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/127652
'.:MOTOCROSS'~·· Round 3: Glen Helen Raceway ·G Winter Series> :',..': '. R (Left) Bob Moore took the Glen Helen track by storm, winning three of four PJ'OoClass motos. (Below) Rick Ryan made the trip from northern California, and motored to a second-place finish in the 250cc Pro division. (Bottom) Chris Young (82) leads the 250cc Pro class through tum one. He won the second mete, Moore too much for competition By Tony Alessi SAN BERNARDINO, CA,JAN. 23 ob Moore swept three out of four mot os en route to overall victories in both 125 and 250cc pro classes d uri ng round three of the GFI Win ter Series at Glen Helen Raceway. Moo re tal ked th e talk, a nd wa lked the walk in front of over 600 amateur racers who cam e from various cities in both northern and southern California as well as six other sta tes. When the gate dropped for the first 125cc Pro race, 30 of the finest pro riders thundered into the sharp, righ t-handed first tum. Emerging first was the teenager from Sun City, California , Don Upton with Chris Young, Mike Chamberlain, B Ray Crumb and Moor e in hot pursuit. Upton, no stranger to the Glen Helen race facility, had made the top 10 less than six months ago at the Glen Helen 250cc Na tiona l MX. Moore was on the move and methodically picked off riders one by one until he was second, and in position to challenge Upton for the lead. " I' m re all y here just for the practice ," Moore said. "I am not about to try anything that can get me hurt. The World Championship is my numberon e priori ty." Moore followed Upton lap after lap, waiting for the smallest of openings, but none carne as Upton was rid ing a great race. " I wa s suprised I felt so good," Upton said. "I only slep t two hou rs after flying in from the Houston Supercross, and I'm racing my practi ce bike." With three laps to go, Moore finally forced the issue and slid his Chesterfield Yam aha in front of Upton. H looked ov e r and Moore' s front I ti re was right the re," Upton sa id . "I tried to move over but I couldn't d o a thing ." Moore opened a small margin during the remain ing laps, with NCY/Xtreme/ Bill's Pipes-backed Upton not far behind in second. Moore crossed the finish line for the win with Upton a solid second in front of Chamb erlain and Ray Crumb, who wo re a boot four sizes too big on his broken foot. The second moto saw a sup rise holeshot by Chris Young, who went on to lead all the way to the finish. • "I didn't do anything special," Young said. HI just felt really comfortable...I'rn sure Moore is kind of mad right now. He comes here expecting to win every moto ." Moore and former factory Yamaha rider Doug Dubach had a great race for second place, which came down to the wire. "Cha mberlain took me wide in this turn in the beginning of the race, but I came back an d almost got Moore a t the fin is h for second," Dubach said. "I got rubber on my side plate fro m Do ug ' s wheel, " added Moore. "I jumped past him, and then we hit and stopped," Dubach said. "When we took off, Moore's bike was just faster up the hill" Moo re finished the moto second with Dubac h inches behind in th ird. Chamberlain rode a solid moto for fourth with Yamaha tes t rider Joel Albrecht and Don Up to n rounding out the top six. "I guess th e jet lag fina lly kicked in," Upton said, "I just wasn't sharp for that second moto. " Moore retu rn ed and mas tered both 250cc Pro mo tes, riding a bike that many of the other pros said was leaps and bounds faster then any other machine on the track "Th is bike was built by FMF. Both Don Emler and Terry Varner are wo rking together now, and they make really fast bikes," Moore said. Moore was merciless, and motored home for the double-mote victory in front of Rick Ryan, Lance Smail, Dubach and Young. If Moore was the prince of the pro classes, then Kenny Zahrt was the king of the vet divisions. Zahrt, who is one year shy of 40, posted an awesome sixmoto sweep of the 25+, 30+ a nd 35+ Master classes. Zahrt battled with former National cha mp Gary Jones in both the 30+ and 35+ Master classes before pulling ahead late in each race for the eventual win. Jones, at age 42, finished second in three of the four races he entered and said he was trying to improve his speed by racing with the younger guys. Zahrt found the racing a little harder in the 25+ Master class, where he battled with Chris Rad zinski for much of the first moto " He was on the gas!" said Radzinski of Zahrt, " His speed was right up there with all of u s." Du rin g the closing moments of the race, Radzinski crashed ba ck to seven th, giving Za hrt some breathing room which he used for the moto win in front of Joe Fernandez and Ronnie Gilbert. In the second moto , Zahrt aga in took control, which was especially amazing since it was his sixth race of the da y, and he had just come off the track from a win in the 35+ Master race. Zahrt dug deep and somehow found the sp eed and energy to win again, this time holding off a las t-la p charge from Ronnie