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/127378
eMOTOCROSS NMA World Mini Grand Prix m Bob T ippit (2) and Greg Perolio (54) diced throughout th~ seco nd Vet class moto. Sean Pagel ( 18) led Damon Huffman (30) in the 125cc Stock Intermediate class. Craig Decker (75) passed Jeff Willoh (216) for the 80cc Modified (14-16) class win. 18 C lowers, bu t C lo wers' 2-3 to p ped Carlisle's 7-2 for second overall. "Luckily, I go t out front early a nd pulled away, " sai d Lawrence. "These five lap motos aren' t even a race . I train as hard as I can, bu t whe n th ey run thes e short races it just evens it o ut for the guys who don ' t train." " I got run off th e trac k in the fir st moto and didn' t ride so well," said Carlisle. " I did some thinking before my second moto and p ut it a ll toge ther. I felt real strong o ut there. " Lawrence ow ned the 250cc Mod ified Pro class, as he ga ined control of bo th motos early on a nd pulled away fro m th e field. In the fi rst rn oto Button motored th rou gh the pack to finish seco nd , wh ile Mike Young topped C lowers for third place. You ng cla imed th e runner-up positio n in the. second mot o after chasing Clowers th rough out the five-lap ra ce. On the last lap, Young pulled a long ' side Clowers in a set of jumps a nd dove pas t in the following tum. Carlisle finis hed a dis ta nt fourth a head of Crumb. Whi le La wrence was uncontested fo r th e overall, You ng's 3-2 scored second over Clowers' 4-3. " I felt good," said Lawrence. "The track is getting beuer as th e weeke nd goes o n , but I still do n' t th in k it's good eno ugh to hold an amateur nationa l on." " T h a t was g reat," sai d Young. " T here' s no t a lot of time to pass, so rta' lik e Ascot was . I saw a n opening on the last lap , and went fo r it. " Bill y Joe Mercier of Granada Hills, California, made short work of th e 500cc No n- Pro class, as he grabbed th e holeshot in the firs t m ot o a nd tracto red away with the win. Mark Eas ley ra n a strong second for most of the rnoto, but had to fend off a hard-charging Bret t H a m ilto n la te in th e race. Eas ley he ld on to seco nd, whi le H am ilton settled for third ahead of Brett Bierek. Kevin Yeager pee led out of th e gate fastest in th e second moto, but Mercier was clos e behind. Mercier snuck past on th e second lap a nd proceeded to pull awa y from the rest of the field aboa rd his AXO / Payne Engineering/ P at Riley /Kol be Honda /Donnie Hansen 's Motocross Acadernv/ Ren tha I/Scott-ba cked Honda. Yeager su ccessfu lly fended off the advances of Easley, but Easley's 2-3 score top ped Yeager's 5-2. . " T ha t 500 is a hand ful on this track, " said Mercier, wh o norma lly competes in th e 125 a nd 250cc Intermediate classes . "That was pretty easy though , the co mpetit io n isn' t as tough in the Open class." Mich ael Brandes piloted hi s Team G reen / Answe r/ Du n lo p / Sm ith / Po m o na Va lley Kaw asakiiShoei /Bill 's P ipes/Motu l/Race T ech/Tsubakil Acerbis / l OO%-backed Kawasaki to th e overall win in th e l2 5cc Modified Intermed iat e cla ss. Brandes won his q ualifiers and entered th e run-off moto with a first place qualifying score, as did Mo rga a nd Damon Huffman, from th e second a nd third di visions. Rand ho leshot th e fin al rnoto, while Bra nd es sta rted in fourth behind Billy Fel ts a nd J ason McCormick. Brandes q uickly found hi s way pa st McCormi ck and Felts , but seemed content once he moved into second place. Rand scored th e moto win ahead of Brandes, McCormick and Felts. . "I fin ally had so me luck," said Br andes. "I've been cr ashing all weekend. -Once I got into second, I didn't want to push it and risk crashing while trying to catch Rand. " . " I got a good holeshot and just rode away," said a happy Rand. " T ha t' s important on this track, there's not too many places to pass here." Ryan Huffman sta rted his string of wins in th e l2 5cc Stock Intermediate class. After winning both preliminary motos in di visi on three, Ryan Huffm an adva nced to the runoff with a perfect sco re. Also advancing to th e fin al with perfec t scores were Damon Huffman, wh o won division one, a nd J ason McCormick, wh o topped division two. Shawn Morga grabbed the holeshot in th e fin al rnoto, but R yan Huffman quickl y assu m ed th e lead. After starting midpack , Damon Huffman sliced through th e pack and began to close on th e front-runners. Damon Huffman smoked past Morga a nd set after th e lead er , bu t ca me up just in ches sho rt a t th e fin ish line. " I got a good start," said Ryan Huffman. " I had to work past about four guys on the first lap, which was pretty hard. " " I s ta r ted wa y back, " sa i d an obviously disappointed Damon Huffm an. " I passed guys pretty easi ly, but four laps wasn 't enough time for me to ca tch up. " R yan Huffman cap tu red th e overall win in th e 250cc Stock Intermediate class after transferring to the runoff with a seco nd place score. Morga and Brandes wo n the division one and two q uali fiers, respectively. After terrible starts i n both qua lifi er s, Dam on H uffman a lso transferr ed in to th e ru noff rnoto with a second place score. Mercier grabbed the hol esh ot a t th e start of th e final, with Ryan Huffman, Morga a nd Damon Huffman in tow. Whi le Mercier began to pull away, Damon swooped past Morga and went to work on R yan. By lap two, Dam on had sn uck past Ryan and began to close th e gap o n Merci er. Damon ca ugh t and passed Mercier o n the th ird lap, but sn apped his rear axle on the white flag lap a nd was forced to retire. Mercier finished first, a hea d of R yan and Morga . Ryan Huffman's consistent 2-2 scores ne tted him th e overa ll wm , In the 250cc Mod ified Interm ed iate cl ass, R yan Huffman a nd Felts trans. ferred into the fi nal wi th fi rst-place sco res, whi le Damo n H uffman and Mo r g a advanced wi t h a p a i r of seco nds. T he fin al looked lik e a carbo n copy of th e Stock class race, as Dam on Huffman took control, and looked to be on hi s . way 10 victory. Tragedy struc k again, how ever , as Huffman's chai n sna p ped a nd sen t the Ifi-yearold rider to ยท the ground. Mercier inherited the lead, and rode aer oss the finish line a hea d of Ryan Huffman and Felts. Ryan Huffman scored the overall win over Felts and Mercier. " It wasn 't as easy as it sounds," said Rya n Huffman. " I had to work hard for my wins." David Chase ripped off the line in the opening 250cc Modified Novice moto, with Randy Denby, Greg Lonergan and Tim Wahlberg in hot pursuit. JT USA/Krause-backed Chase fended off all challenges and rode off with the moto win, while Lonergan scooted into second by the moro's end. Tim Wahlberg motored into third after a sixth-place start. Tracy Asher too k control of the second rnoto, while Chase followed only inches behind. Although he made repeated attempts to steal the lead, Chase eventually settled for second place, good enough for the overall win. Wahlberg charged aeros the line in third, earning second overall. ar Results PIW: I. Jonathan Shimp (Yam); 2. Chris Tocco (Yam); 3. Emiu Kling (hi); 4. Ross Garcill (Yam ); 5. Att Cooley ( Yam~ PIW MOD: I. Danid Blair (Yam); 2. JorwhaD