Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.MOTOCROSS · Round 1: Perris Raceway G RWln r Series-SoUth · te '. By Tony Alessi 8 PERRIS, CA, JAN. j av id Pingree ju mp-s tarted hi s season b y p ostin g th e overall w in in th e h ighly com p et itive 125cc Pro class, wh ile Perris regu lar Don Upton flat smoked the 250cc Pros at the opening rou nd of the GFI Wint er Series held at Perris Racew ay. And for the second time in two weeks, race promoter Goa t Breker initia ted a new program for the Pro racers in th e form of one 40-minute moto instead of the custom ary two I S-minu te motos. In addition, all Pro races would be run during the morning so top riders wo uldn't have to wai t for 40 motos to run before getting the oppo rtu nity to race. Th e 125cc Pro class was the firs t event to be run on the p ro gr am, and m any o f th e competitors liken ed the race to a n o u tdoo r AMA Na tio na l. Although victory her e wou ld n ot be taken by a fast start or six- lap sprint to th e finis h line, but rath er by hanging on for 20 la ps over so me of Sou the rn Cali fo rnia 's rou ghe st closed -co u rse ter ra in. Tha t of cou rse didn't slow any of the over 35 ride rs as they charged down the start straight tow ard th e first left-h an d hairpin tum. This frenzied begin ning proved d isastro us for Pro Circuit rider Casey Johnson, who pulled th e h olesh ot on ly to s ta ll in the firs t turn . Joh n son was p romptly rewarde d for his miscue by getting bumped , smashed.,kicked and ru n ove r by the speeding horde of riders that followed. Jo hnson picked hi m self up and nu rs ed his very bent m ach ine ba ck to the pits, from which he woul d wa tch fellow -Team Green Rider Dustin Ne lson le a d the way . N e lson, a rookie p ro , appea red to be in ove r his head after the start and w as getting a lot of p ressure from FMF rid er Greg Schnell. Abo u t th e sa me time that Sch n ell became a factor for the lead, Dav id Pin- g ree, Chad Pederson a n d Ty Ka d y entered the fray and created a five-rider battle for the po int position. Nelson see med to get ner vous wi th th e a rr ival of t his pa ck and so o n d ropped back to fifth, leaving Schnell at the front, wh o qu ickly opened up a lead . Follow in g Nelson toward the back of the pack was Kady, and he faded to an even tual 17th-p lace finish. Behind Schnell, Pingree and Pederson argued fo r seco n d , wh ile ch arging .through the field to the delight of Suzuki am ateur race techni cian Tim McAd ams was Scott Shea k, serious about moving to the front. By the halfway mark Sheak had su ccessfully moved from outside the top 20 and into fourth place. During th e final 20 min utes of th e race it was evident th at Schnell was slowing and giving up much of the lead tha t he had worked so hard to gai n. "I sep ara te d m y should er e a r ly in th e week," said Sch ne ll afterward. "I ju st couldn 't hang on anymore." As Schnell slowed, Pingree and Peder son still looked fast and fresh. Looks did not deceive, and by the 15th lap the pair had moved into first and second, respectively, leaving Schnell a lonely third . Durin g th e closing lap s, Pederson pu t on a cha rge, but Pingree seeme d to take this in stride and he went on to take the checkered flag. "Ou r bike ran grea t tod ay, " Pin gree said . "l'sh oul d h av e . won the su pe rcross here last week, bu t this will ma ke up for it." Pederson crossed the line for second while Schnell , She a k, Brandes and French sup ercross star David Vuillemi n rounded out the top six. The "king of Perris" Don Upton lived up to hi s title by destro ying th e 250cc Pro class wit h a wire-to-wire victory in what could only be described, in basketball terms, as a slam dunk. Upton looked lik e h e was on auto p il ot an d si m p ly le ft Team Suzuki's Michael Brandes in the dust. Bra ndes al most lost th e ru nner-u p position late in the race to the always - smoo th form er 125cc National Champion Micky Dymo nd . Brand es, how ever, did a great bl ock-m e-h ere, block-m ethere dance and held Dymo nd at bay to the checkered flag. Tr av is Pres to