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/127290
GMOTORCYCLE OLYMPICS AMA Winter National Olym ics e l-< cu ...0 S cu u cu Cl In his last race as an amateur. R yan Hughes (37) leads Hayden Richards (248) and Kevin Walker (197) in the 125cc Expert class. Hughes won the Silver Tire Award . '. Jeff Dement won every race th at he comp eted in and too k home the WorldSports' Bronze Bike Award . He was th e 85cc (14. 15) Expert class champ. . . Dement, Lusk and Hughes leadJ the rush at Gatorback Park '.1 By Mi ke and Anne Adai r GAINESVILLE, FL, NOV. 1 9-24 eff Dement, Ezra Lusk and R ya n Hu gh es ga rn ered th e highest individual ho nors in six da ys of intens e compe ti tio n to cl im ax the 19th Annual AMA Winter Nationa l Ol ympics. . The event drew 2780 class entries repr esen ring riders from 36 states and Canada. Rid ers competed in TT, Stadium MX, Motocro ss and Grand Pr ix event s to earn th e 15 clas s champ ionships up for grabs in 'the AMAsanctioned, WorldSpons -promoted event . . Suzuki-back ed Dem ent an d Ka wasaki-su p port ed Ricky Carmi chael deadloc ked for WorldSports' Bronze Bike Award. Both riders carded perfect records after bat tlin g in six days of competitio n wit ho ut a loss, bu t Dement won the tiebreaker based on higher rider participa tion in hi s classes. Dement said, " I was worried in the Gran d Prix. First my foot missed the kicks tarter so I go t off late. T he n as I was trying to pass guys and catc h up I ran into a tree. Finall y I calmed down and passed Matt Maximoff to pr eserve my record for the week." The Scott USA Golden Gogg le Award went to Ezra Lusk, who, after J 6 swit ching from rrums to 125cc bikes on ly two weeks before, won championships riding in both the 12-15 year-old 125 and 125cc B classes. The Suzuki l Malcolm Smith/PJI /ScottiBell/ Dun10p/CTi /S&D -sponsored Lusk said , "T he 125cc B tit le was close. I had to beat Chris Brown in the Grand Prix.. When Timmy Ferry pushedme for tlie lead , I let him go and just made sure that I gota good, safe second. It worked out fine." ( Californian Ryan H ugh es clinched bo th I25ccA and 250cc A classes riding a Pro Circuit/JT/ Dunlop/CTi/VP Fuel/Power Bar/Team Green Kawasaki to earn the firs t Dunlop Silver T ire Awar d. Dunlop 's Frank Stacy said, "We apparecia te our rider support arid wanted to put something back int o amateur raci ng with thi s awa rd." . Hugh es said, " I came a lon g way to compete here this year, but this is the most fun that I have ever had iii racin g. It's a perfect end to my amateu r career. I turn pro next month." I Ot h er ch a m p io n s were J oh n n y Marley, Robbie Horton, Ricky Carmichael, Greg Ran d, Rich Hutchins, Bart Lucas, Newt Swantz, Todd Rion , Ryan Huffman and Ch ris tian Smith. T h e 1990 " Ol ym p ics" fea tu red