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/127389
~. M OTOCROSS 24th Annual Mammoth Mountain MotocrOS! e Winner Steve Lamson (6) passed La nce Smail (37) in Fri day's 500cc Expert class final. Smail held on to finis h third. Jason Chisum (131), Bre tt Klinger (121) a nd Greg Lonergan (24) battled fo r position in the 125cc Jun ior class. Lamsonsteals the lootat Mammoth By Donn Maeda P h otos by Kinney J ones and Maeda "I 16 MAMM OTHLAKES, CA, JUNE26-30 t feels just great," said Steve La mso n, after scoring the win in th e 250cc Expert cla ss and poc keting th e $5000 bonus for being the to p overa ll finisher in th e three Expert classes. "I've been coming up here for the past four years, thi s is my favorite track. I like to use thi s race to re lax a n d tune up fo r the Nationa ls." Lamson pos ted wins in the 250 and 500cc classes, and a strong thi rd in the 125cc class to be the weekend 's most consistent Expe rt class competitor. La mso n returned to his Poll ock Pines, California, home $8600 rich er, with the majority of his winnings coming from the overall bonus. The T eam Peak Honda rider's on ly defeat came in the 125cc class, wh ere San Jose Came l Supercross wi nner Doug Dub ach scored the victory and 1990 125cc Western Regional Su percross Cha mpion Ty Davis finis hed second. ''I' m (physically) bigger than both of those gu ys," said Lamson , referring to Dub ach and Davis. " I didn't get a very good start, and it was rea l hard to make up time on a 125. Doug and Ty were going really fast, though." Nearl y 1400 amateu r and professional entrants flocked to the winter ski resort town of Mammoth La kes for four days of compe tition on th e milelong track that winds through th e pine trees of the Sierra Nevada Moun tains. Vet class racers at tacked the trac k on Thursday , . whi le 80 and 500cc class riders competed on Friday. Saturday was composed of the Women's and 125cc classes, and Sunday's races featu red 250cc machinery. A large turnout of entrants required that all of the classes be divided into divisions, with the Junior classes havi ng as ma ny as seven. Amateurs raced two qualifying motos to earn a spot in the class main event, which , combined with their previous moto scores, counted double towards an overall finish. Experts rode in a single qualifier that transferred the top riders to the final , while those who failed to qualify directly had a second chance, via a last chance qualifier. Experts carried no points forward, and their position in th e final reflected th eir overall fin ish. Lamson's first win was in the 500cc Expert final , in whi ch he competed aboard reigning 250cc MX National Champ ion Jeff Stanton 's works Honda. Ryan Carlisle grabbed the holeshot a t the start of the 30-minute, plus-two lap final , but Lance Smail quickl y snatched the lead away and began to establish a comma nding lead. Lamson found h ims elf on the grou nd after colliding with another rider as they a pproached the first turn, La mson rejoined the race in last place, and set a bla zing pace towards th e front of the pa ck. Brian Manl ey pressured Smail throughout the early laps of the race , while Davis fought to keep his four. stroke ATK in third. Mike Young shadowed Davis ' every move aboard a Coast Racing big -bore Suzuki RM250, and blast ed around him in a tighter section of the track. " I' m glad I had on ear plugs," said Young, referring to the sound of Da vis' four-stroke. " I finall y got sic k of lis ten ing to that thing and had to pass hi m!" La mso n methodica lly pi cked off his competi tors, and by th e fifth lap had moved to the rear fender of Smail. Lamson easi ly mo tored into the lead, and once out front, began to establish a commanding lead . " I started to get tired," said Smail. " I' m not really used to th e bik e, and it 's bon e stock." About the same tim e, Dubach pulled off th e track with a seized mo tor. Ca mpaigning an air-cooled Yam aha WR500, Dub ach ra n as high as fifth , but his charge an d ho pes for the overall Expert bonus came to a halt j ust pa st the finish turn. "It just locked up," said a disappoint ed Dub ach . " We didn 't get to test a nd prepare th e bike li ke we should've." Mean while, Lam son romped to an easy wi n, well ahead of Manley, who fou nd his way past a tiring Smail. Young crossed the finish line a lonely fo urt h , and Davis rounded ou t the top five. "Tha t bik e is awesome," said Lamson. " I crashed really hard at the start, and I was pretty sha ken up , but 1 was able to catch up fairl y easily." T revor Meagher sped off the line in Sa turday's 125cc Expert final, and led for three laps before fading back into the pack. " I felt good at first , but 1 guess 1 have to train harder," said Meagher. "I know I can go as fast as those guys." Dubach took control of the race j ust before the 10-minut e mark, and began to open a comfortable lead. Lamson started at the back of the pack, and once again, was forced to work his way through the 38 rider field . By lap nine Lamson had worked into third place. though well behind Davis. " I caught up as best 1 could," said Lamson. " Bu t 1 think 1 was just underpowered - I'm riding my prac-