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/127657
Coors Light Spring Classic
through the LCQ by taking the win over
King. Oxley and Schwartz.
"I haven't raced here in a couple of
years; you come back here and you forget how small the tracks are," Ha ncock
said, "But it's really competitive here.
You go out and race the best in the
world and you think, 'No p roblem, I
should be able to beat anybody here (at
Costa Mesa).' The n so me guy you've
never even heard of takes you downtown. But I've been making good starts,
and I'm going to give it my best in the
Fada draws first blood
main."
In the scratch main Hancock got a
good jump off gate two, but slid off the
pole and right across three other riders,
allowing his British Leag ue teammat e
Hamill to grab the lead off tu rn one.
Ther e was trouble in the next tum as
Faria slid out and Charles Ermolenko
was forced to lay it down to avoid hit ting Faria. A res tart was in order, and
this time Faria would not be denied.
Hancock again made a great s tart,
bu t Faria hounded the international star
by pulling to the pole as Hancock headed to the oustide dirt. Pfetzing suffered
a terrible start and wa s quickly down
(Above) Mike Faria
(left) and Bill y
Hamill (ri ght)
finished 1-2 In the
scratch main
during the Coors
Light Spri ng
Class ic.
(Left) Lance King
(ri ght) and Gary
Ackroyd (left) ran
in clo se quarters
durin g the
handicap portion
of the event. King
went on to win the
eight-man, eight·
lap handicap main.
(Right) Defending
World and U.S.
National Champ ion
Sam Ermolenko
was on hand to
take part in a
series of match
races, which he
won.
By Scott Rousseau
Photos by Bob Jones
FYID'"
COSTA MESA, CA,MAR 5
II
Mike Faria had four
months to mull over his disastrous performance at the 1993
U.S. National Speedway Championship
- at one point he even considered retirement. But the former two-time National
Champion decided to re turn to Co sta
Me sa Speedwa y and co m pete in the
,Coors Light Spring Classic. What a difference a yea r makes.
The Jersey's Sports Bar & Grill/Jack's
Disposal /Kiss Raci ng/Class Racing /
Bates Leathers/Kelly Inman /Shoei /
Scott-back ed Faria dominated the fiveman scratch main, which included three
overseas-based American riders.
"I feel like a million dollar guy right
now," Faria sa id after the race, "I 've
been seeing a chiropractor in Apple Valley. He does a lot of sports guys, and he
adjusted my back. I feel really good.
Also, I got a brand new set of leathers so
I had to break them in right."
The Spring Classic offered Costa
Mesa promoter Harry Oxley the opportunity to vary the program format in
order to try some new ideas to make the
racing more exciting, The new format
seeded the scratch heat winner .d irectly
to th e ma in and di d away with the
scrat ch semis in favor of a last chance
qualifier for all of the second-place heat
finish ers. The winner of the LCQ wo uld
joi n th e fou r hea t w inners to make a
five-man main.
Faria d efea ted Bren t Werner, Brad
Oxley and Don Od om in the first scra tch
heat to advance directly to the main.
"Who's gonna win ? Ayin' Mike, who
else?", sai d Faria , " I hope I draw th e
pole, becau se if I do - see ya."
Ov erseas-based Cha rles Errno lenko,
the younger but equally talented bro ther
of reigning World and U,S, National
Ch ampion "Sudden" Sam Errnolenko,
grabbed the second-heat win over Greg
Hancock, Jo sh Larse n a nd And y
Northrup.
Heat th ree belonged to Robert "The
_ Gator" Pfetzing, and Billy "Th e Bullet"
Hamill.
" I' m not really looking forw ard to
th is fiv e-man scratch main," Pfetzing
said. "I'v e talked to a lot of the other
riders and they think it's a little too tight
here for tha t. Whoever gets the best start
is going to win it."
Ha ncoc k rebounded in to the main
' .' 'f' I"
Y'i..
Srle 1,1'
','
I
and out, on the back stretch. Faria an d
Hancock were dead even for a lap
before Hancock faltered and lost ground
to both Faria and Hamill. Hancock was
left to battle with Charles Ermolenko for
third pl ac e w hil e Far ia and Hamill
:
leatli ers bearing ttie nam~ of,his: new, oUI,
: side-industry sponsor, D lan~ti cs DO,n '"
r
Odo m hasatsc re-siqnedwith Reebo k, a '
,
' " ,, _ , ' , ..
', : .spo nsorship that he Carried in 1993, : ' : ':
, "
"
"
Mike Faria showed up at Costa Me'sa wlth a ' ,
, prototype leading-link fork. T~ JsP lead. ' : Brad O i