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/127527
eMoroeROSS e Florida Winter AM! Series: Round I J erom y Bueh l (36), Hayden Richards (842), Bill y Schlag (489), and Edward Walstrom (297) funnel in to the first tum ahead of the 125cc Pro class at the start of moto one. A record turnout of 881 entrants filled the starting lines and made a good jump essential to reaching tum one with the ho leshot. up and sho t by Swin k for the second lead cha nge of the rnoto. Ferr y looked to be headed to a sure victory, but wi th two laps remaining, he rode past the pit area pointing to hi s shi ft lever. Soo n a fte r Sw in k slipped by Ferr y and moved back into the front positi on . Ezra Lu sk, wh o was running third , also motored by Ferry for third, mak in g the fin al fini shing orde r Swink , L us k, Ferry, J eromy Buehl and Vin ce DeVan e. After th e race, Ferr y said, " T he transmi ssion was stuck in third gear and :J cou ldn 't hold Brian (or Ezra ) off." Aft er fi n is hi ng a di sappoint ing fourth , Lu sk said, " I have a lo t of con fidence, bu t my conditioning is off. I hurt my sho ul der in Paris and took a mo n th off." Lusk blasted into the early lead in th e second mo to with Swink hot o n h is heels. For most of the race, Lusk was in comma nd until Swink began to challe nge for th e lead , eventually fo rcing hi s way around th e frontru nner . Swink, Ferry shine at Gatorback By Mike an d Anne Ada ir GA INESVILLE, FL, DEC. 28-29 he o pening ro und of the 22nd running of the Flo rida Winter AMA MX Series attracted a reco rd turn out of 881 ride rs fro m 32 sta tes, Can ada, Eng land and So uth Africa to th e Gato rback Park MX facili ty, as Suzu ki's Brian Swi nk and Kawasaki Team Green 's Timm y Ferr y scored th e 125 an d 250cc Pro class wins. Swi nk used per fect I-I score to clinch th e l25cc Pro class win, whi le T ยท6 a Ferry used a con sistent 1-3 combination to wrap up the 250cc Pro class victory. Ferry also landed thi rd overa ll in the l25cc division. Significant cash contingency programs offered by Yamaha, Suzuki , Kawasak i and Honda at the Wor ldSports- pro mo ted ! AMA- san cti o ne d event were perhaps a big reaso n fo r th e large turnou t of racers. For exampl e, New Yo rk's Chris Coleman, who finish ed second in the 250cc Pro cla ss o n a Yama ha YZ250, said, " Yam ah a wi ll award me $2000 for today's race. This is really what keeps a lot of us on the circu it." In the first 125cc Pro mota, J erom y Buehl go t the ball rolli ng with the holeshot , but two laps later, Swink shot h is Suzuk i past the H onda rid er for the lead. Swink led the pack fo r th e next five laps until Ferr y moved " Ezra was setti ng a fast pace, so I basi call y took him with a block pass," said Swink. " I was dicing with Brian; I went in side and mi ssed a shift," said Lusk. . Suzuki-mounted DeVane, who was running third for most of the moto, event ually passed L usk late in the race for second. Swink scored the rnoto win and overall, ahead of DeVane (fourt h overa ll ), Lusk (second overall), Ferry and Buehl. Rounding out the top 10 o vera ll were Buehl, Barry Carsten, Bill y Schlag. Anthony Paggi o, Ros s Pederson and Bill y Whitley. T im Ferry mad e up for a so-so star t to win the first 250cc P ro moto. Ferry 's las t victi m was Justin J ackson who led for mu ch of the race after passing Ca na dia n Ross Pederson early on. J ackson ended up second in the moto, while Gene Naumec battled back up from last pl ace to finish third. Chris Colem an was fourth and Pederson fifth. J ackson said after the race, "I mad e