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/127549
as h e roos ted away with both of his qualifyin g moto wins and went on to sto m p the compe titio n in the runoff rnoto. Pingr ee, Linkogole, Dennis Dahlin and Ted Campbell ro u nded ou t th e top five qual ifiers fro m di visron one. In Division Two, Reynard roosted away with the win in the same fashi on as Decker, while Latham, Andrich , Schnell and Parsons completed the top five. In the seven-lap runoff rnoto, Latham sped into the lead and managed to hold off Decker for five laps. Behind the two front -runners, Chris Allen, Parsons and Reynard battled over third, bu t the running order would remain the same at the finish. Decker cru ised past the checkered flag nine seconds ah ead of La tham, an d scored his second championshi p of the weekend. La tha m was second o verall , ahead of Reyn ard , Parsons and Linkogle, who finished sixth in the ru noff. "The track is starti ng to get onelined, " said Decker. "I was waiting for La tham to make a mistake, bu t he did n't make any, and I had to force my way past" "I could hear him behind me," said Latham. "I just tried to stay smooth and ho ld my lines." Decker won his thi rd cha mpionship no t by being the fastest, but the most consistent. Rider turnout in the 250cc Intermediate classes was no t as high as tha t in the 125cc ranks , and a tradi tional rwo-rnoto form at was followed. In the first 250cc Modified Intermediate moto, Metzger led Pingree, Reynard, McO>rmick an d Decker out of the gate, and pulled away to a comfortable lead. McO>rmick and Reynar d found their way past Pingree on lap two, as did Decker a lap later. McCormick fought off the advances of Reynard throughout the race, but both riders were surprised on the whi te flag lap when Decker blasted past and into second. McO>rmick settled for tltird, ahead of Reynard, Pingree an d Parson s. I "I've been having bad luck all weekend - first tum crashes and bad starts," said Metzger. "When I finall y got a good start, I was able to run away with it." Reynard was fastest out of the ga te in moto two, and led start to finish. Decker gated second and challenged Reynard in the early laps but seemed to back off the pa ce, knowing that a second-place finish would secure the overall. Parsons started third, and resisted the passing attempts of Dahlin throughout the race. Pingree was mired at the start, and by the end of the seven-lap mo to worked into fifth. Decker's 2-2 scores top ped Reynard' s lessconsistent 4-1, while Parsons was third overall with his 6-3 per£onnances . "I've been on the ground more this weekend than I have all year long," said Reynard. "I tried to pu sh hard at the start and get away from Decker. My arms started to pu mp up near the end of the rnoto, but I was far enough ahead that it didn 't matter." "I like riding the 250s, but I think I'm still better on a 125," said Decker. Pingree took control of the opening 250cc Stock Intermedia te moto and was never headed. McO>rmick shadowed his every move for the first few lap s, bu t Pingree's pace proved to be too much. McO>rmick did, however, hold on-to the runner-up spo t. Decker hounded McO>rmick from the get-go, but was forced to settle for third ahead of Texan J oey Pratt and Reynard. Pingree duplicated h is first-mo te ho leshot in the second go-round, and led Decker, Reynard and Dahlin through tum one. Reynard came to life on lap four, and scooted pa st Decker and Pingree in a series of three turns. Pingree tried to retaliate, but instead settled for second ahead of Decker and a distant Dahlin. " I've been having terrible luck this year," said American Suzukil]T/ Shoeil Splitfire/Peak/PJ IISunstar/ WO R/ T subaki/IOO%/ All-S port Dynamics/ • Bent Sportswear-backed Pingree. "I'm glad I was able to pu t it together in at least one class. I like the track, especially the tighter sections - they suit me well." Reynard's only overall win of the weekend came in the 125cc Open class, that is open to all non-pro riders up to the age of 16. Reynard easily swept both motos ahead of Decker, who . had to overcome mediocre starts in both outings. Andrich fini shed third in the first moto ahead of Lex Malan and Linkogle, but was relegated to fourth in moto two by Latham. Andrich's 3-4, though, edged Linkogle's 5-5 and Latham's 12-3 for third overall. Team Suzuki Motocross/ Cycle Engineering/Shoei/Dunlop/ Answer/ Oakley/ lOO%/VP-sponsored Damon H uffman ran and hid from the competition in the l25cc Pro classes. The l6-year-old easily swept both motos in the Modified class, whil e T eam Green's Ray Crumb earned second with 2-4 showings. A 62 earned Scott Sheak third overall, wltile local favori te Richard Saxton an d Scott Myers rounded out the top five overall. Huffman continued his winning ways in the Stock class, and easily bested Spud Walters, Jason Edwards and Crumb in the first moto. Sheak dealt Huffman his only defeat in the 125cc ranks in moto two, as he took control of the lead early on and established an insurmountable lead. Huffman suffered a mid-pack start, but snaked into second by the moto's end, ahead of Derek Natvig, Tommy Clowers and Edwards. H uffman was awarded the overall, as Sheak suffered a ninthplace finish in moto one. Edwards was second overall, ahead of Clowers, Sheak and Crumb. "I just played it cool and waited for .clean chances to pass," said Huffman. "There are less rocks than last year, but I thi nk there are less places to pass." Huffman 's luck soured in the 250cc Stock and Modified Pro classes,as crashes and bad starts held him back to seventh in both of the opening rnotos. Crumb raced to the win in the first Stock moto, to p p ing Sheak, Mike You ng a nd Edwards. In mo to two, Huffma n regained his composure and roosted away with the win. Edwards finished second with Crumb an d Sheak on his tail. Crumb was awarded the overall by virtu e of his 1-3 scores, wltile Edwards, Sheak, Huffman and Young rounded ou t the top five overall, in that order. " I just pushed as hard as I could," said Kawasaki T eam Green/Yoko / Bieffe/Smit h /Pro Circu itlCP E/Ren thaI!AllsportiN-Slyle/Donnie Hansenbacked Crumb. "I really liked the track, but you definitely needed a good start if you hoped to win." In the opening Modified race, Sheak performed a disappearing act and scored a runaway win, despi te a flat tire he sufferedearly in the 1O-lap moto. Clowers came home second, ahead of Myers an d Crumb. As he did in the Stock class, Huffman came alive in moto two and scored a come-from-behind win. Ryan Huffman enjoyed a hu ge lead for. most of the rnoto, but fell prey to Damon Huffman's charge and settled for second. Edwards greeted the checkered flag third, ahead of Myers and Sheak. Shea k was awarded the overall, ahead of Myers and Huffman. " I'm not used to riding on hard pack, back East all we have is loam," said New York er Sheak, who listed his spo nsers as Kawasaki T eam Green, Pro Circuit, Fox, Bell, Enthal , Scott, Du nl o p , Tsubaki and Pro Art Works. " Once I got used to it, thou gh, I felt really good." Craig Deck er (75) breezed to three Intermediate class cha m p ions h ip s, while Joey Prall (40) struggled with bad starts and crashes throughout the weekend. Kevin Windham (511) passed Carmichael (167), Jason Partridge (727) and Casey Johnson (125) en route to his double-mote sweep in the Super Mini class. 23