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/127245
- ~. ~ 0 O"l O"l .....-t ~ ~ c-r >.... C\l ;:j ~ C\l ~ Grant Steele (0 ) came from the back of the pack .t o w in the 250cc Beginner class. Richard Zeigler (16) finished second ahead of Clint Briska. Jeff Ward (3) and Damon Bradshaw (8) traded moto w ins in the 250cc Pro class. but. Bradshaw led when it counted and w as th e overall w inner. . Brad Sloan (3B) and Jason Williams (J47) battled in the first moto of the Open Novice class. Williams finished second behind Del Ocheltree. GFI California Winter Series South: Round 2 Bradshaw beats Ward at Barona .Oaks By Ken Faught Photos by Kinney Jones and Faught , RAMONA, CA, JAN. 7 T eam Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw pull ed together two solid mo to performances en rou te t o ' to pp in g 1989 500cc N atio nal Champion Jeff Ward in the 250cc Pro class at Ba rona O aks. T he .race marked the first time the two id h d a zai h n ers . ave race agamst eac. other In the new year, and their 18 two motos proved to be som e of th e best racing of the day. Bradshaw started things rolling in the first moto as he led Ryan Huges, Phil Lawren ce, Ward, Doug Dubach a nd Johnny O'Mara around for the first lap on the we ll- g r o o rned , supercross -style course . Ward quickly cu t his way through the pack and moved into second by th e end of la p two, a nd th en proceeded to move in to th e lead by lap three. Bradshaw, how ever, re tu rned th e ยท favor to Ward s ho rt ly a fte r th e halfway point a nd retook th e lead. Back in th e pack Hugh es struggled to ho ld O 'M ara at bay. The former Supercros s a n d 125 cc N ati on al Champion was gi ving Hughes a run for hi s money, but cou ldn 't seem to find his way around the you ng Team Green rider. As the end of the race neared , Ward pi cked up hi s pa ce and hounded th e rear fend er of Bradsh aw 's Yamaha. On the fina l lap Wa rd found a sligh t openi ng a nd shot pas t Yama ha's top gu n for th e win. Bradsh a w was forced to ta ke seco n d ahead o f H ughes, O 'M a ra, Lawren ce a nd J eff Ma tiasevich , H ug hes return ed to lead Bradshaw, Dubach , War d a nd Lawren ce a t the beginn in g of ro u n d two. Hugh es held the lead for almost a lap until Brad sha w mo tor ed by a nd ope ned up a small lead. Brad sh a w fell mom ents lat er in a hard-packed turn a nd han ded the lead to Hughes. Brad sha w go t up in second, but all ow ed Ward, Dubach , La wren ce and O'Mara to close in. Bradsh a w o nce again set after Hughes, as Ward began to pressure th e pair. T he three went a t it for severa l laps until both Brad sh aw a nd War d wo rked th eir way clear .of Hugh es. La p after lap Ward tried to get a whee l o n Bradshaw , but co uld never move in to the lead . Bradsh aw even tua lly to ok th e mo to win a nd the overa ll a head of Ward , Hugh es, Duba ch a n d Lawren ce. In 500cc N o vi ce cl a ss ac tio n , Ka wasaki-mounted J ason Williams started hi s d ay off right by leading hi s class for th e firs t few laps . Willi ams held that position all th e way up u ntil th e last lap wh en Mik e Mani scalchi ca rne :from third to cap ture th e win . Williams was th e runner-up, in front of Chad Mcintosh , Ri ck Price, a nd Michael Ro nk. Maniscalchi .p icked up wh ere he left off in round o ne and led William s a t the start of moto two, The two ri ders pl ayed follow-the-leader for severa l la ps before Maniscalchi event ua lly pulled away for the win. Williams was second, foll owed by Ronk , Pri ce a nd Brad Sloan. Richard Zeigler put h is Suzuki RM250 through the paces a t Barona Oak s. H e won both motos of th e 2529 year-o ld Beginner class ah ead of Dal e Beat, Bi ll R ei m er , Mark Eag leto n a nd Scott Churchi ll, and the n fini sh ed second in th e 250cl: Beginne r class beh ind Grant Steele. Zeigler's runner-u p p osition came af ter two hard- fought motos with what ap pea red to be one of the largest classes of th e day. He placed fifth in the fir st round behind Steels, Steve Alt , J eff Vill arreal , Clint Briska , and the n rac ked up a third in round two behind Steele and Lars-Erik Larsson. Steele cap ture d th e overa ll win with a perfect I-I score. Zeigl er was second with 5-3, foll owed by Briska's 4-4 and Alt's 2-7. Lar sson ro unded o u t th e top five with a 9-2 score. :J Like Zeigl er, Lar sson al so cornpeted in an other clas s, but he fared far bett er in h is second even t. Larrson used a pair of victo ri es to win. division one of the 125cc Beginner class while Larry Linkogle rode to a pair of th irds for seco nd. J ason Belisle was third with a 2-5 tall y follow ed by Ray Staubley's 7-2 and Daman Siso la' s 8-4 scor es. The second divi sion of the 125& Beginner class went to H onda rider Mik e Mount after a near perfect da y! Mount led the first moto from startto-finish , and then was forced to work h is wa y through th e p ack in round two aft er a mid-pa ck star t. In tha t moto Mount quickly worked up to second, but ran out of time making his bid for th e lead . Shawn Anderson pi cked up th e win , but his 9-1 total wa s on ly good eno ug h for third o vera ll behind Mount and Eri c H aug. Kawasaki -mounted Mik e LaVre1 racked up his second consecutive win in the Vet Novice class. After dorn! in ating th e action a t Perris Raceway: La Vres turned to Barona Oaks to wi n division one of th at Class with ease. La Vres .overall came after a 1-[ , tally to beat Ronnie Jones ' 2-2 and Mark Eagl eton 's 4-3 score. Robert Moore was fourth with a 7-5 score, ahead of William Kellogg's 5-7 fini shes. .