Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ SUPERCRaSS GFIAmateur Supercross Series: Round 2 ~ Chris Swank (113) charges into the first tum ahead of Doug Lott (10), Charles Bucey (9) and Joe Hanan (7) in the second di vision of the 250cc Novi ce Division class. Mercedes Gonzalez easil y won the Women's Pro class , then added the Plus 25 Intermediate class win as well after a battle with Fred Conover in moto two. Uptondy iteat San D g nam ie o By T o n y Aless i · V 12 SAN DIEGO, CA, FEB. 10 isio ns of Honda riders J erem y McGra th a nd J ean-Michel Ba yle, win ners o f the previous night's Came l Supercro ss, danced th rou gh the m inds of most of the nearl y 600 riders who jam med into J ack Murphy Stadium for ro und two of the five-race GF I Amateur Su percross Series. Donald Upton em u lated the sta rs of the pr evio us nigh t by un leashi ng a fur y of determ ination that pro pelled the 15-year-o ld to a win in the 125cc Youth (12-15) class and third p lace in the l25cc Interm ediat e div ision one class . T he track was pr epped for a ma teu r a bi li ty with most of t he pr eviou s ni gh t' s o bstacles sha ved do wn or rem oved. T he track featured two sets of long, tricky roc kers com bi ned with double and step -up j umps tha t kep t riders on their toes from start to finis h. Bria n Deegan grabbed the lead a t the start of the first 125cc Youth (12-15) rn oto as U p ton , E.]. Wr ight and J oey Cirrocco quickl y filed in beh ind to set the stage for a dynamic race. Up to n closed on Deegan a nd tried to jump to the lead , but cased it hard landing o n the third of a series of close jumps. " I tri ed to pass him but I came up sho rt,' said Upton. " It brok e my pipe, my bike lost power so I had to just stay in second." Deega n went o n to score th e firstrn o to win whi le U pton kep t h is bik e alive to fini sh second wh ile Wright event ually shook o£f Cir rocco to fin ish third. . Deegan was again o ut fro nt as the riders ro unded the first turn in mo to two . Upto n , w ho lo cat ed a n e w ex ha u st pipe betw een motos, was push ing ha rd in second foll owed by Wrig ht a nd j eff Ti lton. Deegan tried to pull away, bu t Upton was doggi ng hi s every move trying to crac k the leader's co ncentra tio n. At the ha lfway mark Upton cleared a step-up jum p that Deegan was ro lling over, a llowing U p ton to lunge into the lead . . " He just wasn't clea ring it; I knew I cou ld pass if I j umped the who le thin g so I did a nd it wor ked perfect," Up to n said. Upton a nd Deega n stayed inches apart to keep th e wi n un deter m ined rig h t u p to the checkered £lag where they finis hed side by side wi th U pto n winn ing by a n ar m len gth. Upton's second-mo te victory ea rned him the overa ll win whi le Deegan a nd l4-yea ro ld Wri g ht fini shed second a nd third for the da y. Up to n was back with the big bo ys in the 125cc Int erm ed ia te div isio n o ne class a nd fin ished third behind Ji mmy . Wietzel and arch riva l Deegan. Sean Pa gel took th e wire-to-wire win in the first mo to a nd was unchall enged th rou ghou t the race. Wietzel deligh ted the spec tators with stylish ai r a ntics after ho ldi ng off Dennis Dahlin a nd Upton for second up to the checkered flag . Deegan mad e a co mme nda ble cha rge fro m 10th to fifth , closing to ' within feet of the tOP four a t the finis h. Brian Beach led the second moto from sta rt to finish. " He kept block in g me," claimed Upton . " I wo uld ru n into the back of h im and lose time and Deegan was righ t there. Then it ha ppened on the last la p ; I was stuck beh ind Beach a nd Deegan railed around the o utside a nd passed me." Weitzel rod e a cons isten t rno to to finish fourt h a nd scor ed the overa ll win in the pro cess since Pagel go t stuck in midpack a nd fini shed sixt h . T ha t left him fou rth overa ll whi le seventhplace fin ish in the first mo to left hi m fift h ov e ra l l. Deegan a nd U p to n finis hed second a nd th ird overa ll. Mercedes Gonza lez gassed it to a pair of wi ns in the 25-29 year-o ld Interrnediate and Wom en Pro classes. Gonzalez fin is hed fo urt h in t he first 25-29 Intermed ia te moto behind Ian FitzGi bbon, Da rren Lindh and win ner Mike Seeley. Gonzalez inherited the lead in the second mot o after Seeley crashed to the back of th e pack and Lindh was p lag ued with problems throughout the mo to. Gonza lez battled for mor e than half the rnot o with Fred Co no ver, who she eventua lly passed two laps from the fin ish to sco re the moto a nd overall win. Gonza lez, rekriowned as the fast est wo ma n rider o n the p lan et, kep t true to h er rep utat ion wit h a pair 'o f lopsided victories o ver T ami Rice, in the Wom en 's Pro class. Kenny Zahrt won the Vet P ro class after sha king a very an noying Dave Mill er , wh o screa med a n 80cc Kawasaki to second. Zah rt went o n to a big lead by the fini sh whil e Mill er a nd hi s 80cc machine defied the masse s wi th a seco nd p lace finish over Ken Neitzel, Craig Adams a nd Marty Moa tes. Ca meron Steele rode h is firs t 250cc Novi ce race a nd scored the overa ll win in di vision fou r. . " I have wo n a lot of surfing cha mp ionships, so I know how to win," said Steele. "Now I a m focusing more on mot ocross."

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