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/127244
Gary Paul (35) stea ls the holeshot in the 250/500cc A class. The Hondam ount ed rider ended up taking top honors over David Beckington. Surf Detergent's Jeff Glass (6 5 ) was an early race leader in the 1 25cc Pro class. Glass gave way to Kawasaki rider Chris Co lemen (47). Florida Winter AMA Series: Round 1 Bradshaw, Coleman win at Gatorback By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVILLE. FL, DEG 30-31 Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw and T ea m G reen Kawasaki 's Cris Coleman earned Pro class winsin the op ening rou n d of the 20th Annual Florida- Winter AMA MX Series, 6 More than 870 en tries from 33 Slates, as well as from Canada, I Afri ca Gen j oy edy idneal' South West erman a d track conditions. good co mpeti tio n a nd warm. sun ny Fl or ida days as a bonus. Bradsh aw , who is th e defending 125cc National $ upercross Ch am p io n. had little trouble dealing wi th the 250cc field . H e said. " I feel lik e I'm at ho me a t th e Florida ser ies. My Career sta rted here. m y friends are here a nd it's just a lot mor e fun than the Ca lifornia events." Brad sh aw left for the West Coast a fter his win here. Winner in th e 125cc class. Chris Colema n, exp lained with ' a broad smile. " We had two feet o f snow on the grou nd wh en I left New York. T here was no wa y th at I cou ld train there. I was ou t o f sha pe a nd 30 m inutes seemed like a long time tod ay." _ T he Wor ldspor ts -p romoted, AMA-sanc tio ned series is sponsored b y Yamaha. Honda . Scott USA . P o wer m is t, Barrs Competition, Answer, Gear, Tsubaki, Dunlop, PJI; Ch ariot Trai lers. a nd Motorworld. A record $300.000 in purse. trophies, m erchandise and co n ti n g ency awa rds make thi s not o n ly th e longest run n ing. but o ne of the most presti gious seri es in th e nation today. Woridsports' J erry ' Wes t sa id. " T his is th e first year in o ur 20 year hi story th at o ur National referee Freddie Epherem is not with us. Freddie di ed last year a nd we are dedicating th e series to hi s memory by o fferi ng a specia l trophy." The 125cc class began with a full ga te of 43 co ntenders exp lod ing into th e sweep ing first turn. Jeff -C lass, Ash ley Epps a nd Chris Col eman battled up front with Jay Mann, Kevin Walker . Mike Morris and Barry Carsten within range. Mann 's T eam Green /Barrs Competition/ Scot tiPJ -I -backed Kawasaki roosted into. th e lead befor e lap two with Glass, Col eman. Walker and Morris in formati on. Col em an closed on Mann and the pair swapped th e lead for six lap s. On lap seven. Co leman broke away from an even match to control th e ra ce . Kawas aki z Hi Poiru.z Barrs v Sco tt USA-back ed Co leman said. "We had a good. hard. clean race and never even touched. He wou ld make a small mistake and I would get by. th en it would be my miscue that would let him lead again. " Co leman won the moto, 'Mann ap pare ntly tired and let Walker, David Beckington and Barry Carsten by before th e fin ish . Pre-ra ce favorite Mik e Brown was trashed o u t in practice and withdrew.