n ro de h ot an d co ld throughou t th e race and fi nishe d a respectable fourth, while Bill Sauro, E.J. Wrigh t and Mat Batem an ro unded out the top eight. World-class Mi ni sensa tio n Ju st in Buckelew made the trek from New Mexico worthwhile by scoring wins in bot h Supermini an d 80cc Expert classes. His wins, howe ver, d id not come as easily as expe cted, as he was continua lly hounde d by Honda ri der Dan n y Carlson th roughou t m ost of th e high-in tensit y Minimotos. Carlson left h is m ark, litera lly, on Buckelew by making agg ressive passes. In the end, thou gh, Buckelew wo n the motos th at counte d most an d se cure d victory in both classes. Team Green' Billy Payne, makin g a com eba ck fro m an inj ury-riddle d '95 se a so n, w as b ack on track, finish in g third in the Superm ini and 80cc Expe rt classes. Th is n ew seas on is alrea d y be ing referred to as the year of the 125cc Intermediat e class, w it h man y of th e topranked racers m aking their first ap pea ra nces s t r o n g ones . Pas t 125cc Intermedia te classes h a ve prod u ced stars like Damon Huffman, Robbie Reynard and Kevin Winham, bu t there has n o t b e en a tim e in th e pa st deca de where there ha ve been over 10 different riders cap able of winn ing the class. California has developed its own share of the strong 125cc Intermediates as evidenced by the impressive showing during this ope ning rou nd . Of these, forme r Mini ace Jiri Dosta l used good starts, exce llent judgment and creative lines to carry himself to a d ouble-m oto win ove r NCY-spo nso red Josh Tarantino. Teenage sensation Jerry Alema n was in the hunt all day and record ed a solid third in front of Tim Beatty, newco mer Andy Anaya and Danny Mon toya . The a ction in th e b ig-b ik e classes trickled down to even th e youngest of ra cers in the 50cc (4-6) d ivi sion . This class is a grea t op p ortu nity for kids to break into the spo rt of racing . Class " veteran" Cole See ly ha d no problem hand ling the field and rod e circles around his competi tion en rou te to a dou b le-moto victo ry . John ath an McCarth y was ex tra -pum ped for today's race after he discovered a brandnew race bike under h is Christmas tree, complime nts of Santa Claus . McCart hy secured second on the 'main track, then surprised everyone by d efeat ing Seely on the Pee Wee track later in the da y. Future Pee Wee champ Brandon Million was a solid fifth-place finisher just behind Ch ad Gores an d Warren Davis ,~ during the two motos. GFI Winter Series-South Perris, California Results: January 7, 1996 Pee Wee Track SOFT: 1. Cameron Gagnon (Yam); 2. Craig McClure (KTM); 3. Jes sica Ciarletta (Yam ); 4. Kevin Thom pson (lEM); S. Mi chae l Covelli (KTM ). 50 STK BEG 14-6 1. jonathan McCarthy (LEM): 2. ): Co le Sedy (k'TM): 3. Cody Longenecker (KTM); 4. B.j. Both uer (KTM); 5. Jason Endo (K1'M ). STK BEG (7·8): 1. Tr avis Kinkade (KTM); 2. David Hough (LEM). Main Track 50 STK (4-8): I. Co le Seely (KTM) : 3. jona than McCarthy (LEM); 3. Warren David (KTM); 4. Chad Gores (KTM:); 5. Brandon Million (LEM). 50 STK (7· 8): 1. Mike Aless i (KTM); 2. Jarred Brown IKTM): 3. Ch ris Blose (KTM): 4. David Hough (LEM); 5. Rvan McClint ock (KTM) . • 50 O PEN: 1. Michae l Perrv (KTM); 2. Kameron Scott (KTM). • 60 FT: 1. Bryan Tokunaga (K aw ): 2 . Ca ndice Motshagen (Kaw); 3. Patrick Penni ng to n (Kaw); 4. An thony Care tt e (Kaw ); 5 . Louis Cha m be rla n d (Kew ). 60 BEG 0 · 1: 1. Jason Donrriann (Kaw); 2. Dvlan Miles (Kaw); 3. Dane Jackson (Kaw) ; 4. Mark Atkans (Kaw); S. Kyle Foltz (Ka w). 60 BEC 0 ·2 : 1. Matt McD an ie ls (Kaw ); 2. Justin Hargrov e (Kaw ); 3. Rafael Ch aoia gorm (Kaw); 4. Noah He rnandez (Kaw]: 5. Da llas Paick' (Kaw ). 60 NOV: 1. Shaun Connely (Kaw) ; 2. Kelly Ted der (Kaw) ; 3. Ryan Roy ba l (Kaw); 4. To mmy Coc hran (Kaw); 5. Zac Wray (Kaw). 60 1NT : L Ryan Beat (Kaw) ; 2. Andy Pierce (Kaw) ; 3. Chris Blose (Kaw ); 4. Mike Alessi (Kaw); 5 . Jason Medi n a ( Kaw ). 60 OP EN: 1. Dylan Miles (Kaw ~ 80 FT: 1. Tom my Marguardt (Kaw); 2. Brandon

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