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/127364
~ M OTOCROSS NGKlCMC Golden State Nationals South: Round 4 ~ Erik Kehoe (33E) pulls a tcar-off while leading T ommy Clowers (178) and eventual winner Michac1 Craig in the second 125cc Pro moto. Kehoe slipped back to fourth. Pete Murray (I) fends off Mike Young in 250cc Pro action. Young worked up to fourth, while Murray dropped to eighth. Craig, Healey conquer Carlsbad By Donn Maeda CARLSBAD, CA, JAN. 20 early 400 riders gathered for th e Golden State Nationals South MX at Carl sbad Raceway. Kawasak i T eam Green 's Michael Craig and KTM 's Mike Healey were th e big N 20 winners, both sweeping the Pro classes with commanding performan ces. Crai g won both motos of the 125cc class with. relative ease and cap tu red th e 250cc win with a 2-1 score. Healey rode flawles sly to a perfect I-I tally in the 500cc Pr os. . Craig got th ings roll in g by grabbing th e holeshot in th e first 125cc Pro moto, with Jeremy Middaugh, Terry Fowler and Pete Murra y close behind. As Cra ig bega n to pull away, Fowler sn uck into second p lace while Middau gh dropped off th e pace. Erik Kehoe blasted into third pl ace o n lap two, with Mu rra y and Mike Young just" inc hes behind. Craig cont in ued to extend his lead over Fowl er, who als o had a comfortable margin over Kehoe. Young hounded Murray for the majority of th e moto, and finall y found his way pas t in a fast switchback on th e 10th and last lap . "No probl ems !" said winner Craig, "This is like my hom e track, and I love ยท racing here. Once I got o u t front, I knew all I had to do was ride smooth." Kehoe gra bbed the holeshot in the second mot o, with Clowers , Craig and Murray snapping at hi s heels. Kehoe lost cont ro l of his Honda on the first lap an d dropped to fifth , leaving Clow ers in the lead. Clowers led for three laps of what turned into a sixla p rnot o, bu t Craig screamed past on the uphill section of the track. Clowers cou ldn't match the pa ce set by Craig, but maintained a healthy lead over Murray. Young moved th ro ugh the pack and began to pressure Murray, and on the next to last lap found his way pa st in a ro ug h sectio n of th e co ur se. Cra ig went on to take the moto wi n ahea d of Clowers, Young, and Keh oe, who scoo ted int o fo urth on the > last lap. " My bik e is wor king reall y well, and everythi ng seems to be clicking, " said a happy Cra ig. ''I' m happy with the way I rode," said runner-up Clowers. " I just tried to ke ep th e p ace a n d hold m y pos itio n." Healey stor med out of the gate in I th e first 250cc Pro rnoto, but right on hi s tail were Kehoe, Craig, and Mike Young. Heal ey rode at a smooth and J calcu lated pa ce, which was fast enough ," to pull him away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Kehoe fought to keep Craig back in third p lace. Craig sta lked the former Suzuki factory rider, .. and stole the inside line in a slippery " rig ht-hander to take the runner-up position. Cra ig then began to gain on Healey, but tim e ran out before he came into striking range. " I got a good start and just rode my own race," said Healey. "I got signals