Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMOTOCROSS e Florida Winter AMASeries:Round I -' Ryan Hughes (37) battled to the fron t of the pack in both l25cc Pro motos for the class victo ry. Mike Brown (483) tries to fend o ff 250cc Pro class winner Ron nie Tichenor, wh o went 2-1 on th e day . Tichenor, Hughes score at Gatorback opener By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVILLE, FL, DEC. 28-30 orm er factory Suzuki racer Ronnie T ichenor and Kawasaki T eam Green rider Ryan Hughes scored th e 250 a nd l2 5cc Pro cla ss wins, resp ective ly, at Gatorback Park. Approximatel y 650 ri ders from 31 F 6 stat es, Ca na da a nd H olland turned ou t for the opening round of th e 21st Annual Florida Winter AMA Seri es which o ffered su n ny, warm weather a nd ideal track conditions. After winning the 250cc Pro class, Florida resid ent 'Tich en or said, " Last year I had so me in juries and othe r p robl em s, bu t thi s year I' m go ing to ha ve a good yea r and p rove som e people wrong ." Facto ry Yamaha rider Damon Bradshaw from Charlotte, North Carolina, who won th e first 250cc m ot o an d retired d uring th e second rnoto with ign itio n p rob lem s, sa id , " Ro n n ie (T ichenor) rod e grea t, I'm g lad th at he won tod ay. Riding her e is like co ini ng home. I just love the people and th e tra ck a nd th e wa y th ey do things down her e." Ca lifo rnia n Hugh es, wh o won both mo tos in th e 125cc class, sa id, "I rod e ha rd b ut tried to be smooth a nd use good lin es. The bike wo rked beautifull y a nd my training paid off." T his year's WorldSporls-promoted series boasts a record offering of more than half a million dollars in prizes, awards and co ntin ge ncies. Honda, Suzuki, Yam aha and Kawasaki lead th e co nt inge ncy program with additional sponsorsh ip by Dunlop, Barrs Competition , Gear Racewear, Power mi st, SC Oll USA, T subaki , Renthal, PJ-I , H on dal in e TX-IO, Wiseco , Chari ot Trailers and Gary Bailey Motocross Schools. The a ma teu r format was increased to two day s just for the opening round. World.Sports' Jerry West said, " O u r o pe n i n g Sa tu rd ay is usu all y too rushed. By addi ng a da y, we ensu red th at rid ers go t more practi ce time, everyo ne go t two full rnotos and th at we a ll e n joyed a m ore re la xe d sche dule." The first 125cc Pro moto ope ned wit h Team Green ' s T immy Ferry wedgin g by Kevin Wal ker to lead the pack o ff th e go-foo t drop into the , C at orpit, a former quarry. At th e en d of lap one, it' was Ferry ahead of Walker, Hugh es and Anthony Paggio . .Todd DeH oop, Bri an Swink, Mike Br own , Ezr a Lusk and T ich en o r tac kled traffic en ro u te to th e fro nt. O n la p fo ur, P ro Circui t/ Du n lop/ J T / CT I / P o we r ba r/ Ka wa sak i- bac ke d H ughes ch allenged Ferry and th en ' took th e lead and went on to win . " Ferry was setting a fast pace ea rly o n, but I gambled o n m y conditioning and wore h im down," said Hughes. " My arms p umped up really badly; I' ve never ridden a 30-min u te moto before," said Ferry .Swin k, wh o ended up third, said, " I go t pushed o u t in th e fir st turn a nd by th e time I got going, Ferry and the fro n t-r u n ners were lo ng go ne. I fin all y passed L usk for third, and we had a good race to the end. " " My Suzu ki is brand new ," said T uf Ra cing /IO O%/D unl op- sp on so r ed Tich en or. " We have a lot to learn abo ut it. I rod e two classes today, main ly to test my conditioning. " Mot o two saw Walker o u t in front in th e ea rly running with Bro wn a nd Tim H od es, T iche no r a nd Hughes in th e hunt. " My hands ar e just lik e hamburger ," said Walker. " It hurts to hang o n." Brown led laps two a nd three before T ich en or dial ed hi s Suzuki in and passed him. Hughes moved in and clos ed withi n a stra igh taway o f the lead er but protected his overa ll victory , co nte nt in seco nd. J eff Cha mbers pra ised Hu ghes: " Rya n shows a lot o f mat urity for a you ng rider. Most guys would go for th e mo to win, but th e overall is more important. " " Gary Ba iley started sh ooting videos o f me and coac h ing me today. I look forward to working with him this month," said Hughes. Ti ch eno r , whose father runs a Yamaha shop in nearby Pa lm Harbor, was pl eased with his moto win and seco nd overall , and celebrated wi th his mech anic Ron Nye. " Ro nnie showed no mercy th at time (second mo to )," sai d N ye. The 250cc class was expected to be a showdown between Bradshaw and Tich en or, but Vin ce DeVane wrote himself into th e scri p t, cha llenging in both mo tos. At th e halfway mark o f th e first moto, Bradsh aw easily held th e lead to th e finish , with Tichen or , DeVane, Ju stin J a ck son , G en e Naum ec , DeHoop and 1990 series cha mp John Dowd tra il in g. " I cou ld n' t ge t go ing in th e first la p a nd Dam on was go ne," said Tichen or. " I didn ' t feel great today ," sa id Brad shaw after h is moto win. It 's been fr eezin g in No r th Ca ro li na a n d I haven 't ridden enough." Bradshaw, wh o is now teamed with mechanic Brian Lunnis, added, " I

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