Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GM - orOCROSS GFI California Winter MX Sfti!S North·South Showdown: Final round e o O'l O'l ......... . Privateer Rick Ryan was unstoppable in the Pro class as he romped off to wins in every moto of the 125, 250 and 500cc Pro classes. Ryan refuses to lose atSandhill Ranch By Tony Alessi BRENTWOOD, CA, MAR. 3·4 rivateer Rick Ryan won every moto en route to the 125, 250 and 500cc Pro class wins at the fin al round of the GFI California Winter MX North/South Showdown Series at Sandhill Ranch. Ryan rode a mismatch of bikes 'and used a hometown advantage to race virtually unchallenged in all three Pro classes. Joel Albrecht's win strea k was finally stopped as he crashed and bad luck left him out of the top 10 in the 125cc Intermediate divis ion , but Albrech t still carri ed enough points to clinch the championship. Albrecht was unstoppable in the 250cc Intermediate class and powered home to win his second class championship. Another two-class winner was Brian Curtis as he topped the combined 2529 Novice/Intermediate class by large leads both motos and won the class championship by 26 po ints. Curtis also won the 250cc Novice class with a 2-1 score. Curtis and Danny Seyler had been battling for the class title and Curtis came into the final round the underdog, but Seyler handed the title to Curtis by not competing in me final round. Beginners and Novi ces raced Saturday, and Sunday was for Pro, Intermediate and all the 25-29 classe s. Sunday's races were cut short due to P rain, and most classes raced only one mot o with overall scores based on that moto fin ish. . Brian Roth led the start of the 250cc Pr o cla ss moto and seemed to be pulling awa y. After a mid-pack start Ryan moved up to third by the halfway point. Jimmy Clay had also moved up and quickly displaced both Grant Michaelson and leader Roth. Ryan wasted no time and did the same and soon the battle for the lead was between Clay and Ryan. Danny Paladino pas sed the fading Michaelson and soon began pushing Roth. On the final lap Ryan tried to pass Clay but went wide in a turn. Ryan kept the pre ssure on and passed .Clay for the win. Paladino made a lastlap pass on Roth to claim third. Ryan led from start to finish in the 125cc Pro class. Tim McClintock held second over Danny Paladino and Jeff Pestana for the first half of the race, but near the end Pestana stuffed his wa y by McClinlOck. McClintock stayed close but Pestana fin ished ahead. Ryan won by half a track, Pestana finished second , McClintock a close third and Paladino finished fourth. Ryan borrowed a Kawasaki and took another runaway victory in the 500cc Pro class. ATK 's Willy Musgrave rode Bryan Curtis (84) earned tides in two classes. Here he leads Troy Wing (2X), Matt King (99) and Scott Zachery (96) at the start of a 250cc Novice class moto. close to Ryan early in both motes, but Ryan moved away. Musgrave cru ised in second and clinched the 500cc Pro title. Ron Turner and Eri c McKenna battled fiercely in the Vet Pro class as the two riders swapped the lead nearl y every two laps. Turner came out the winner for the day, but McKenna wrapped up the series championship with his second-place fin ish. : 'He's lucky he didn 't have to race the seco n d moto in the mud, " McKenna, who is from northern California, said. "T urner is a southern guy, and he isn't used to mud like we are." . " I could have won the entire series, but I didn 't have money to buy a licen se, so I lost a lot of points," said .T urner. "I won all the races I entered." Joel Albrecht led the way at the start of the 125cc Intermediate moto, and on the first lap built a 10 second lead before he fell and dropped back. Stan Finney took over the lead and held it for two laps before he crashed as well. Brett Comer held the lead for the next two laps; then crashed also . Pat Gomm . steadily moved up from midpack, passed Tyler Hummel, then inherited the lead and walked away with the win. Hummel finished second over Eric Ducray . Albrecht got up as far as fifth before he jumped on Mike Staton during the final lap and ended up 12th. It took Albrecht one lap to pass everyone in the 250cc Intermediate class and sped away to the win. Darren Gallagher held second for the entire moto and repelled a last lap charge by Gomm. Chris Corum led the Vet Novice class, but was riding wildly andendoed .off the track. Corum 's mistakes allowed Jim Peters to get very close and the two riders stayed inches apart the remainder of the race. Corum won , Peters finished second, Jim Duyorus stayed in third the whole moto, Frank Lavres finished fourth . and Tony . Shipman worked up from almost last place. to finish fifth . Corum won the class title over Peters and Frank Levres, Jason Williams led every lap of the first 500cc Novice mo to but crashed on the final lap , handingthe win to Mike ManiscaIchi who started fifth but moved through the pack. Aaron Athans finished second and Williams remounted for third. . In the second moto it was Williams out front again, but this time ManiscaIchi was glued to his back tire . ManiscaIchi only needed to finish third to wrap up the championship, but he decided to go for the win. Disaster struck on the fourth lap as Maniscalchi fell and dropped to sixth. Williams cruised to the checkers , and on the final lap Maniscalchi moved to fourth but couldn't pass Scott Medley. Williams won the championship by one point. " I got greedy, I wanted to win," ManiscaIchi said afterwards. "Just chalk it up to inexperience," he added. "After the first moto I figured itwas over, but when I didn't hear Mike's bike behind me in the second moto, I knew I had a chance to win the title," said Williams. "I did what I had to do, then just waited to see what place Maniscalchi finished." ar Results SATUllDAY 60: I. David Keeney(Kaw);2. ]

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