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/127247
Lowell Thomson (5 ) cut his way through the pack to take second ahead of M ike Young (73). Early race leader Ty Davis (16) dropped to 10th. Defending Ultracross champ Jim Holley (1 ). battled w ith 1988 Anaheim main-event winner Ch ris Young in the heat race . Holley f inished seventh. Tallon Vohland (2) chased overall winner Jeremy McGrath (6) in the main event before crashing out of contention. Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix Series: Round 1 McGrath, Dymond attack Anaheim opener By Ken Faught ANAHEIM, CA, JAN. 20 " It cou ldn't have been any better," J erem y McGrath said after win ning his first-ever 250cc Ultracross in ru naway fashion. " I got a solid start in the main and things just 24 w ent from there. It was g reat. . . I knew I could do it • b ut I also knew there were a lo t of fast people out there who wanted it almost as bad as I d id. " Mc~rath 's ~in in front of a n Anah eim Stadium cro wd of 65,447 ca me after th e Kawasak i Team Green rid er pulled out all the sto ps to edge o ut Lowell Thomson, Mik e Young, and two-tim e 125cc MX National cha mp Micky Dymond. McG rath , of Sun Ci ty, California , rod e a near flawless race , but he wasn' t alone in the spo tlight. Dymond, pilo ti ng a P ro Circu it backed Ka wasaki , ca me a way from the event with the series point lead over Mike Craig, Young, J im Holley, a nd McGrath. This. was mad e po ssible via passin g points awarded in both the heat race and th e main event, earned .throughout the ent ire IO-race series. The system is rather unu sua l for m ot o cross, but was design ed to crea te closer racing for indoor compe titio n. . The form at starts with all of the ent ra nts tryin g to qua lify for o ne of 40 spots in two heat races. Once a rider transfers in to a heat he then ha s to pl ace a mo ng the top 10 for a space in th e 20-rider final. But it 's not that sim ple. In each race there are 10, two-man rows th at make up th e field . After ti me tri al s, the rid ers are inverted in their hea t race with the faster riders sta rti ng in the back, and the slower ri de rs sta rti ng u p Ir oru . This in verted system is ca rried over into the mai n wh ere a T hompson offi cial draws a n u mber which signifies where th e inverti ng starts wi th the heat race winners. Riders earn passing po in ts for each oppo ne n t they pass, as well as overall finish position points that co unt to wa rd th e c ha m p io n sh i p. The system ca n be co nfusing, but has proven to be well received by fan s since its incept ion in 1987. During tim e quali fying, Cra ig was a ble to prod uce th e fastest lap an d set the standa rd for th e da y with a 36.270-second run . McGrath 's was th e second qui ckest after qualifyin g with a 36.806-second tim e that was a tenth of a second faster tha n Yo u ng. Ta llo n Voh lan d was fou rt h o n the list wit h a 36.933. In the first heat race, Brian Roth go t off to a good start and ca me from the first ro w to lead Ty Davis , Mike Fish er, Kerry Mulli gan and Dymond into th e first turn. Fish er quickl y cu t hi s way to th e front a nd held a small lead o ver a hard-charging Dymond, Craig soo n joined in the ac tion a nd moved into th e top three, pressuri ng the du o. As the five-m in utelong race nea red th e end th e three riders bunch ed up, with Dymond fighting hi s way into the lead. Fish er, however, sho wed no sign of backing off a nd stayed within a few bik e len gths of th e former Honda a nd Yam aha facto ry rid er. On th e last lap, Crai g mad e a clea n pass o n Fish er over a 60-foo t double and took the runner-up positio n. Fish er had to settle for third in front of a di stant Mike Young , Roth, Thomson and Davi s. H eat two saw 1988 Anah eim Ultracross winner Chris Young get the hol esh ot over Mulligan , Holl ey, Ken McGrath and Dan Berg. T he positions stayed th e same for the first few la p s until defending Ultracross Ch ampion H oll ey manag ed to snea k a ro und Mulligan, while Hugh es and J erem y McGrath moved into th e top five. Voh land was sixth, making a va liant cha rge from th e back of the field . On lap Iive, Holley pi cked up his pa ce an d moved within striking di st an ce o f Young. A la p later , H oll ey zapped th e Suzuki rid er and dropped him to second a head of Hugh es w ho had ju st passed Mulligan.