Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·MOTOCROSS . Series . Round 1: Gatorback Cycle Park Florida WinterAMA Motocross By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVILLE, FL, DEC. 30-31 on Tichenor sho uld get married m ore of te n. Three w ee ks a fte r Florida's own Tichenor and Brandi S to lle r were m a r ri e d , th e brid e g roo m e n tered the Flo r i d a W int e r AMA Series ope ner as a ma rried man . Tich en or scored fo ur Pro moto w ins, incl u ding a charge from last pl ace in the fi n al 250cc m oto . T he tw o -t im e Japan 250cc National MX Cham pion sai d, "After the wedding we went to Wyom ing on a skii ng trip, then I started tra ining again last week. I gu ess the layoff paid of f." Tommy Mart in u pset favorite Earl May for th e overall win in the Vet Pro class. Mar lin , who broke his neck he re last yea r exp lained, "I had a tough day in the preliminary races on Saturday. I couldn't get com fortable on the tr ack, but I felt good tod ay and reallyappreciate this win.'" Gatorback Cycle Park hosted over 2 800 entries for the ope ning round of the 26th An nua l Florida Win te r AMA MX Series. Shane O'Connor ope ned th e 125cc Pro show by leading Tichenor, Ant hony Pocorobb a, Keith John son, Brian Swink, An drew Desp a in, Brian Manley and Tony Lorusso. Tic henor took over the lead on lap two, and by lap five Swink was second . "Tichenor go t away early. He d id n't make any mistakes and wa s too hard to catch," said Swink. At the finish it was Tichenor scor ing the win, followed by Swink, Pocoro bba, Manl ey and Loru sso. (Right) Ron Tichenor was unbeatable at the open ing round of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series at Gato rback Cycle Park. The two-time Japan National MX Champion won both motos In both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes. (Be low) Anthony Pocorobba (37) tries to squeeze by on the Inside of James Joiner at the start of the 250cc moto. Pocorobba won both the 125 and 250cc A classes. Pocorobba paced th e secon d moto ahead of Manley, Johnson, Pat Barton, Tichenor, David Kratz, Nathan Ram sey and Barry Carsten . H owever, Tichenor was th e rid er to watch as he th readed hi s way th ro ugh the pack t o seco n d pl ace, th en cha rged past ea rly-lea der Pocorobba, who took getling passed by Ticheno r in stride. "I felt a lot of confidence with that early lead," Pocorobba said, "bu t Tichenor reeled me in. I kn ew he had the overall anyw ay, so I let him go and' fought to hold second ." When all wa s sa id a nd done, Tich eno r' s Barry Kern-tu n ed Suzuki took the win, tailed by Pocorobba, Ramsey, Carsten and Lorusso. Car sten, who earned th ird overa ll, sai d, "Tichen or was flying tod a y . None of us could catch him." Man ley roos ted the start of the first 250cc m oto, leading Tich enor, Swi nk , Pocorobba, J.D . Collins, Travis Black• bu rn, Robbie Hor ton and Mik e Tre ad we ll. Swink's Marshall Plumb-prepp ed H ond a of Troy CR250 moved into th e lead on lap two. Tich enor m oved up and challenged Sw in k for three la ps befo re m aking the p a ss a n d p utting ano ther win in the bank. "I had a goo d race with Ronn ie, th en m y arms pumped up ," said Swink. "I backed off, hit a lire, bent my shifter and had to battle with Manl ey to preserv e second ." The mot o o ff icia lly e n ded wi t h Tichenor takin g the win ahea d of Sw ink, Manley, Pocorobba and Joel Dengler. The second moto got under w ay with Po corobba, Kenny Yoho, Swi nk, Joh nso n, Coll in s, Jason Sy bert a n d Gene Nau m ec leading the fray. And w he re was Tichenor? In last place. "My wheel washed out in the second tum," he said. " I went down and watched the pack leave me behind." H ow e ver, Ticheno r wouldn't stay there for long, and by the fifth lap, he had worked his way into third, followed bv Swink and Pocorobba. Naumec chased in fourth; Treadwell held fifth. Once again, Tichenor p ic ke d off Pocorobba then started to chisel away at Swink's seemingly comfortable lead . By the end of the race, Tichenor had taken control of the race, while Swink ran into so me probl ems and fell back to thi rd beh ind Tichenor and Pocorobba. The first Vet Pro moto saw Tommy Marti n ja m in to th e lead w ith Kevin Knigh t, Kevin Foley, Earl May and Pat Bar to n in close pursuit. Aft er d u eling with Fol ey, M ay ca ugh t and p assed Martin to earn the first-mote win. "The track is rou gh tod ay," said May . "There is no place to sit down and I like to sit down all I can. " Ma y ope ned a clear lead in the secon d moto ah ead of M artin, Ba rton, Foley and Scott Currie. Bu t Ma y' s lead became hazy wh en Martin and Barton closed th e ga p . M artin eve n t ua lly passed May and w ent on to sco re the

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