·SUPERCROSS.. Perris Raceway
GFllnvitational Supercross
,
.., By Tony Alessi
Photos by Don n Maeda and Alessi
Privatee r Phil
Lawrence (left
and below)
puiled off a
surprise win at
the GFI
Invitati onal
Supe rcross at
Perr is Raceway .
For winn ing the
250cc Pro class,
Lawrence took
home over
$2000 In cash.
16
PERRIS, CA, DEC. 30
t was a d ay of su rp rises an d big
pay-offs at Perris Raceway for the
annual GFI In vitation al Supercros s, as
pri v a te e r Ph il Law rence and Team '
Yamah a's John Dowd scored big wins in
the 250 an d 125cc Pro Su percross classes.
For Lawrence it was a privateer' s
dream com e true after he spanked th e
fa ctory efforts of Kawasaki' s Damon
Huffman an d Yamaha' s Damon Bradsha w and h eld of a last-lap char ge by
H onda of Troy' s Mike Craig for one of
the sweetest victories of his caree r.
Dowd,' on the othe r hand, su rprised
the masses somewhat by erasi ng doubt
as to wheth er or not he'd be competiti ve .
as a 30-yea r-o ld in th e 125cc class by
posting an undisputed win .
This year even t promoter Goat Breker
took th e initi a tive to ins titu te 'a new
supercross form at very sim ila r to that
used in NASCAR's truck program. The
n ew form at w ould sto p the rac er s for
five minutes at the halfway poin t of the
14-lap race. Durin g th e break, rid ers
would be able to catch their breaths, tak e
a drink, or make mechanical repairs. On
the restart, the racers would line up in
sing le file in their previous position s and
would con tinue racing. The idea behind
thi s new format w as to keep the riders as
bunched up as possible, thu s prov id ing
a better sho w for the specta tors. The riders gave the new format mixed review s
but the spectators seemed to find the racing more entertaining.
