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 GFI Winter MX Series Sonth: Round 4 ,~ Brian Ford (37), Clay Willison (2A), winner John Davis (27) and Aviad Sahar (5 1) fou ght for the lead at the start of the second 25-29 Beginner Division Two moto. Steven Kotajarvi (46) and Jake Trist (17) chased a pack of front-runners in the 250cc Intermediate class. Lewis la d n sLACR v ictory By Tony Alessi PALMDALE, CA, JAN. 20 a ma h a -mo u nted Kyle L ewis defeated Phil Lawrence a fte r swapping moto victo ries in the 250cc Pro class a t round four o f the GFI Winter Series So u th a t Los Angeles County Racewa y. Pro Cir cuit/Yamaha rid er Mik e Ch amberlain ti med the ga te perfectl y at the start of th e first 250cc Pro moto Y bu t developed problems in the fir st turn. " I . got a good jump bu t I tagged someth ing going into the first turn, I fell kind of hard and broke my rear fender too, " sai d Chamberl ain . And y Grid er was the first rider to exi t th e horsesh oe-shaped first turn and close behind him were La wren ce and Lewis . Lewis was the first rider to double a diff icu lt camelback which a llowed him LO quickly close in on Lawrence and Grider. Grider choose good lines and led the pack for the first fou r laps, while Lewis an d Lawrence were having a brawl over second. As the race reached the mi dway poi n t both Lawren ce and Lewis displ aced Grider and began 'a h igh speed battle for the lead . On the final lap Lewis began swi tch ing lines tryi ng LO pass Lawrence, but Lawrence fru stra ted each of Lewis ' attempts wit h superb blocking. On the closing lap s, Lewis slammed the rear of La wrence fo rcin g him to th e gr o und. Lew is remounte d in third behind Grider and successfu lly ree led in an d passed Grider for second. Mike Chamberlain charged to fifth by moLO 'S end behind Greg Zitterkopf. " Bo th Kyle and myself are fast and realaggressive, so it's going to come do wn to the sta rts and who wants to win more," said Lawrence. " In the next moto, I'm goingto get the .start in front of him (La wrence) and there is no way he is going to pass me," said Lewis. Le wis' words were prophetic, as he pus hed his Yam ah a into the lead at the start of the second moto with Lawrence in tow . For the nex t eight laps, Lewis maintained th ree bike lengths o n Lawren ce, holding him at bay to th e finish. Chamberlain rode strong in th ird , never losin g sigh t of Lawrence. Grider glided to fourth in front of loca l rider Tony Su lek, who ro u nded out the top five. Lewis, again, showed raw speed, as he led the first half of the first 125cc Pro mo to wit h Lawren ce pressuring in second. Lewis pi cked up two bike len gth s a lap doub ling the camelback, wh ile Lawrence op ted LO take them one a t a tim e. At th e halfway point, La wrence was inches behind Lewis in h is tracks and began to double the came lbac k. On the fifth lap Lewis b ega n to deve lop mech ani cal . problems, " My bike started LO slow way dow n - we think it's the ig nitio n ," sa id Lewis. Lawrence went on to win, wh ile Lewis nursed his Yamah a across the finis h lin e in second. Chamberl ain fin ished th ird. . Lawren ce led from star t to finish in the second moto after passing Ch am berlai n o n the initial lap. Cha mbe rla in staye d approxi ma tely four seco nds beh ind the leader throughout th e rnoto , while Lewis watched from the sideli nes. Finish ing third was Troy Welty . " I .have the speed and my enduran ce is gell ing beuer, but it's hard com ing back from a broken femur, bu t after today , my confidence level is higher," said Welty. Mike H ooker and Tracy Bachman fini shed fourth and fifth, respectivel y. Greg Perolio scored a four moto sweep of the Vet Novi ce divi sion one a nd 250cc Beginner divi sion two