Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Perris Raceway alos captures the erewn (Left) Shaun Kalos, fla nked by runner-up Greg Zitterkopf (right) and third-placed Dave Coupe (left) , spray ed the winner' s champagne In victory chi le. (Above) Shaun Kalos (63) leads defending Soun d of Thunder Series Champion Greg Zitlerkopf (1) In the second moto. (Below) Promoter Goat Breker took time out to smoke the first Pro TT mot o aboard a borrowed machi ne. Here, Pro Circuit's Bones Bacon chuckles at Breker's hiklng boots and lack of gloves as he races past. By Tony Alessi PERRIS, CA, MAY14-15 s Shaun Kales the new king of four stroke competition? That question may have been answered a t thi s year' s annual Wh it e Bro s . Fou r-Stroke World Champi onships, where th e former minicycle star delivered a double-moto knockout to the competition to claim the coveted crown. Kales' kaleidescopic career has seen the youngster from Arizona involved in va ri ou s types of motocross , ranging from minicycle racing, supe rcross, outdoor Nationals, to even so me World Championship rounds in Europe. This year, however, marks Kales' firs t ven ture into four-stroke racing. "1 had an opportunity to race four strokes this year for Husaberg, and I thought I'd give it a try, " said Kalos, who emerged the winner of the Open Pro class race, which also served as round three of the Cellualr One Sound of Thunder MX Series. In addition to Sunday's motocross races, the two-day event featured TT competition on Saturday. The usual KXs, RMs, CRs and YZS that visit Perris Raceway got a weekend off, and in their place came DRs, XRs, KDXs and a variety of ATKs and Husabergs. The first Open Pro moto saw the defending Four-Stroke World Champi- I 36 on, Gordon Ward, mix it up with Kalos, Dave Coupe, Mike Young and Greg Zitterkopf during the opening lap. Kalos emerged from the fir st-la p confus ion with the lead, leaving Coupe, Young and Zitterkopf to argue over sec ond . Ward was having his share of problems and quickl y faded into the hungry pack of riders behind him . Meanwhile; charging through the field like the Terminator wa s Mike Healey, whose aggressive rid ing sur ely intimidated many of the competitors. By the h alfway point, Healey had moved into third behind Kalos an d Zit terkopf. Healey persisted in his attem p t to chase down and reel in Zitterkopf throughout the remainder of the rac e, but was never in serious contention for second. At the finish , it was Kales with an easy w in o ver Zitterkopf and Healey. Kales, Young and Healey shared the second -m o to holeshot as they thundered through the first tum side by side. As they emerged from the starting area, Healey got a bit pushy. "He hit me from behind," said Kales. "1 thought I was going down." Kales tried to escape Healey's wrath by turning the throttle even more, but Healey wouldn't let up. Zitterkopf soon joined the ba ttIe and turned the skirmish into a threesome. Healey suddenly found himself rid - ing d efen sively, as Zitt er kop f became increasingly inten t on taking over second. Healey had to block Zitt erkopf in e ve ry section o f the t rac k, all owing Kales to quietly slip aw ay. By lap four, Zitterkopf was past Healey and reeling in Kalos, He aley pulled off th e track shortly after Zitterkopf worked past him. "The whole bik e was falling apart," he said. "The pipe came ou t of the head and the seat was fa1Iing off." Zitterkopf showed impressive speed for a 30-year-old and began to close in on Kalos. Within two laps, the factory KTM rider began pushing Kales' Husaberg. "He was smoother and faster over the double jumps," said Zitterkopf of Kalos. "That's where he made his time on me." As the race wore on, Kalos began to creep away from the crafty veteran. "1 hit m y knee, " said Zitterkopf, " so 1 d ecided to cru ise home in second instead of risking greater injury." Kalos greeted the checkered flag in first, well ahead of Zitterkopf. Wa rd ran as high as third, but mechanical pr oblems left him near the back of the pack. Terry Fowler moved up from a midpack start to nab third while Coupe, Craig Canoy and Johnny Campbell rounded out the top six. Perhaps the most impressive racer of the weekend was a retired one. Without practice - and without boots or gloves, for that matter - track operator/promoter Goat Breker threw a leg over one of Tom White 's spare machines and competed in the combined Pro TT class first moto. Breker utterly smoked the competition. Even Team Splitfire/ Hot Wheels/Pro Circuit /Kawasaki rider James Dobb didn't have a chance. "Just because you stop riding doesn't mean you slow down:' said Dobb. "You never forget how to go fast . It's only, your endurance and timing that declines." Breke r rode like he was two gears higher than anyone else on the track and went on to win by more than half a lap . over Anderson and Dobb. Breker didn 't ride the second moto, though, and this . gave Anderson the window he needed to grab the overall win. Dobb finished second, aboard a

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