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/127665
month-old woods ra cing career Andrew s was ab le to s tretch his series p o ints lead on the ever-consistent Thomas Norton, who finished a commendab le third overall on a Kawasaki KX125. "This is the closes t I' ve been to the front all season, " said Norton, who is backed by Team Mirage, Moose Racing, Team Green, Sinisalo, Scott and Arai. "Once again, people can 't believe a 125 can stay up with a 250, but I'm doing it an d trying to go for that big win." The Brownsville race attracted more than 300 rid ers, ca us ing lots of bottlenecks on the short and fast trail. Measuring just over eight miles per lap in length, the course was a mix of tight woods and open field sect ions. Dry, warm weather made for a fast, easy trail. Lapped riders were easily the biggest obstacle confronted by the overa ll contenders. . "The cond it ions were near perfect wi th a little dust in the fields and onl y two rnudholes, nothin g major," said Norto n. "They put in a couple of v ir gi n woods sec tions to slow the pace down. Last yea r th is was probabl y one of the fastest GNCC' s ever held ." As usual , Team Green 's Doug Blackwell ignited his bike qu ickest from the d ead engine start and held the early AA class lead. Following closely through the first fast pin e tree section were Honda of Troy 's To m Ca rson, Plessinger a nd North Ca rolina 's Steve McSwain, who jus t came off the injured list. Andrews got ano ther bad start. " I g o t a bad s ta r t, as us u al," said Andrews o f his ba ck-of-the-pack geta way fro m th e grassy, o ff-cam ber ed starting area . "I got a good jum p but I got a little p inched off. Good start s really ' don't matter that much here - you really can't ho leshot and go in a two-and-ahalf-hour race." At the five-mile marker, Blackwell still held the lead but And rews was up to second. The early battle was joined by Yamaha-mounted Duane Conner, who is backed by Sports Cycle Racing, MSR, Dunlop and Tsubaki. "I finally got hea lthy for. a change," said Conner of his return to the front of the pack. "I got heat exhaustion in florida, injured my foo t in South Carolina and dis located my thumb in Arkansas. This was the first race th is yea r w here every part o.f my bod y felt good. The only thing tha t's h urting is my shape. I haven't fm ished any races, so I'm not able to keep th e pace after a couple of hours." Conner stayed in contention until the las t ho u r of the race. At that point, the exhausted Conner ban ged his Yamaha into a tree and called it a day. "I worked my way into the lead on the first lap an d we just started freightraining around," said Andrews of th e initial race setup. "I tried running at first, but every time I'd make a break I would jus t catch a bunch of lapped riders as soon as the track got tigh t. The rest of the guys would catch right back up and I'd have to start all over again. After a cou-ple of those I figured there was no use in trying to run, so I ju st s ta rted ridin g along with everyone else." Norton took his tum in the lead near the halfwa y mark, but his time at the top was short-lived. "At the end of the fourth lap all three of the leaders (And rews, Plessinger and Conner) stop ped for gas," said Norton. "At that point I inherit ed a 10 second lead, but about halfway around the track I tangled with a Honda and down I went Both Andrews and Plessinger passed me w hen 1 was getting my bike started. "This bike is ju st out-of-this-world fast, bu t it' s still not a 250," added Norton o f his power disad vantage at Ll£l~ WSK, BIIITON, HUFFMAN AND tuM SUZUKI WIN EVERY'lHING IN DAllAS! Jimmy Button wins the race. Ezra Lusk, second, wins 125cc East Region SX ClUHTl. Damon Huffman takes third. Team Suzuki QVoIT1S the podium! Allwith Bel-Ray all the Way. For our \oteslllrod1 ur. POBox 526, Farmingdale, ~ 0772 7 and 2 stickers, wore: BeI·Ray Company, . .