Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Moments after wrapping up the 125cc National Championship title, Honda's M ike Kiedrowski tossed his gloves int o the Unadilla crowd , Micky Dymond on th e second-to- last lap to cla im thi rd place in the rnoto and third o vera ll. Settling for fourth overa ll was a dejected J ohnson. After a p romising second pl ace in the first moto, the battle-scarred J ohnson cou ld do no better than a di stant fourth in the second round foll owing a poor sta rt , " I was nex t to Greg Ziuerk opfon the line, a nd hi s (AT K) four-s troke is so loud, I cou ldn' t hear m y bike, and I hel d it too long in seco nd gea r down th e start," said Johnson. " 1 stalled th e mo tor o n th e second lap , a nd then I ra n o u t o f tear-off's a nd couldn' t see." Inju ries th roughout the seas o n h av e h amper ed th e e ig h t- ti me National Cha m pio n. " I just haven 't had a ver y good year with the inju r ies a nd a ll," sa id J ohnson. " I haven 't had th e con fiden ce I need to push myself, especia lly o n the 500s, a nd ride th e wa y I sho uld." . . Dym ond, who a lso had hi s share of injuries th is year, had one o f his best rides of th e season with a 7-4 performance a nd fifth overall. Th e fo r mer tw o -ti m e 125 cc Nat ional Ch ampi on was forced o ut wide a nd into th e soft dirt a t th e start of the first mot o , which dropped him to 14th af ter th e first lap. Rid in g a modifi ed 36 0cc Yam ah a YZ250, Dym ond worked h is wa y up to seventh a fter passing H onda su p port rider Fred Andrews late in the mo to. In the second race, Dym ond had a thi rd -pl a ce start a nd held th at posi tion, until Wa rd, who starte d th e moto in sixth, passed him two lap s from the fin ish . Dym ond 's teammate, Doug Du bach , al so ridi ng a 360cc Ya maha YZ, had two so lid mot os, nabbing fifth overa ll with two fives. H e sta rted th e first mo to in I Ith , a nd the seco nd moto in th ird, before ge tting passed by Dymond a nd Ward. The to p fini sh fo r a privateer rider went to O 'Nea llArai/Scott-sponsored Kurt McMillen , from Wappingers Falls, New York . McMillen 's best moto came in the first round wh ere he spe nt much o f th e rdce runn in g in fifth a fter ge tt ing a fourth-pl ace start. In th e seco nd mo to, McM ill en and h is H o nda CR500 began the mot o in ninth and worked up to six th . Yamaha rider Steve Lamson went into today 's event as top privateer in th e po int standings, in fifth pl ace, and left with sixth o n the year af ter being dropped back o ne positio n by Bayle wh en the upper rear shock mount broke in the fi rst moto , putting the Yam aha su p port a nd Down er s G rove Yam ah a -back ed Californ ia n out of th e race.. H e was runnin g II th a t the time. "The actual bolt that con nec ts th e to p shock to th e mount broke, a nd th e shock almost came up th rough th e sea t," said Lamson. ''I'm just goi ng to have to go for it in th e seco nd mot o. " In th e sec o n d m oto , L a m son fini sh ed ninth to land sixth overa ll in th e fin al point sta ndi ngs, 28 poin ts behind Bay le. Eighth overall < th e day was ;111 veteran J oJ o Kell er. The sel£-spon sored New England Honda rider, wh o recentl y came ou t o f a shortterm retireme n t, was a front-runner in both mo tos unti l fading in th e la ter stages both tim es. Keller sta rted the first mot o o ff in six th a nd the second moto in fift h, a nd ended up going 9-8. , Rou nding out the top 10 were H onda ri ders Andrews (8-9) a nd Tom Carson (10-10). A $15,000 purse was u p for gra bs in the 500c<' class, wit h Bayle taking home the biggest chunk, po cke ting $ 1600 for the overall win. 125cc H eadl in in g the 125cc class at Unadi lla were the three ri ders in co n tention for the champions hip: Despite winn ing both motos at Unadilla, Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw (45) lost the 125cc National Championship by three points, Kiedro wski , Cooper and Bradshaw . Onl y I I points separat ed the three factory riders going into th e first moto. " I have to win both motos," sai d Brad sh aw af ter th e morning p racti ce session. ''I'm not down-and-out yet, I'm just mad. I' m not going to give up until the last checkered flag has falle n." ' When th e gate dropped for th e start of th e first moto, Bradshaw's determ ination prevail ed and he did what he had to do - steal th e hol esh ot and tak e a n early lead. The rest , he sai d, "was up to Kied ro wski ," who starte d th e moto in eig h th . Cooper had a poor start a nd was back abo u t 15th. Bra dsh a w immedi a tel y ope ned up a big lead o ver Suzuki's Erik Keh oe and Yamaha 's Mike LaRocco. But 'a ll eyes were focu sed on Kiedro wski, wh o was ca u tio us ly working up throug h the pa ck. By la p three, Kiedrowski h ad passed j ust o ne rid er, but four laps later , he was u p to fourth and pressurin g Kehoe, wh o had just been passed by LaRocco. Kiedrowski hung back in fou rth for a few mor e laps, sizing up Keh oe. Bu t while he wa s check ing o ut Keh o e 's lin es, th e H onda r id er suddenly fou nd himself with a fla t rear tir e. "I co ul dn' t reall y push very hard afte r I got the flat ," said Kiedrow ski. Despite th e flat tire, Kied rowski slippe d by Keh oe and tri ed reeling in La Rocco, b u t to no avail. LaRocco 's advantage over Kiedrowski was too big, and Kiedro wski had to sett le into th ird. Meanwhile, Brad sh aw was way o u t in front a nd cr uising, and no one was going to catch him. T he Yam ah a rider easily won the moto and gained five crucia l -po in ts on Kied ro wski. Co oper, on th e o the r hand, had crashed three times a nd was never a threat to the lead ers. " I had a decent start but I go t p ush ed out into th e so ft stuff a nd got passed by everyo ne, " said Cooper between mo to s. " I g uess I tr ied co mi ng back too soo n and hard, a nd I crashed again. There's not m uch hope now ." Privateer H onda ride r Don n ie Schm it roosted th e pack at the start o f th e seco nd mo to , whi le Kiedrowsk i follo wed in second wi th Su zuki's T y Davis thi rd and Bradsha w fou rt h; Bradshaw qui ckl y storme d into third and co ntin ued to dr ive righ t pa st Kied rowski. Schmi t led fo r ano ther la p before Brad sh a w sho t past him , too . Once o ut in front, Brad sh aw never loo ked bac k as he p ull ed away fro m th e pack. Two laps la ter, Kiedro wski was in second after passin g Schmit, and a ll th at Bradshaw could do washope that Kied- 7

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