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/127650
Round 3: Cow Palace (Left) Jimmy Gaddis flew to the wins in the 125 and 250cc classes at the Cow Palace on Friday, but crashed out of action on Saturday. (Below) Yamaha's Doug Dubach collected the 250cc class win on Saturday. (Bottom) Mike Jones flew to Saturday's 125cc class victory. Gaddis cashes in and crashes out By Mike Vanc il Photos by Thomas za rraonandla SAN FRANSISCO, CA, JAN. 7-8 immy Gaddis proved to the northern California fans just why he is the 1993 AMA Western Regional 125cc Supercross Champion - by winning both the 125 and 250cc main events on Friday and two -heat races on Saturday, all du ring the ProLite National Arenacross held in San Fransisco 's Cow Pala ce. Ruinin g Gaddis' hopes of a clean sweep in th e finals were Suzuki rider Mike Jones and Ya maha-mounted Dou g Dubach . Jones topped Saturday's 12Sec final, as well as the $700 Dash for Cash, while Dubach concluded the weekend's activities wi th a win in Saturday's 250cc final. The Kawasa ki and Budweiser-sponsored /Mike Kidd-promoted event attracted many riders and spectators ov er the weekend. The event was held in conjunction with the 13th running of the Cycle World Motorcycle Expo. A comb ination of heat and semi races . trimmed the field to 14 for the 125cc feature on Frid a y night, and when the industrial-strength rubber band snapped sign a ll ing the sta rt of the main event, Gaddis blasted into the early lead just ahead of Suz uki-mo unted Jones . Gaddis stretched ou t his lead to abo u t three bike lenghths and main tained this ma rgin for most of the race, until Jones bailed over a big double ju mp . From this point on, Gaddis enjoyed a comfortable lead and put his Pro Circuit-backed Kawasaki on cruise control and sailed to victory. J Kawasaki rid er Casey Johns on and Dubac h crossed the finish lin e second and third, resp ectively, afte r both had pas sed Honda rider Rick Ryan early in th e race. Jones recuper ated from his crash to finish fourth , while Honda rider Lowell Moural completed the top five. Ryan dropped back to eighth at the finish. The start of the 250cc feature saw 15 riders on the start line, some of whom had to start from a second row of the narrow starting chute. This time it was Jones getting the upper hand with Gaddis and Johnson in close pursuit. Jones and Gad dis soon engaged in a serious battle for the lead, mu ch to the delight of the large crowd. Th e ba tt le wore on as the two ride rs fought tooth and nai l. It wasn ' t un til the eighth lap when Gaddis fina lly fou nd d ayligh t around Jones. Once in to the lead, Gadd is set a new pa ce tha t Jones couldn't ma tch . In fact, Jones suddenly found himself in more trouble with Duba ch now breathing down his neck. Duba ch mounted a late-race attack 'that carried him into second place, relegating Jones to third . Jones' problems continued when Johnson passed him lat e in the race. Honda rider Butch Smith finished fifth. When the racing action resumed on Saturday, the big qu esti on was: Could Gaddis keep his win strea k alive? He had already won both features, as well as every heat race that he had competed in. After winning all his heat races Satu rd a y night, Ga ddis found himself read y to compe te in the Rad N Bad - sponsored Dash for Cash, which p receeded the 125 and 250cc main events. Unfortunately for Gaddis, the $700 Dash for Cash would mark the end of h is streak. Gaddis roosted awa y to a third-place start behind leader Jones and Dubach. Dubach pressured Jones throughout the four -lap race, and it was on the last lap that Dubach pulled out the stops and made his b id for the lead. With the white flag in sight, Dubach tried a block pass on Jones a n d cras h ed. Gadd is inherited second a nd made a lastminute bid for the lead but ended up coming up just inches short. Jones pocketed th e $7 00 - so me of which was d onated by the spectators - whil e Gadd is had to settle for second. Later on, they were back at it again, this tim e in th e 125c c fea tu r e. Once again, Gaddis found his way to the front of the pack, but during the fifth lap, he crashed a nd drop ped se vera l p laces back. Jones inherited the lead, follow ed by Butch Sm ith, Vohla n d a n d Dub ach . Duba ch , ho w e ve r, was the r id er to watch as he began haunting the lead ers. He soon had contro l of second place but