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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127529
eM 088orDeR I GFI California Winter MX Series North: Round 2 f Rick Hollenbeck (40), Larry Coleman (5) and Mike Hags (4) lead the com bined 500cc In term ediate and Pro class. Dean Matson (2) leads Trevor Meagher (45) in 250cc Pro action. Tyson Vohland piloted his Yamahas to three out of four moto wins. Vohlandsweeps Prairie City By Tom Prichard SACRAMENTO, CA, JAN. 12 ea m North Co u nty Yamaha ' s Tyson Voh la nd tu rned in a set o f stellar rides a t home at round two o f the CFI Ca lifornia Winter MX Seri es North held at Pra irie City OHV Park, as he scored th e 125 and 250cc Pro class win s. For h is day's efforts, Vohland went ho me $6000 richer. O ver 475 riders were treated LO a weekend of good wea the r, and th e racing proved to be extremely d ose a ll T 18 day long. T he cou rse was pounded by ra in j ust five days earlier, but held up remarkably well after the many riders loo k th eir turns at challengi ng it. The 250cc Pro class was the first o ff the ga te, and as they fu nn eled into turn o ne, Trevor Meagher came away with the lead . C lose behind Meagher was Dean Ma tso n, Pa t Comm and Pat Ben nett. Before th e first lap was over, Mat son pulled around Meagher to move in to th e lead. Vohland had ma naged to move hi s Yam ah a up from a midpack sta rt to fifth by lap o ne. Matson was able to hol d the lead for th ree laps before Meagh er found a wa y aro u nd and back into firs t. Once in front again , Meagher opened up a five bi ke len gt h cus hion on Ma tson. By th e h a lf wa y poi nt Vo h la n d moved into third after hard-fo ugh t battles wit h first Ben nett , a nd then C omm. It took Vohla nd on ly o ne la p to close in on Ma tso n, who fo ught off his cha rges for two laps before Vohland could find a wa y around. Their heat ed duel over seco nd carried them to th e rear tire o f Meagher, who at o ne time enjoyed a five-second lead. Meagher bega n to protect his lines, b u t Voh land used a high-speed down hi ll to char ge into th e lead . Moments la ter the wh ite flag ca me ou t and Meagher tried LO mount a last-lap charge. Meaghe r mana ged to .d ose in o n Vohland 's rear fender , but bobbled on a n u phill, allo wing Vohland to sli p away for th e wi n. Meagher held on to finis h second a head o f Ma tson , Bennett andComm. " I didn' t get the sta rt I wa nted, bu t after I war me d up I was a ble to reall y get going," said Vohland. T he start of mo to two saw Mike Men ning come o ut o f th e first tu rn with th e lea d followed by Co m m a nd Meagher. Menning held first for over a la p befo re C omm was able to power LO the point. Mea gher's challenge ended on lap two whe n he step ped off at the base of a downhill a nd fell almost half a lap behind. Meagher remounted a nd was abl e to work his way up LO finish sixth. O n lap fo ur , Mennin g also went down and fell back to 16th. Vohland once again worked up from a poor start and by the halfway point began to cha llenge C o m m for th e lead. O n la p five Comm turned th e lead over to Vohlan d for good. C omm made a val iant char ge o n the fi nal la p , but came up only a couple o f len gth s sho rt a t th e finish line. Finishing some distance behind Comm was third place rider J o n Nel son. Fo u rth went to Mat son a nd fin ishing fifth was Lance Smai l. Fresh off his wi n in the 250cc Pro cla ss, Vohla nd next lin ed up wi th th e 125cc division. Another bad sta rt in the first mo to found Voh la nd in 10th .halfway th rough th e first la p. Ca na di an ri der Alla n Dyck and Danny Pal ad in o ti med th e ga te per fectly a nd ro u nded the fir st turn sid e by side. T he two riders battled over fir st for three la ps until Dyck managed to p u ll away from Pa lad ino o n lap four. Bennett also passed Pal ad in o j ust pa st th e halfway point a nd slow ly close d o n Dyck. Almost u nnoticed was Voh la nd as he slo wly worked th rough th e pack. By the six th lap Vohland had moved to th ird and rapidly closed on a tiri ng Bennett. For two laps Bennett managed to hol d of[ Vohland's charges, but fina lly after th e wh ite fla g Vohland too k a chance on the ou tside of a very ru tted and m uddy tu rn a nd took over seco nd fro m the H onda rider. By th is time it was too late for Vohland to catch Dyck, as th e Canadian had built up a five-second lead tha t held up to . th e ch eckered flag. Ben nett held on beh ind Vohland LO finish thi rd , with Pa ladin o fourth, Comm fifth and Smail six th. " I can't believe th e starts I' m getting today," said Vohla nd after hi s co mefrom-beh ind charge. Wh en the 24 riders filed into tum o ne to start th e second mot o, Vohland had th e lead. Dyck gated first, but by th e end of lap o ne had moved into third beh ind second-place Paladino. Paladino and Vohland th en put on a fivelap battle th at had everyo ne hanging onto th e fen ce around th e course. Paladino was never more th an five bike lengths beh ind Vohland, and a t times was able to .pull onto the Yamaha's rear tire. But Vohland kep t th e good lines aw ay from Pal ad in o and on the last lap Pal adin o ga ve it one more try. On th e front side o f the track, Pal adino appeared to be slig h tly faster th an Vohland a nd again dosed to withi n o ne bike len gth. As th e two riders flew up a hill , Paladino and Voh la nd were side by side. Halfway u p the hill, Pal adino hit a rut a nd the back end of his Kawasaki kicked ou t, and he had LO back off j us t enough . to let Vohla nd ge t a way. With less th an a half a lap to go , Pal adino aga in dosed th e ga p , but it was a litt le too la te as Vohland took th e chec kered flag by two bike lengths over Paladino. " It's about tim e I got a hol eshot,' said Vohland. " It's a lot easier when you start o ut front. " In order for everyo ne to get a cha nce a t th e manufacturers con tingencies, th e LOp finish ers in the two divisions of 125cc Beginners were combine d in th e second mot o , with th e top 12 from each d ivision going LO d ivision one, and everyo ne else go ing to di vision two . T hat meant th ere were two moto winners going head to head for the overa ll prizes. In the first division rnoto o ne, th e holesho t went to Suzu ki ri der Sean Rea th , followed by Mauga in seco nd a nd Craig H oyt in third. It too k Mauga less tha n two laps to p ut his Yama ha i nto the lead, d ro p p in g Rea th to second. The two ri ders put o n a he a ted battle for most of the mo to before Mauga was finally able LO break free a nd take th e checkered flag for th e win. Rea th fin ish ed in second wi th H oyt a distant third. The second division was a n easy victory for David Welch . Welch was never serio usly threaten ed after m oving in to th e lead o n la p two. Welch did have a few scary moments when it seemed as if th e Su zuki rid er and h is bike were not co mpletely in tune with each o the r o n the off ca m ber sectio n. Wh en th e chec kered flag came O U! Welch was able to han g o n for the w in w ith seco n d go ing to Craig Humphrey a nd Anthon y Aranda in th ird . Wh en th e ga te dr o pped for th e second rnot o , Mauga im mediately shot int o th e lead, followed dosely by Ma tt Kreeger and Craig H oyt. Kreeger , who had finish ed in sixth in th e first moto was soon passed by H oyt on lap two a nd then by Humphrey on lap fou r. For a whi le it loo ked as if H oyt a nd Humphrey m ight be able to sta y d ose LO Mauga , but as the laps passed tbe