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/127568
The Lake Whitney track was in pettect condition. Rain storms hampered Friday's racing, while Saturday and Sunday featured cool but pleasant weather for the 1150 entries. Decker was second, and Upshaw finished third. Team Green/Race Tech/ AXO/ Dunlop/Bill's Pipes-sponsored Clint Latham won the other division's first moto ahead of Goodman, but it was Goodman who pulled the second-moto holeshot in front of Reynard. Decker suffered a terrible start, and completed lap one in eighth place. Reynard was in front by the completion of the first lap, and he again pulled quickly away, while Decker mounted a charge towards the front. Decker closed on Goodman and took over second place on the seventh . lap, while Reynard completed his perfect weekend by earning his fourth and final moto win. Decker was second in the moto and second overall ahead of a despondent Goodman. "I guess that's the best I can do for now," said the Pro-Circuit/ AXO/ Oakley/Dunlop-sponsored Goodman. "Craig was really riding smooth. I've never really raced against him that much, but he looked good." "I got held up off the start, but after I passed Goodman, I could see him (Reynard) up ahead," said Decker. "I saw I was catching him, but I knew he could tum it up whenever he wanted." "It feels really good to win," said Reynard, who collected $1200 for his Expert-dass wins. "Decker's riding really good; he's ridden a couple supercrosses this year, and I'm just happy that 1beat him." Team Green/ AXO/Maxima/ Dunlop /Scott/Renthal/FMF/N-Style/ Hammerhead/CCS-backed Windham easily won his first moto in the 250cc Intermediate class, and divulged his strategy after the race: "I just tried to ride smooth and not use too much energy; it's going to be a long weekend." Kawasaki-mounted Casey Johnson won the first moto in the other division, but Windham again dominated moto two..Brad Woolsey held off a .charge by Brandon Lacey to secure the runner-up spot, while Johnson suffered a terrible start and worked his way up to seventh place by the end of the moto. Windham collected the overall win, Woolsey was second and Ray Mitchell put together a 2-5 tally for third. Johnson finished fourth overall. Windham won both of his motos in the 125cc Stock Intermediate class, though Johnson kept him honest in the second outing and used a 2-2 score for second overall. Suzuki-mounted Greg Schnell won the Division B first moto and was third in moto two for third overall. Windham again easily handled the 250cc Stock Intermediate class, leading Johnson across the line by a comfortable margin in both motos. Honda-mounted Ray Mitchell was third overall. "The track's rough, and by about the third lap, my legs started going," Mitchell said. "I've been trying different spots on the gate, and they all seem to work pretty well," said Windham. "I had a little trouble with lapped riders, but it wasn't too bad." Windham scored another easy win in his first 125cc Intermediate moto ahead of Schnell, but Johnson's win didn't come so easily in Division B. Johnson was in sixth place at the end of lap one, but worked his way into the lead by the fourth lap. "Back home, 1 do this (get bad starts) all the time, 50 I didn't have too much trouble passing," said Johnson. AXO/Renthal/Bill's Pipes/Smith/ Race Tech-backed Schnell led the pack around the long, sweeping first turn in moto two, but Windham gated poorly in his finaJ moto of the weekend, and his hopes at a flawless record ceased when he crashed in the wooded section on the first lap. "I got a really bad start, and then back in the European section, a guy was stopped in a rut and I smacked right into him," explained Windham. "Somebody hit me from behind, and there was a big pile-up. 1 had to wait for everyone to get off me before I could get going." While Schnell pulled away from second-place Woolsey, Windham mounted a charge through the pack, but the seven-lap race didn't allow him the time he needed. Windham's ride was still impressive, however, as he finished ninth after ~ompleting the first lap in 27th place. Schnell scored the moto win, and his 2-1 tally was good for the overall victory. Woolsey's 3-2 combo earned him second overall ahead of Suzukimounted Freddie Mitchell, while Windham had to settle for seventh overall. (Left to right) Kristy Shealy, Cindy Cole and Dee Ann Wood had rousing battles in both motos of the Women's class. Cole posted 2-1 moto scores and earned the overall win. With Windham opting not to contest the Open classes (available to riders classified as intermediate or less), Team Green/Yoko/CPE/VP Fuels/Motul/Renthal/Shoei/FMF/Santa Cruz Concepts/Tsubaki/White Bros/ ROW Graphics/Dunlop/ Any Rider Kawasaki/Scott/ Alpinestars/ Donnie Hansen MX Academy/Lamson Porting-sponsored Johnson was left to dominate. The Vacaville, California, rider led every lap in both motos of the 125cc Open class, then put on a repeat performance in the 250cc division. Schnell was runner-up in the 125cc class, while Mitchell finished second in both 250cc motos for second overall. The Women's class provided what was arguably some of the weekend's best racing, and the enthusiastic fans cheered as U.S. Women's Motocross Team members Cindy Cole, Kristy Shealy and Dee Ann Wood had close dices in both motos. The first moto was particularly exciting, with Kawasakimounted Shealy holding off Wood and Cole for the first three laps of the fivelap race. Wood got around for the lead and appeared to have the win in hand, when she fell in the final turn and allowed Shealy to steal the win. Wood remounted in time for third. . "I passed a lapper in the tum just before where I fell, and IJost my concentration for a second," explained Wood. '1 was trying to pressure her (Wood) into making a mistake, because she's been falling a lot lately," said Shealy. '1 didn't think she'd go down like that just before the finish though." Wareham Suzuki/Dunlop/Acerbis/ Sidi/Pro Racing/Shoei/Motul-backed Cole gated third in moto two, but was in first midway through the first lap, and the real fight was over second. Wood held the position early on, but Shealy got around on the third lap. Shealy set out after Cole, but the Cape Coral, Florida, rider continued to set a rapid pace and collected the moto win. Cole earned the overall win via a 2-1 score, with Shealy and Wood finishing second and third overall, respectively. "Once I got in front I just tried to keep my eyes ahead and my concentration focused," said Cole. Johnny Marley was the only threeclass winner in the mini. ranks, collecting wins in the Mini Mini Senior (9-11), Minibike Stock (7-11) and Minibike Junior (7-11) categories. The Team Green/Fox/PJl /PEP /Shoei/CTi/ Tsubaki/Renthal/Ric Duppstadt/Du~op/l00%/Scoob's/ Scott/FMF-backed Marley won both motos in all but the Minibike Junior class. After topping the first moto, Marley started poorly in moto two, and worked up to second while Jacob Martin ran away with the moto win. Martin had experienced problems in moto one, however, finishing fifth after leading early, and Marley's 1-2 tally earned him the overall. Justin Buckelew used a con- 25