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GMOTOCROSS White Bros. Four-Stroke World Championship~s m Race sponsors Dan and Tom White flank (left to right) Willie Surratt, winner Gordon Ward and Buddy Antunez. "Flash" Gordon Ward topped the premier Open Pro MX class on Sunday. Ward thunders to Perris glory By Tony Alessi PERRIS, CA, MAY 1-2 ordon Ward traded in his surfboard for a big Husqvarna thumper on Sunday and went home $1035 richer after posting the overall win in the feature Open Pro MX class during the White Bros. Four-Stroke World Championships, an annual twoday event held at Perris Raceway. While Ward, a long-haired, typical California "dude," was out catching waves on Saturday, a large turnout of riders, including 1980 Supercross Champion Mike Bell, enjoyed the TT Scrambles portion of the event. In fact, the day's entries were up by nearly 70 G 20 riders over previous years. Original Perris Raceway founder Jerry Burton was on hand and prepared the course in similar fashion to the way it was run in 1957. The track was fast, flat and very slick, but most racers enjoyed slipping and sliding around the track. On Sunday, the pits were buzzing before the start of the first Open Pro MX moto, with much of the focus on defending class champ Mike Young, who was aboard a very trick factory Honda XR600. "This bike is a prototype," explained Young. "Honda is looking into possibly building a full-on race bike because they see a potential market here." If there was any doubt about the bike's power output, it was quickly erased after Young pulled a six-bikelength holeshot at the drop of the gate. Wave warrior Ward was riding in his usual flamboyant riding manner in second, wFrile KTM's Greg Zitterkopf tried to stay calm behind him in third. By the third lap, Young had extended his lead, while Zitterkopf cut under Ward for second. Zitterkopf was quick to leave Ward behind and began to reel in Young. "I was faster than Mike in the turns and I could see that 1 was catching him," said Zitterkopf. As the race neared the halfway point, Zitterkopf pulled in behind Young and the stage was set for a terrific battle. The two riders began to hammer each other for the lead, but just when the action went from good to great, tragedy struck Young. "1 don't really know what happened," said Young. "The bike just quit." Young's mechanic, Honda's Eric Crippa, later explained that it was an ignition failure that sidelined Young. Zitterkopf inherited the lead and went on to post an easy win. Ward stayed up and finished second, while Buddy Antunez finished third aboard a stock Suzuki DR3S0. Terry Fowler ran as high as third, but fell victim to a broken throttle cable and dropped to 12th. Ward and Young battled side-by-side at the start of the second moto, with Young pulling away by the end of the first lap. Once out front, Young set a torrid pace, but just when he began to put time on Ward, his bike failed again. Young pulled off the track and discovered a broken chain. Ward picked up the lead, but Zitterkopf was all over him. "He kept coming up on me, all I could think of was that I was gonna lose the overall if he passed me," said Ward. "So I had to use every possible block pass that I could. n _ The two riders continued to battle, but in what seemed' like slow-motion, Zitterkopf fell over. "I felt that I could have passed him just about anywhere," said Zitterkopf. "Just when I was about to set him up I hit neutral and fell over in a rut" Zitterkopf remounted quickly, but as four-strokes often are, his big KTM was hard to start. In fact, by the time he got his mount £ired up, Zitterkopf was a lap down. With that, it seemed that Ward was guaranteed victory, and he seemed to slow his pace. "I wanted to stay smooth and smart," said Ward. But while Ward slowed and began to wave to the crowd in victory, Fowler and Willie Surratt quickly reeled him in. Fowler stuffed his way past Ward near the start-line area to take over the lead with Surratt following suit in the very next turn. "I knew that those guys weren't in the hunt for the overall, so 1 let them have the lead," said Ward. "I knew that I had the championship wrapped up." Fowler won the moto, but a first moto 12th left him sixth on the day. Surratt finished second in the moto and would also earn the runner-up honors in the overall tally, thanks to his firstmoto fourth. But crossing the finish line third with his fist in the air was Ward, aboard his Motul/White Bros./Dunlop/Gatorz/ Sunoro-backed Husky. "I've been racing since I was seven years old, and without a doubt this is the highlight of my career. Now maybe everybody won't try to make me cut my hair." Antunez, competing aboard a machine that was at least 200cc smaller than the machines of his competition, rode the little DR to its boiling point and finished third overall via his 3-4 finishes. Surratt and Fowler battled in both motos during Saturday's TT event. Fowler scored the win in the first moto after early leader Young suffered a topend meltdown on his factory Honda. Surratt finished second in front of Young, who nursed the ailing Honda home in third. Willy Musgrave finished fourth aboard his Avenger. The second moto saw Don Greiwe grab the holeshot, bounce off the side of the hill, and stay in the lead for the next six laps. Eventually, Fowler took over at the point and brought Surratt along in second. Surratt kept the heat on Fowler and on the final lap cut under him to take over the lead. Surratt went on to win the moto and overall, while Musgrave and Fowler rounded out the top three. What was arguably the best race of the day came in an unlikely class: the Mini Stock. Former ISDE rider Jimmy Lewis and ID-year-old Jonathon Shimp waged an all-out war in both motos. Shimp took advantage of a big holeshot in the first moto while Scott Murphy and Lewis followed closely and rounded out the top three. Lewis and Murphy collided in a fast sweeping turn when Lewis' brakes failed to work. "When the suspension bottoms out the brakes don't work," said Lewis. "I couldn't stop and I hit him." With Murphy on the ground, the battle for second turned into a battle for the lead as Lewis reeled in Shimp and passed him in the tighter, technical sections of the track. Shimp wouldn't be beaten that easily, however, and draft passed Lewis on the high-speed front straightaway. The battle came down to the wire, with Lewis making the pass for the lead in the final tum before the checkered flag.