Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127767
·M T C O S.. Round 2: Florida Motorsports Complex OO R S Rorida W AMA MX Series inter By lap fou r, Sw ink and Poco rob ba ha d the firs t two spots locked up, followed by Johnson, Carsten and Tichenor. Swink was a solid first , Pocorobba faded with a da maged wheel an d Horton moved up to finish second ahead of Carsten and Skaggs. Swink sa id, "I d ecided to run onl y one class today, then they shortened the motos to 20 minutes. It's funny, my arms never pump up when I'm in first place." Horton said, " I finall y got a go od start and it felt good to be up front. 1 got by Pocorobba. but Swink was too far ahead to catch." "1 had a flat tire and was about to pull off the track wh en they red-flagged the race, " said Carsten . "We did no t know that J.D. was seriously injured until later." Collins was moving u p fro m 14th place w hen his Kawasaki hit a rock, veere d o ff t he t r ack a nd h it a tr ee. Lorusso sai d, " I fell in the sa me spot and saw that Collins was off the track." The race was stopped on lap seven to pe rmit rescue workers to move Collins across the track to a waiting ambulance. Earlier in theeday, Pat Barto n and Earl May battled for the lead in the Vet Pro class. Barton led two laps, then May took th e lead for tw o laps, then they raced whee l-to-w heel on th e final lap towards the checkered flag. "Barton never gave up after I passed him. He was right on me, " said May. "The third tum from the end, I ran into some Iappers, picked a wrong line and Barton scooped up the win. " In Saturda y's 125cc A class, Pocorobba and Cars ten ba tt led in bo th motos. Poco robba said, " In the first m ot a, I caught Carsten and bu mped him when I passed for the win. He is a good hardpack rider." "1 t railed Pocorob ba in th e fi na l mota, tried several passes and sta yed close," said Carsten. "In the tum before the flag, I almost had him, hit the we t stuff, slid ou t, bu t held second. " Collins led mota two for two laps. Pocorobba had his work cu t ou t and fina lly fou nd an openi ng to ge t by for the win. Pocorobba said, "Collins rod e a real good race. 1 was worried about both him and Horton." Collins held off Jarrett By Mike and Anne Ada ir OCALA. FLJAN 7-8 onda of Troy's Brian Swink and Suzuki Ja p a n' s Ron Tichenor were th e bi g Pro winners at ro u n d tw o of the Win te r AMA Motocross Series at th e Florida Motorsports Complex in Ocala. The race, however, was marred by the tragic dea th of 18-year-old racer J.D. Collins, who ran off the track and crashed into a tree d uring the second 250cc Pro m ot o. As a resu lt, the seco nd round of motos was canceled. • Wori dSport' s Lind a West said, "We at WorldSports send ou r sympathy and most sincere condo lences to the Collins family." Collins and his mother and father, Ed and Peg Collins, were very active on the national racing circuit and have many friends in the sp o r t. Team Green Kawa saki's Jeff Chambers said, " It is a tragedy in the deepest sense of the definition. J.D. loved racing and his family supported him in every wa y. I cannot remember going to a national am ateur race o f an y st ature and not seeing the Collins family involved. " The young racer from Marion, Ohio, earned championships in the Minicycle, 125 and 250cc B di visions before starting his expert career . On Saturday, the day before the accident, he led and eventualIy finished fifth in the 250cc A class. On Sunday, Anthony Pocorobba took the lead in the first 125cc Pro mota with . Tichenor, Barry Carsten, Paul Currie, Robbie Skaggs, Mike Treadwell, Shane O' Con nor and Jarrett Tipp ing in good position. Tichenor sta lked Pocorobba for a lap , and then pulled alongside on a high -speed jum p an d took the lead in the next high-sp eed tu m . At th e mi dw ay po int, Currie and Skaggs worked by Carsten and vied for the third spot. Pocorobba said, "1 let the pressure get to me in the early laps and mad e too m any m ista kes. A fter Tichenor passed me, I calmed down and mad e u p time by tripling the back section, but was un able to reel him in." Tichenor had been down with the flu this week and had not been able to train until Thursday. He commented , "The track is pretty much on e line, so after I opened my lead, I tried to ba ck off to conserve strength for the 250 motes." At the end of the race it was Tichenor and Pocorobba filling ou t the first tw o positions. Carsten came back to take th ird , and Robb ie H orton fini shed a charge fro m 12th place to end fourt h ahead of Tony Lorusso . . Brian Swin k pu t h is Honda of Troy Honda CR250 into the lead in the first 250cc Pro m ot a . Beh ind him were Pocorobba, Keith John son, Robbie Hor to n, Ba rr y Carsten, Robb ie Skaggs, Lo russo, Bri an McEl r oy and Jeff Yentzer. Tichenor was mi red in traffic af te r a bad fi rs t tu rn but moved up through the pack rapidly. (Top) For the second week in a row, Ron Tichenor (41) scored the 125cc Pro-c lass win. Here, he batt les for the. early lead with Anthony Pocor obba (701). (Above) Hon da of Troy 's Br ian Swink won the 250cc Pro class. (Right) Ricky Renner won both mot os in the 50cc (4-6) div is ion .