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/127592
took com mand at the start and went on to wi n. Steve Moreh ead ra n a d istant second in the ear ly going, well ahead of an Aa ron Hill /Geo rge Roeder ba ttle over thi rd. Atherton ro de high b ut a couple of slips allowed Morehead to mom entarily close. Atherton instantly reestablished his lead and established a four-second lead that he held to th e checkered flag. Morehead finish ed comfor tably ahead of Hill and Roed er. Sem is Sho rtly after 1:00 a.m. the first of the eight- lap semis rolled to the line. Ca na dia n N ati onal Cha m pio n Beatti e to ok hi s Dee le y H -D Canad a /S h o ei /Ts u ba k i / M o ti on Pro /Prod um a x O ils/ Alp in e St ars / K&N-sp onsored XR750 to a wire- towi re wi n in the first semi. Roeder' and Brett Landes made it a th ree-rider contest for the lead, bu t Roeder slipped on lap five leaving Landes to do the chasing. He came up shor t and the win went to Bea ttie, bu t second for Landes and third for Roed er ea rne d them sta rting slo ts in the Nation al. Danny Koelsch and Darli ng were a d istant fou rth and fifth, respectively, and they joined the rest of the field in loading up. Poovey led the dash into tum one of the second semi. Aaron Hill and John Res so fun nelled in righ t beh ind and rookie Exper t Resso blasted in to th e lead down the back straight. Resso and Poovey bat tled ove r the lead until the ha lfw ay point, while H ill tra iled and led a swarm of riders, includi ng Price, Sprin gsteen an d Mike Varnes . Poovey finall y m ad e the o utside work o n lap five and took his Gilco /Texa s H-D /Hap Jones/Jack Sisem or e/Bell/Tsubak i / T. Wr ightspo nsored Honda to the win. Resso set tled into second and the bat tle over the last tran sfer narrowed down to Hill and Price. Price mom entaril y slip ped ba ck , then as th ey ca me down to the wh ite flag, Resso, Hill and Price bunched u p agai n. Price made a last ditch try in tum one bu t slip ped again. Resso mad e his first National, lead ing Hill home. In the last sem i it was, once agai n, the polesitter leading the pack into turn one. Jones led early but Jason Fletche r pos it ioned his Mo roney 's H- D / Sp ect ro /M otion P ro /B ell / K&N / Wilcox MC /Fat City / Fa mily / Ga ry Ed monds-spo nsored Harley up front at the end a t lap one. Jones was then challenged by Will ie McCoy and Harold Dor sey. Jones and McCoy waged a ferocious ba ttle over second . Jones was ap pare nt ly havi ng suspension problems and sparks flew as he bounced thro ug h the turns. By la p five La rr y Pegram had joi ned th e st ruggle and the top fo ur were ve ry close. Jones was shuffled back to th ird by McCoy o n la p seven and the lead trio dashed across the finish in close orde r wi th Pegram lookin g for the opening tha t never came behind winner Fletch er, runner-up McCoy and third place finisher Jones . National Last ca ll fo r th e Na tional came at 1:50 a.rn. and Rodn ey Farris , who was introduced first having won the fastest heat, decid ed to star t from the number two slot from the insid e. Atherton chose his slot next and took the inside pole. Graham, Carr, Parker and Davis filled out the front row . Morehead chose the inside of row, two with his sixth pick. Bea ttie, Fl etcher, Land es , Hale and Poovey were to his righ t. The back row was made up of Resso, Roeder, McCoy, Jones and Hill. Everyone was taking a d ef en siv e attitude, making survival the priority. Four- time Grand National Champion Scott Parker (21 was fourth, while Grand National Champion Chris Carr (1) finished sixth. Ricky Graham enjo yed a comfortable lead at the end of the 25-lap National, and celebrated by wheelying past flagman Steve Faraci. When the light flash ed gree n it was Ath erton into tum one first. Farr is an d Graham were right behind, but Farris couldn't hold his line and Atherton led at the end of lap one over Graham and Morehead. Unfortunately, Morehead's setu p didn't match his quick start. "I leng thened out the wheelbase, thinking I would round the co rners off," Morehead sa id. " It just didn 't wo rk. When I came into the turns it just pushed until I backed off. I'm glad I got through it." Davis, Farris and Carr quickly too k adv antage of Morehead's problems but Ath ert on was rid ing an extremely high line and seemed to be pulling away. "I was right at the top and it seemed to be working, but I made several mistakes and almost got into the bales," Atherton said after the race. Even on a track he was uncomfortable with, Graham was ever the predator. " My teammate, Brett Land es, showed me a line in his semi tha t really worked for me. It was high but not all the way to the top. I followed Kevin for quite a while, then he made a couple of mistakes. You really had to be careful," Graham said in explaining the move he made that gave him the lead for good on lap eight. Atherton set tl ed in to s eco n d . "I stay ed with Ricky but he was just flyin g. After a couple of close ca ll s, I decided to jus t maintain, said Atherton. Carr moved to third on lap three and looked ready to make his cha rge as Farris, Da vi s, Parke r, Morehead, 17