Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eSUPERCROSS GFI RacingAmateur S upercross Series: Round I ~ A 250cc Novice class awaits its turn on the same track th at hosted round three of the Camel Supercros s Series. Sebastian Chave (98) takes an orr-track excursion during 125cc Pro action. allowing Anthony Ama rad io (305) to sneak past for fourth pl ace. Petche1 prevails at Anaheim By T ony Alessi A~AHEI M, CA, JAN. 27 ust one da y aft er Anaheim Stadium was rocked by thousands o f su pe rcro ss fan s. nearl y one th ousand a ma teurs pounded a slightly tamed co ur se in th e opening round o f th e GFI Ama teur Supe rcross Seri es. J.J. Petch el did some pounding o f hi s o wn with a fou r-rnoto massacre of th e 125 a nd 250cc Novice divi sion on e classes. Petchel represented two o f th e 943 ent ra nts and more than 5000 spectat ors wh o left Super Bowl Sunday at home in order to race on th e same co u rse th e stars of th e'Cam el Supercros s Seri es used the pr evious even ing. And accordin g to GF I founder Goat Breker, a form er factor y rid er who rod e th ese sa me co u rses several yea rs ago. th e amateur tra ck was nearly ident ical 10 th e o ne used th e nigh t before. J 20 " We're happy to have th e track very . close to what it was Saturda y ni ght," said Breker, "T he track was slo wer. so all we had to do was tak e o ut the sharp bumps, make th e tripl e impossible so nob od y wou ld crash over it a nd ge t hun, a nd we sha ved down the finishlin e jump." GFI was expecting a lar ge tu rno ut du e 10 the number o f pre ent ries and inq uiries. Breker also at tributed the cro wd to th e $40 ent ry fee and th e fa c t th at no memb ership s wer e required to co mpe te. Most classes ra n five laps per mo to , pros got eig h t laps, th e minis ran four a nd 60cc bikes went three laps. Fourteen divisions were requ ired 10 sp lit up the more than 300 125 and 250cc Novice class entrants. They made up nearl y half of the 60·moto program~ Petch el, Grant Gasper and David Ch ase ru shed int o th e first turn in th e lead o f th e first divi sion o f th e I25cc • o vice class. "There a re a lo t o f new faces. but th e guys up front ar e th e same guys I' ve been battling in th e GFI Winter Seri es over th e last few weeks." Petchel sai d. Petch el a nd Gaspe r put ground o n Chase a nd th e rest o f the pack during th e o pen ing laps to set the stage for a mot e-l ong bailie for th e lead. "Usually Ga sper tri es to force a mi stak e o ut of you. but I thi nk I a m bet ter iu su percross because I was doub lin g both ta bleto ps a nd he really wasn ' t gain ing o n me," Petchel said. Per c hel rema in ed sm o ot h a nd co n tro lled uo claim th e wi n Oyer Gas per and Chase. Petch el again led th e sta rt. of moto two, but Gasper a p plied by showing his front wheel many times duri ng the open ing la ps. " He and I hav e had o ur battl es," said Petchel, " L'rn getting to kn ow his tactics. I felt faster a nd he mi ght hav e been pushing too hard." On the final lap Gasper cras hed wh ile tr ying 10 doub le 'a" pair of tabl e tops. LJ . Wri ght qui ck l y pounced into second and held it 10 th e flag behind Petch el, Gasper regrouped for th ird in front of Tracy Asher and Bobb y Hubbard. Petchel and Ni ck Morgan battled the length o f th e first 250cc Novi ce moto. The race ca me down 10 the fina l lap betw een the two ar ch rivals. " We ca me in to la p pets a nd Morgan clipped a nother rider a nd .sla m med int o me." Petchel said. " We tangled bu t I ca me a way first wh ile he was bobbling back there." Mor gan managed to hold o n to seco nd at th e finish foll ow ed by Chase a nd Hubbard. . Peichel shot o u t fro nt in mo to two and im media tely set a blisteri ng pace whi le Asher , H ubbard a nd Chase went at it all mot o for seco nd. When th e c hec ke re d fl ag waved P etch el com p leted his romp of four motos wh ile Ashe r held on for second in front o f Hubb ard a n d Ch a se. Morgan cra shed but still manag ed to cha rge back 10 finish fifth . In di vision two of the 250cc Novice cla ss Tony Rodr iq uez powered into the lead ~f mot o o ne followed closely by Bryan Magee, Mall Bateman and Nick Ath ens . Magee carved ins ide Rod ri q uez for th e lead bu t was riding out of control, whi le a t th e same time Athe ns moved to th ird by passing