Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.M T C O S. Final Round OO R S ..La.Playa GP Series·: ~§C;:lLc , lUg of t e beat a led ge, and sti ll man aged to rage back . in to second . H ad h e not was ted tim e climbing to th e to p of a sand dune to warn o nc o m ing traffic of h is d o wned motorcycle, Nishimu ra may have been a g reater th rea t to the lead ers. " It's a brand-new bike," he said. "I d id n't want an yone to run over it." Mo to two sa w Fernand ez and Toy sw ap their class lead se veral times early in the race, but the overall win went to No vice class winn er Silva. At the checkered flag, Fernandez edged out Toy for the moto and overall wins. Silva was the Novice class wi nne r, w hile Nishi m ura ag ain came home in seco nd for se cond overall. f~ Cantama r Sand Dunes Cantamar, B.C., Mexico Results: December4,l994 _ 125 EX: 1. Chris Burgeso n (Ho n); 2. Walter lloyd (Hon); 3. Rob Glad den (Yam); 4. Jaime Tarin (Sm). 125 PR O: 1. Rod ol fo Sevi lla (5u z); 2. Jaime Hererra (5uz) ; 3. Gra ham Steve nso n (Yam) . 2.50NOV: 1. Ricarob Silva (Ho n); 2. Darin Nis himura (Yam); 3. Rick Ziegler (5 02 ); 4. Edfberto Garda (Yam) ; 5. Dave Galland (Hon). 250 EX: 1. Ricky Fernandez (Kaw); 2. Jer emy Toy (Hon); 3. Larry Cross (Yam); 4. Juan Magana (Ka w ]: 5. Greg Luna (Yam). 250 rR O : 1. Ang e lo Ingran de ( Ho n); 2. Jaime Ca mpbell (Ho n); 3. Mo1tt Bcra ult (Ho n) . SOO NOV: 1. Forrest Hay ash i (Kaw); 2. Dave Ga lland (Hon); 3. Larry Birtch (Kaw); 4. Nick Parede-s (Han); 5. Mark Uttl e (Hon~ 500 EX: 1. Donn Maeda (Ho n); 2. Rodney Landry (Ho n); 3. Randy Davis (Hon) ; 4. Jeff Ha rsha (Hon); 5. Ed uardo Escobar (Han). By Donn Maeda CANTAMAR, B.C, MEXICO, DEC. 4 0 most Sou the rn Californians, the word "beach" brings to mind sun, sa nd and surf. But only a few minut es sou th of the California /Mexico bord er, the w ord "beach" means motorcycles. Well, a few times a year, at least. Th anks to Armando Carrasco's Too Much Fun Promoti ons, motocrossers have the chance to race handlebar to handl eb ar o n terrain th at is u sually better suited to sunbathers. Located a few miles so u th o f the "party " to w n of Rosarito Beach, th e Cantamar Sand Dunes are transformed into a two-mile-long Grand Prix-sty le course four times season for the La Playa Grand Prix Series. "We creat ed the series in 1992," said promoter Carrasco. "It wa s for two rea sons - to help generate tourism for th e town of Rosarito, and to provide racers with a chance to race on some thing very unique. Except for the La Touquet beach race in Holland, I don't kn ow of another beach race in the wo rl d . California h as th e Glamis and Pismo sand dunes, but they d on't race there." Dubbed th e M asters of M ot o cros s Grand Prix, the final round of the series saw some exciting actio n in a va riety of classes. Turno u t w as smaller than usu al, which Carrasco attributed to the forecas t of rai n . The skies rema in ed overcast through out the day, but no rain fell, making the weather perfect for goo d, hard raci ng . Two 2D-mi nu te motos were ru n, and most classes completed five laps in the allotted time. San Diego's Angelo Ingrande was the fastest racer of the day, easily smoking to both 250cc Pro class mot o wins ab oard h is JT US A / FMF I Poway Ho nda Kawasak i / Ap plied Racin g /Cycle Pa rt s We s t-spon s ored Hon da C R250 . Th e 250cc Pro, 500cc Expert an d 500cc Novice classes were combine d, and 500cc Expert racer Rodney Landry holesh ot the 0l?enin g mo to a h ead of In gra n d e, Matt Beraul t, Se y mour Bettys an d Fo rres t Ha yashi. Ingran de overtook Land ry in the first half-lap, bu t Landry retook the lead on a fast stra ight. Ingrande looked to be faster in the more technical secti ons of the cou rse, bu t Landry's SOOcc Honda had the ad vantage on the straigh taw ays. ~ a 12 The two rid ers swapped the lead several tim es throu ghout the ra ce befo re Ingrande g rew tired of eating Lan dry's ro o st. On th e four th lap, Ingrand e wi cked it up and sm oked into the lead , then began to pull out a comfo rtable lead over his pursuer. At the checkered flag, Ingrande enjoyed a I D-second lead over Landry, w ho easily topped th e 500cc Expert class . Th ird overa ll and seco nd 250cc Pro w as Jaime Campbell. An oth er 250cc Pro, Matt Berault, w as a few se conds back. " 1 play-rid e in G la mis w it h m y friends," said Ingrande. "I had been hearing a bo u t th is race, a nd I de cid ed to come try it out. Once I go t into the lead it w as smooth sailing." Moto two saw Landry grab an other holeshot aboard his bi g Honda, and he led Campbell, Ingrande and Berault onto the course. Ingrande su ffered a momen tary lapse of concentration on the ope ning lap, and crashed back to last in a particularly deep tum. " I p ick ed it up in d ead last," s a id Ingran de. " I had to ge t my head back, but 1 wasn't really worri ed ." . Ing rande ro de like a mad man, and within orily tw o laps had clo sed in o n leader Ca m pbe ll. Ing rande studied his lines for a few turns before d ivin g un derneath the leader in an off-camber hairp in tum and stealing the poi nt position. With th at , the resu lts were se t, as Ing ra nde pulled w ell away fro m th e res t o f th e field . Campbell was a di stan t seco nd , ahead of Berault an d Lan d ry. Ga torz /Smitty's Cycl e Cen ter- sponso red Ricky Ferna ndez was the crea m of the crop in th e 250cc Expe rt class . The lon g-haired Mexican from Chula Vista es tablished a com manding lead aboard his Kawasaki in the opening moto, only to cras h late in the race an d su rrender his lead to eve ntu al mote -one w inner Jeremy Toy. " It wa s just br ain fade, " said Fernandez. "When I picked my bike up 1 fell over aga in, and then it wo u ld n't start." Finishing a very close third in the o pening moto wa s 250cc No vice class wi nner Rica rob Silv a . Yamaha pi lot D a rin Nish im u ra ca me h o m e fo urth o verall an d second Novice afte r a m ultitu de of mishap s. Nishimura crashed back to last in the first tum, charged back u p to third overall, parted compa ny with his bike off (Above) Ediberto Garcia (19), Ricarob Silva (673), Jeremy Toy (57), Darin Nishimura (14), Nex Handal (X), Ricky Fernandez (36) and Larry Gross (245) tear off the line . (Right) Darin Nis himura had a wild ride to second in the 250cc Novice class. (Below) Angelo Ingrande won both 250Cc Pro class motos with ease.

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