Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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eMOTOCROSS e Commotion by the Ocean VI the Frank Thomason-prepared course. "I had a great battle with Lamson and it feels good to win." For his win, Healey earned $1000 of the $4000 purse, while Lamson went home $800 richer for his second-place finish. Young, meanwhile, scored the win in the Open Pro Four-Stroke class, which also served as the second round of the Maxxis Tire/Cellular One-sponsored Sound of Thunder Four-Stroke Series. Riding a factory Honda XR628, Young traded moto wins with KTM's Greg Zitterkopf and came away the overall winner by virtue of his second moto wn Mike Young thumped to the Pro Four-Stroke win aboard his factory Honda XR628. Mike HealeY,out-dueled Steve Lamson in the combined Pro class main event. . Healey, Young cause a commotion at Carlsbad By Dave Burgess • Photos by Donn Maeda and Eileen P"aredes CARLSBAD, CA, MAY 22-23 Uf Racing's Mike Healey and Honda's Mike Young came away the big winners at the Racing Enterprises-promoted Commotion by the Ocean VI, an annual event held at Carlsbad Raceway, the former home of the U.S. 500cc GP. Suzuki RM250-mounted Healey r 24 nabbed the win in the Pro class, which is open to competitors aboard all sizes of machinery, after a race-long, knockdown-drag-out battle with runner-up Steve Lamson who competed aboard a factory Honda CR250. "The track was a lot of fun, but it wasn't what I expected," said Healey of ' "I always seem to go good here at Carlsbad," said Young, who earned $700. "This is great to win. At the first round of the series, the bike broke in every moto. But now we seem to have everything dialed in and it ran perfect." For the event, 100 truckloads of sand were added to the normally hard and dry track, and thanks to overcast skies and a generous watering schedule, the course remained moist and loamy throughout both days of competition. A few new jumps, as well as a challenging whoop section, were added and kept even the Carlsbad regulars on their toes. The Beginner and Junior classes were run on Saturday, while the' Intermediates and Pros competed on Sunday. Over 3000 spectators turned out to watch Saturday and Sunday's action. Two eight-lap qualifying heats were run to narrow the large Pro class field down to the 30 riders that would compete in the main event. Kawasaki R&D rider Mike Fisher blasted into the lead at the start of the first heat, followed by local favorite Tony Amaradio, Healey and 1985 125cc National Champion Ron Lechien. Healey and Lechien slammed their way past Amaradio early in the race to take over second and third. Amaradio stayed close, though, and muscled past Lechein in the mechanics' turn to retake third. While Healey began to close on Fisher, Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes began to work through the pack after suffering a poor start on his KX125. Hughes closed to Lechein's rear fender and made his way past with relative ease. Amaradio was next in Hughes' sights, but he came to a screeching halt with a blown motor. "I was riding it pretty hard, I'm not really surprised," said a disappointed Hughes. Meanwhile up front, Healey looked for a way past Fisher but suddenly found himself in the lead when Fisher and his Kawasaki parted company on the downhill. "There were some soft spots on the downhill, and I lost the front end," said Fisher, who remounted quickly enough to finish an eventual sixth. Healey went on to score a commanding win over Amaradio, Buddy Antunez and A.J. Whiting. Lechein began to tire near the five-lap mark and dropped to fifth. "Carlsbad is usually my type of track," said Healey. "But today it's tacky and doesn't suit me as well." NCY's Tommy Clowers was the fastest off the line in the second heat and led Lamson, Fox Racing's Scott Sheak and Team Hot Wheels/Splitfire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Jimmy Gaddis through turn one. Lamson and Sheak stayed close, waiting for Clowers to make a mistake. Lamson took over the lead on the first lap and ran away with an easy win, while Sheak followed suit on lap two. Meanwhile, Yamaha's Doug Dubach and Noleen rider Larry Brooks engaged in a heated battle that carried them to Clowers' rear fender. Both riders swooped past with ease and closed in onSheak. "When Dubach and Brooks pounced on me I got kind of rattled," said Sheak. "They were going fast!' Sheak fell victim to the pair of riders when he took a momentary off-track excursion and got some track banrters entangled in his rear wheel. At the finish, Lamson enjoyed a healthy lead over 6rooks, Dubach and Clowers, who pounced on Sheak's slowing Kawasaki. Sheak held on to fifth, despite the banners that slowed his forward progress. "After I got out front, I looked for other lines," said Lamson. "I felt pretty good!' At the start of the 30-minute-plustwo-lap main, Healey nabbed the holeshot and led Lamson, Sheak, Ray Crumb and Fisher onto the track. Healey and Lamson immediately.began to pull away from the pack, and would engage in a heated battle throughout the race. Hughes, meanwhile, suffered a poor start on a borrowed bike, but rode ballistic in an effort to advance. Even though he didn't finish his heat race, the promoters allowed Hughes to compete. Hughes flew past Lechein and into the top five behind Healey, Lamson, Fisher and Dubach at the halfway point of the race. Fast-starters Sheak and Crumb maintained a torrid pace, but still faded into the pa£k and finshed seventh and eighth, respectively. Lamson began to hound Healey just past the halfway point, and sailed past as they raced down the famous Carlsbad Freeway downhill. "I almost crashed when I passed Mike," said Lamson. "I sailed so far off of the second jump, that I landed iIi some huge bumps before the third jump. My front end got crossed up. But then I looked over at Mike arid he was just as out of control." With that, many expected Lamson to pull away, as he had shadowed Healey up until that point. Healey, however, had other ideas and stayed glued to Lamson's rear fender. After studying Lamson's lines for a lap, Healey stuffed his way past and back into the lead just after the downhill. "I railed the outside of a tight lefthander where everyone was going to the inside," said Healey. Lamson stayed within striking distance for the remainder of the race, but would never again have the chance to pass. Healey crossed the finish line with his fist clinched high above his head, just ahead of Lamson. Fisher finished nearly half a lap behind in third, while Brooks nabbed fourth after zapping Hughes on the final lap., Dubach's Yamaha YZ125 expired just past the halfway point and he was credited with 27th place. "I started to tense up when Lamson closed in on me, but after I passed him back I felt loose again," said Tuf Racing/Red Roof Inn/ Arai/No Fear/ Maxima/Smith/100%/Renthal/AXO/ Dirt Bagz/VP / Alpinestars/Dunlop/ PPS/UFO/FMF/Endura/Braking-sponsored Healey. "I think Steve used up all of his energy trying to catch me, and after I got him back he was probably as whipped as I was." The roar of four-stroke engines filled the air at the start of the first 10-lap Open Pro Four-Stroke moto, and it was Gordon Ward who grabbed the holeshot aboard his Husqvarna. Zitterkopf, Terry Fow)er and Steve Drew chased after Ward, while Young struggled to recover after being pushed off the track in the first turn.