Bateman. Rodriquez turned up the wick on the fina l lap and moved into the lead . " I had thi s hot lin e. I banked high a nd dove under Magee before he even kn ew it ," Rodriq uez said about his wmrnng pa ss. On th e fin al lap Magee came unglued a nd lost concent ratio n drop' ping back to fifth behind Barnhart, Bat em an. Athens a nd Rodriq uez, Ath ens went wire to wire for th e win in th e second moto while Bateman held second th e duration o f th e moto, Rod riqu ez fou ght bad sta rt s and co nt in uous stalli ng 10 cha rge 10 third a t th e fini sh . Randy Danyl o defied injury to wi n th e 125cc In terrned ia te di vision one class. Dan ylo ra ced with 35 fres h stitches in his neck , two bad ly bruised ribs , a sp lit ch in , sp rained right wrist a nd a nk le, all th e resu lt of a crash at a race the pr evious day. Bria n Deegan set th e early pace in mot o o ne as Danylo moved 10 second in front o f Ryan J ohnson, Ray Noriega and J oe Tuuob en e, Deegan danced o ff a nd left Danylo to deal with a ra gi ng ba tt le behind. Da n ylo managed to block hi s wa y 10 th e finis h. holdi ng on 10 seco nd behind Deegan. " Everybody was clipping my heels, th ere were so many different ba ttl es behind me, every lap someo ne new was o n me," Dan ylo sa id. Dan ylo led th e second moto wi th Deegan in ch es behind unti l Deegan crashed in a tri cky set o f double jumps. A nail-biting last lap saw J ak e T rist turn up th e th rottle. sq uirt by seco nd place J ohnson th en pound by Danylo in th e rock ers. " I know I was slow in th e rocke rs. m y wrist w as weak a nd I tr ied to pass him back a t th e flag bu t he wo n by a tire length ," Dan ylo said a bo u t the nea r-phot o finish. Dany lo's pair of second place finishes netted hi m the ove ra ll win since T ris t finished 14th in mot o one. CN Resu lts 50 ST K: I. ] ohnathon Sh im p (Yam ); 2. Ross Garcia (Ya m ); 3. Da n n y Wi lson; 4. Eric Wood (Ya m ); .~. Dylan Wil!>Cm. 50 MOD: 1. j ohna th on Sh im p (Yam ); 2. Dan n y Wilson (Yam ]: 3. Sco tt Nel son (Ya m); 4. Eric Wood (Yam ); 5. Rood G arcia (Yam). 65 .7 - 11: I. just in Sc u l len ( Ka w) ; 2. Mo nte Mon tague ( K:l w ); 3. Ceaser Ga lvez ( Ka w) : 4. jorge PO!GI ( Kaw ): 5. j ohnathon Sch m id t (Ka w). 85 7-11: 1. Steve Wisdom ( Ka w ); 2. Crai g Truglio ; 3. Tim T ilro n (Su a); 4. Reg ina ld Mit ch ell Jr.. (Suz); 5. Dylan G uthrie (S ue]. 85 12-13 D-I : I. Chris Wh eeler ( Ka w ): 2. Paul h o (SU1); 3. jason Sh irley ( Ka w ): 4. Jason Howard ( Ka w): 5. Dea n Vanri per (Ka w) . 85 12· 13 D-2: I. Dustin Nelson (Suz); 2. J aso n Matthews (S Ul ); 3. ] aMln Partridge [Kaw]: 4. Sha un Perol io (SuI); 5. Bn an Rodriquez (Suz). 85 1 4~1 5: I. Steve Andrich ; 2. Dav id Pingree (S uz); 3. CaM:)' j o h n son (Ka w); 4. Sco tt John son (Suz); 5. Larry Liu kogl e (Suz). XR 80: I. ' Ra y Sp ike G roo m (KX R); 2. Sco tt Murph y ( Han) ; 3. Eric Tor kko (Hon): -l.Mike H a nd y (H u n ); 5. John Killian (Han ). 125 12-15; I. Eric Wr igh. (SU1); 2. Bob Sage (Ka wj: 3. Erik Anderrson {H o n]: 4. Mike Batt ista (SUl) ; 5. jaso n Carro ll ( Ho n ). 125 NOV D-t : I. J.J . Petchell (Han ); 2. Gram Casper (S Ul ); 3. E.j . W ri ~ht (S Ul); 4. Tracy Asher (S UI ); 5. Dav id Ch ase { Ka w ). . 125 NOV D-2: I. Steve Stewar t (SUI ): 2. Nick Mo rgan (5 Ul ); 3. J er ry j euon (Stll); 4. Mar cus Bu neu (Hon ); 5. John Blair (Hon ). 125 NOV D-3: I. Kevin Pi m (B o n); 2. Jared j acob smeyer (Ya m );3. Ricky Fernandez (S UI): 4. J osh Stevens (Hon ): 5. Bria n McDo ugall (H e n ]. 12!) NOV D-4: I. Ty Kad y (Ka w); 2. R ich ard ' Step hesn ( H o n ): 3. Shay Fret well (Su z); 4. O scar Ancheta (Ka w): !). T im Forbe s (Ya m ). 125 NOV D.-5: I. Sh a ne Scar p iello (5u z); 2. Gr eg G riej hascr (Ka w): 3. Rob ert She rron (5u z); 4. Kevin j o nes ( S UJ.); 5. Steve Moo re (Su a). 125 NOV 0 -6: I. Sha wn Mclntc sh (Kaw): 2. Chris Finely (S UI ); 3. Ryan Spae th ( Ka w): 4. Rich a rdo Silva (Ka w); 5. j ason Me in a (SU I) . d • • 125 :'\I V ()"7: I. J a mie Haskin s (H o n ): 2. Tom O Bonacci (S Ul) ; 3. Danny Dobey (S UI ); 4. Kevin Hanrahen (H an ); 5. David Nickols (Kaw) . 125 tNT 0- 1: l. Rand y Danyl o (Kaw); 2. Ryan Johnson (H a n ); 3. Jimmy wetuel (Ya m); 4. Travis Fleming (H a n ); 5. J ak e Trist ( K.aw) .

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