Dam on ca me on th e inside of me, wide open, in a sweeper turn. If I had kept 10 m y groove, he would've taken me d ear off th e track. So -' j umped th e berm a nd he h it where I would've been if I had stayed o n my line. That kind of made me mad, so I wa nt ed him back." Wi th o ne turn re m ainin g , Cooper tried repassing Bradsh aw and th e two riders coll ided a nd went down in a heap. " I went wid e in thi s bowl turn a nd he saw me com ing," said Coo per. " Da mon went to the o utside, but I had the mom entum co ming down and I j us t ga ve him a big nudge. We both fell down. I hit hi m with abo ut twice th e speed he had. Luckil y my bike stayed running so I go t away first." "After I go t by Coo per a lapper go t in my way and I had to cha nge my line a co up le of different tim es, and he stayed .with me," said Bradshaw. " He went to the o u tside a nd came down into me in th e tu rn , a nd w hen he did o u r bikes hooked together. It was a prett y good move o n hi s part. I have no hard feelings." Kied ro wski crossed the fin ish lin e about 10 seconds a hea d of Cooper, who edged ahead of Bradshaw. A ways back in fourth followed Holland, th en Schmit, Larry Ward, DeHoop, Emig, Keh oe a nd Yamaha 's Mike LaRocco. One rider wh o was unabl e to finish th e m oto wa s Suzu ki's Johnn y O 'M ara. " I got a bad start and was running in the back of the pa ck, th en I got o ut of shape a nd went over the ba r s. There was n o se nse of conti n uing." In the secon d moto, Emig j umped into the early lead a head of Coo per, Schmit, Yamaha 's Mike J ones a nd Mariasevich. Suzuki 's J ohnn y O ' Ma ra and H onda ri der J ason Upshaw went do wn in the first turn. O 'M ara a nd Upshaw dus ted th ern- . selves off a nd re-entered the second mota. A turn later, Coo per tangled with anothe r rider, dropping him 10 the rear of the pack. Suzuki's J immy Gadd is was ano ther rider wh o was running up front a t the start bu t soon cra shed. Also off 10 poor starts were Holland and Kehoe. By the second lap, the top riders settled int o positions with Emig still leading the way followed by Schmit, Kiedrowski, Larry Ward, Bradshaw, Gaddis, Matiasevich , Suzuki's Buddy Antunez and Ronnie Tich enor, and Kawasaki rid er Denny Stephen son. Emig held o n 10 th e lead for another two laps before Kiedrowski worked hi s way up and passed the Kawasaki rider . Brad shaw quickly followed su it by taking over second, wh ile Emig dropped back to six th. It was cl ea r sai li n g for both Kied rowski a nd Bradsh aw , a nd it was expec ted th at th e two rivals wo u ld d ice back a nd fort h for the lead. Bu t the d o gfi ght n ever ma teri alized. Kiedrowski's pace was just too much for Bradsh aw, who, in stead, found himself losing ground 10 the Honda ri der. Kiedrowski event ually built up a IO-second lead o ve r Bradsh a w before taking th e checkered flag for hi s second win. Mariasevich had o ne of hi s best rides of the year after working up to third by passing Larry Ward on the fin al lap. LaRocco cro ssed th e fin ish line in fifth safely ahead of Schmit, H olland, T ich enor, Ernig, H onda- mounted Jimmy Button and Cooper , wh o cras hed hard while tryin g to pass Button as th ey crossed th e finis h lin e. • Results 500 ; 1. Jeff Ward (Kew ); 1-2 ; 2. Jeff Stanton (Han) 3-3; 3. Ron Lechien (Kaw ) 9-1; 4. Rick Johnson (Han) 2-B; 5. Doug Dubach (Yam) 5-4; 6. Brian Manl ey (Kaw ) 6-6; 7. Fred Andrews (Han) 4- I 0; B. Tyson Vohland (Kaw ) 10-5; 9. Steve Lamson (Yam) 7-9; 10. Shaun Kalas (Yam) 12-7; 11. Jeff Hicks (Han) 11-12 ; 12. Chris Coleman (Kaw) 13-11 ; 13 . Scon Tyler (Han) B·19; 14. Greg Ziner1

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