Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

" He came up next to me, swept right over and took out my front whee l," Kiedrowski claimed. O th er mechanics and witnesses supported Bradshaw's claim that it was just close racing. "We came off the hill and I was beside him," Bradshaw explained. "The next turn was a right, so I was moving over to go into the corner. He could've avoided it by hitting the brakes." Bradshaw, aboard the Mike Chavez-tuned YZ125, scooted off . with the lead, but Cooper soon joined him and the pair left Matiasevich far behind. Even further behind was Kiedrowski as he was left at midpack and had to work hard to move up to sixth at the finish. Just past the halfway point of the 3D-minute plus two-lap moto, Bradshaw fell when he hit a bump wrong, and his five-second lead suddenly became a five-second deficit as Cooper got by. A few laps later and Bradshaw was on Cooper's tail and passed the Honda rider with two laps to go . But on th e final circu it Cooper stuffed Bradshaw at the top of a hill and went o n to take the win. " I had my front wheel ahead of him a nd took advantage of it ," Cooper said. " It was a typical block pass and we both ended up going . over the berm. " " It was a good pass and I wou ld've done the same thing," said Bradshaw. . Matiasevich couldn't keep up after his arms pumped up early in the race and he finished a distant third. Suzuki's Ron Tichenor broke free of ear ly battles with Steve Childress and John Kitsch to finish fourth. Kitsch wou ld drop way back but Suzukisuported Childress kept Tichenor in sight for much of the moto to' take fifth. Privateer Larry Brooks rode hard and worked his way up to sixth, but on the last lap Kiedrowski caught him as he fought to stay ahead of Schmit. Kiedrowski took over sixth a few turns from the finish. Schmit was eigh th behind Brooks, while Yamaha's Mike La Rocco took ninth and Larry Ward rounded out the top Jeff Ward (5 ) leads Ron lechien (4 ) and Rick Johnson (1) at the start of the first 500cc moto.lechien won but DNF moto two, Ward fell in both motos and Johnson took what he considered a .frustrating third overall. 10. Bradshaw took the holeshot to begin moto two and briefly surrendered the lead to Cooper. However, Cooper was repassed by Bradshaw with Tichenor moving by also. After a close battle with Tichenor and Schmit, Coo per fell back. "I made a big mistake just past the finish lille, " was his explanation after the race. . Cooper la ter overshot a tu rn and fell again as he ma de a last-corn er charge trying to pass Dal e Spangler for 12th. T ichenor didn't stay in second for long as Schmi t passed an d wen t after Bradshaw. O n the fou rth l a p Tiche nor fell back to eighth, th en slid furt her back to an 11th- p lace finish. Matiasevich and Larry Ward moved up on Sch mit, bu t on the fifth lap it was Bradshaw who was feeling the heat from the Kawasaki rider. The four riders stayed together for several laps, wit h Bradshaw making the decisive move for first on the seventh lap of the 13-lap moto. Schmit couldn't hold off a determined Matiasevich either as the Kawasaki pilot took over second in midair. Matiasevich then hounded Bradshaw for a couple of laps before backing off near the end. "I got sideways in 'a rut on an offcamber turn," Matiasevich said. "My hand came of the handlebar and I ended up off the track. There was only a few laps to go and I lost too much time." Matiasevich still had enough time After crashing early in the first moto, Kiedrowski (left) sliced his way back l,IP to sixth at the finish. to stay ahead of Sch mi t, who crossed th e line wi th Ward .~ n h is tai l. Kiedrowski started n inth, but when he got to fif th the top four were long gone. "I, knew the other guys were back there, so I definitely had to work hard and not make any mistakes," said Bradshaw immediately after the race. Suzuki's J ohn ny O ' Mara , who finished II th in moto one following a terrible start, took sixth in the second moto over Brooks and LaRocco. Defending 125cc Na tional champ George Holland and Suzuki's Erik Kehoe , both suffering from various problems this year, relived one of the many ba ttles th ey had for the title last year with Holla nd taking ninth. In the first moto he fell three times on the first lap and was 14th. 500cc Jeff Stanton took the lead from Jeff Ward at the beginning of the first 500cc rno to, then Ward's teammate Lechien moved through and passed them both. Bayle also go t around Ward while Johnson brought up the rear of the five-rider pack that p u lled far ahead of Fred An drews, Do ug Dubach and Steve Lamson. Lechien, Stanton and Bayle pulled away from Ward, who was riding "real tight. My arms pumped up and I was hanging on real tight." It was a see-saw battle for supremacy as the top three swapped positions back and forth. Bayle challenged for the lead at one point, but then Stanton went by. Stanton eventually took the lea d from Lechien and got away near the end, but a last-la p crash cost him the win. "I tucked in too soon going into a corner and was pitched over the bars," Stanton said. " It could've been a lot of points. Ron was riding well and it was a good battle." Lec hien too k firs t and Bayle also got by for second. " In the first part of the race I charged hard so I wo uldn' t have to eat all those Bingham ton roc ks," Lech ien said, referring to past times when the track was full of the m. A new rock picker was used to removed many rocks this year. "Then I tried to stay smooth and not go down." Ward gave up fourth late in the race. " I went into a berm and the front end stuck," said Ward. "That was the end of it." Johnson , who struggled with his bi ke the entire moto and couldn't gain any ground from fifth, went by Ward. "I couldn't put it together, I was fighting the bike the whole time," said Johnson. " I wasn't going anywhere, it was one of those days when things just weren 't clicking. " Dubach finished nearly one min- 7

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