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Golden State Nationals North: Round 4
Rick Ryan rode to second-place finishes in both the 250 and 500cc Pro divisions.
Vohland unstoppable at Marysville
By John Silva
MARYSYU.LE, CA, JAN. 24
allon Vohland topped a talent-laden
field of professionals to earn double
victories at Riverfront Park's Golden
State Nationals MX. The Suzuki pilot
turned in perfect 1-1 moto scores in both
the 125 and 250cc Pro classes.
With the rainou t of the previous
week's series round at Barona Oaks
Raceway, the Riverfront event was the
racers' first chance to grab a share of the
$903,600 Golden State contingency cash
since their last visit to Marysville's nearby E Street facility, two weeks earlier.
Riders craving rugged, natural-terrain
MX were in for a treat, as the 1.5-mile
Riverfront-track featured a large portion
of "virgin" terrain. The new section was
extremely rough, and the whoops that
developed near the river were demanding. As usual, stamina was a big factor.
"The Marysville tracks are always
demanding," said Vohland. "They're
great practice for the European GPs and
the outdoor Nationals."
In the first 125cc Pro moto, Scott
Myers had the quickest left hand and
timed the gate perfectly and pulled several bike lengths on the field during the
race to the first tum.
Myers carved through turn one with
the lead, followed by Michael Brandes
and Dean Matson. Vohland entered the
back section of the course in fifth place,
trailed by Greg Tierheimer, Tyler
Hummel, Lowell Moural Jr. and Jeff
Pestana.
Myers built a slight lead and looked
poised to pull off an upset win. At first,
Vohland held back a bit, surveying the
situation, but when an opportunity presented itself, he swept past both Matson
and Brandes to take over second and he
then began to reel in Myers.
A short distance back, Honda-mounted Pestana was hot on the trail of Matson
and Tierheimer. Matson used aggressive
defense in an attempt to hold off Pestana,
but the strategy backfired when both
Pestana and Tierheimer slipped past.
Another racer on the move was
Yamaha-rider Rick Ryan, who had started outside of the top 10, but was working
his way up, passing Moura! to take over
10th. Moural then dropped out of the
race when his bike seized.
Myers made no mistakes, but couldn't
T
22
match Vohland's velocity, and Vohland
flew around him to take over the lead
and he then began to pull away.
Pestana's pace had advanced him to
Myers' rear fender, and at the halfway
point in the race he pulled ahead of
Myers to secure second, but Vohland
was effectively out of reach.
A wild battle was going on for fourth
place, and Brandes rode his heart out to
maintain the position, while behind him
Matson and Tierheimer swapped the
fifth spot several times. On the final lap, a
late-charging Ryan also moved up to
challenge.
At the checkered flag, Vohland scored
the win with Pestana second and Myers
third. Brandes held tough to secure
fourth, followed by Matson, Ryan,
Tierheimer and Smith.
"I've been too eager lately, like last
race when I jumped the gate," said
Pestana after the moto. "I tried to be
more careful today, but it caused me to
start with a disadvantage. I'm gonna try
hard to get a good start (in moto two);
maybe see if I can get close enough to
Tallon to run with him."
In the second moto, Matson grabbed
the hoieshot and preceded Vohland and
Tierheimer through the first turn. Myers,
Brandes and Smith all exited the turn in
good position, but Pestana tasted turf
and rejoined the race in last place.
Vohland didn't appear to be in any
hurry to pass Matson, but he was alert to
any opening that the Kawasaki rider
might provide. A superior line choice by
Vohland gave him the edge, and he
passed cleanly on lap three.
Myers slipped by Tierheimer for third
place next, and the fatiguing Tierheimer
faded to eighth at the finish. Myers had
little time to enjoy his new position, however, as Smith had passed Tierheimer
and was close behind, looking determined to pass.
Back in the pack, Pestana had recovered from his first-turn crash, and was on
the move, moving to midpack by the
halfway point in the race. His progress
ended, however, when he lost his gas cap
and was drenched in fuel. Soaked to the
skin with the caustic fluid, Pestana
retreated to the pits.
On the final circuit, Smi th passed
Myers with only a few turns to go. At
the finish, it was Vohland with the win
and the overall, and Matson second in
the moto and second overall. Smith held
on to finish third ahead of Myers, but
Myers got the nod for third overall.
Ryan concluded a successful charge
through the pack for flfth in the moto
and fifth overall.
