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/127369
eM OSS oroeR e GFI Winter MX Series North-South Showdown: Round I John Dallair (44) grabs the holeshot from Kent Reed (4) in the second di vision of the Vet Novi ce class. Erik Kehoe (3) led from stan to finish in the first 125cc Pro moto, th en storm ed to victory in th e second moto as well. Kehoe prevails at Huron By Tony Alessi HURON. CA. FEB 17 . rik Kehoe ove rca me extremely cha lle nging trac k co nditions and a host of Na tio na l-ca liber competi tors to po st a double moto victo ry in the 125cc Pro class during the first showdown round of the GFI North- E 38 South Wi nter Series at H uro n Cycle Park. T he facili ty loca ted in th e fla t. farmin g plains of cen tra l Ca lifornia, seemed the perfect location for the opening match-up bet ween northern and southern Cali fornia riders. Bu t the a rea, which used to be a loam y, traction filled OHV park. was tra ns for med by Cal ifo rnia's five-year droug h t into a sun-baked, concrete-hard track. As the first 125cc Pro moto roared down the start straight into a fast, sweepi ng left turn, AX O / Pro Ci rcuitsponsored Kehoe shot into the lead wit h J oe Bru ce. Mike Cha mberlain, Ri ck Ryan a nd Sha un Woo ten fili ng into the to p five. Na tio na l rid ers Brian Swi nk a nd Steve La mson were stuc k in a clo ud of du st o ut of the top 10 a nd a ppeared to be having problem s workin g th rough the pack. Bru ce's stay in seco nd was short- lived as Chamber- lain claimed the position a t the start of the second lap. Soon Lamso n cut through the pack and was up to third behind Chamberlain and Kehoe. while Bru ce a nd Rick Ryan dr opped back and were passed by Woo ten . In the la te stages of th e moto Chamberlain closed on Keh oe whi le La mson watched in th ird. and th a t's how they crossed under th e chec kered flag. Woo ten maintained fou rt h in front of Ryan. whi le Swi nk's charge fell short a nd he finished six th. "This track is a lo t dr ier a nd ro ugher than what I am used to." said the Fenton, Mich igan. na tive. Wh en the pack rounded the firs t turn for th e start of the seco nd mot o it was Wooten ou t front wi th Kehoe. Lamso n. Ryan a nd Swink in hot pursuit. While Kehoe a nd La mso n fought over second, Woo ten ex tended his lead to a bo u t seven bike lengths. Woo ten 's lead evaporated a t th e halfway point, how ever , a nd it was questionable if he co uld maintain the pace of Kehoe and La mson beh ind him . Two laps fro m the finish Kehoe sli pped into the lead wh ile Lamson passed Wo ot en a lap lat er. Keh oe opened a sma ll lead which he maintai ned to the finish while La mson shook free from Wooten to finish second a few bike length s in fro nt of Wooten. Chamberlain finished fourt h after dropping Rya n to fifth wh ile Swi nk crashed a nd DNF. Lamson came bac k in the first 250cc Pro mo to, taking the lead a nd never looking back. Ryan Ca rlisle rode strong during the first half of the race as he fended off Bader Manneh and Keh oe. Bu t bo th Manneh a nd Kehoe slip ped by for second and th ird near the end of th e race. Chamberlain prov id ed so me last-minute action wh en he passed bo th Carl isle and Keh oe during the last two laps to finish third behind Manneh a nd Lamson. Kehoe. Manneh a nd Pat Gomm held the to p th ree spots a t th e sta rt of the seco nd mo to. Su dde nly Manneh was way out-fro n t as Kehoe went down. " I went over the bars a nd the bik e was too bent up to co nti n ue." Kehoe said. . Mann eh eas i ly dom in a ted the remainder of the rn o to . Lamson ran in the to p three ea rly but cras hed back to sixt h. Chamberlain moved to second bri nging rookie Gomm wi th hi m, and they crossed the finis h lin e seco nd and thi rd behind Manneh. Danny Nelson wa lked off with a n easy wire-to-wire win in the first 125cc Inter media te class rn oto whi le Jeff Bro wnl ee worked up to finis h second in fro nt of Todd McMaster and J eff In gram. Sea n Pagel , th e So u thern Series Cha m pion , hea ded the so uth ern assa ult with a seventh-p lace finis h. Nelson and Brownl ee battled for most of the second moto until Nelson tried a wild manuever that th rew him and hi s machine to the pavement-like. surface. Nelson remou nted and repassed Bro wn lee for the lead on the fina l lap to secure the overall wi n over Bro wnl ee. wh i le J imm y Mechem finished a di stant th ird. Steve Drew finished eigh th as the lead sou thern Californian. Grant Gas par showed his versat il ity with the 125cc Novice overa ll win and a second overa ll in the 250cc Novi ce class. Wh ile most sou thern riders felt o ut of pl ace o n the very cha lle ngi ng co urse. G aspa r see med unaffect ed a nd wo n the first 125cc mo to after a hea ted battle wi th northern favorite J ake Windham. Gasp ar took off a nd easi ly won the second rnoto after Windham had to work through the pack to finish fourth behind Randy Ritchi e and Trac y