A full gate lined up for the 250cc class,
and it was Smith who jumped to an early
lead ahead of Vohland, Spud Walters,
Myers and Matson. Pestana, Brandes,
Ryan and Belgian Rudi Van Leeuwen
were also near the front.
.
Vohland shook the order up first,
smoking past Smith for the lead in the
high-speed jumps. Soon Myers passed
Smith too, and while Smith was busy
defending third place against Pestana,
Van Leeuwen was busy planning a surprise attack.
Van Leeuwen came alive when the
halfway signal appeared, shooting past
both Pestana and Smith to take over
third from where he began a charge after
Myers.
The last lap of the race was filled with
surprises. First, Van Leeuwen's bike
threw a chain when he attacked the rockers. The Belgian had a few tense
moments when his rear wheel locked up
and he hit the face of a tabletop jump, but
he was unhurt.
"That's twice today it (the chain) has
fallen off," said Van Leeuwen. "I had a
bad start, too. I had. bad luck this moto."
Disaster struck Myers next when his
bike seized in midair. Myers suffered a
nasty blow to the chest, but was otherwise uninjured. His bike, however, was
out for the day.
"I just came over the jump, and the
bike seized," said Myers. "It just locked
up solid. When it hit the ground, it just
flipped me over. I'll just have to do it on
a 125."
The moto ended with another
Vohland victory. Myers' loss was
Pestana's gain, as he found himself in
second place at the checkered flag. Smith,
Ryan and Walters followed for third
through fifth.
Matson set the early pace for the second moto, followed by Brandes and
Vohland. It was nearly the last moto of
the day, and the top three riders chose
radically different lines, searching for a
smooth way around the chopped-up
track.
The rough stuff got the best of
Brandes, and he went down, allowing
Vohland past. Brandes rejoined the race a
full lap down.
Matson again resorted to defensive
race ta.cties, while Vohland looked for a
safe way around. At one point, both riders slowed nearly to a stop, as Vohland
avoided getting pinched off on the inside
line. Eventually, Vohland grew frustrated with the game and slipped by.
Pestana progressed steadily through
the pack, and was in third place at
midrace. Smith and Ryan were dicing
close behind. Pestana tangled with
another rider and went down, but
remounted quickly and sped off, only to
discover that his brake padal had become
mangled in the fall, leaving him with no
rear brake. Pestana dropped back to.
eventually finish in seventh place.
At the finish, it was Vohland in for
first place and another perfect score.
Matson crossed the line next, earning
third overall, and Ryan's consistent 4-3
finishes netted second overall in the final
tally.
In the 250cc Junior class, John Ensign
raced his NCY-backed Yamaha to a firstmoto win, leading the class from start to
finish. Steven Richards and Don
Mendenhall were second and third,
respectively.
In the second moto, Jason Ritchey
moved to the front of the pack. Ritchey
had finished fourth in the first round, but
was hot in molo two and scored the win.
Ensign had to settle for second, but that
was good enough to score the overall
win. Ritchey nabbed second overall and
Mendenhall notched a solid third with
consistent finishes.
The 125cc Beginner class win earned
some contingency cash for Kawasakimounted Scott Davis. Davis nailed the
start in the first moto, but was bar to bar
with Ryan Duntsch through the first
turn. In the following doubles, Duntsch
out-leaped Davis, but still could not get
by. Davis pulled away when the riders
negotiated the back section.
John Depauw was busy defending
third place from Jason Sturdevan, David
Lodermeier and Robert Perry. On lap
four, Sturdevan bobbled, dropping to the
back of the pack. Carl Baker took quick
advantage of the situation to slip by
Lodermeier and snag fourth.
.Davis and Duntsch were long gone,
but quite busy with their own battle.
Slowly but surely, the more-experienced
Davis pulled away, and took the 'checkers several bike lengths ahead of
Duntsch. Baker was third with
Lodermeier and Shane Pestana rounding
out the top five.
Davis gated first 'again in moto two,
followed by Lodermeier and Pestana.
Duntsch was shut out in the first turn,
and had to act quickly to weave through
the pack, as the moto was cut to only
four laps.
Making the most of his strong start,
Davis was soon long gone. Duntsch
passed Pestana, but took longer to get by
Lodermeier. Lodermeier and Duntsch
fought a clean-but-furious battle, with
Duntsch eventually getting by. Carl
Baker moved around Pestana.
On the final lap, Baker went down
when his bike took a wild hop, and he
was unable to continue. The order
remained the same to the finish, with
Davis, Duntsch, Lodermeier, Pestana and
Jenkins earning the top five positions both
in the moto and in the overall tally.
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Results
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