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/127769
Round 3: Dade City enor struts his stu By Mike and Anne Adair DADE CITY, FL, JAN 20-21 on Tichenor rolled to both proclass victo ries at round three of the Florida Winter AMA Motocross Seri e s at Dad e City Motocross Raceway, but literally had to beg a bike to race . After the Suzuki Japan-backed rider trashed his Suzuki RM250 transmission in practice, he borrowed a bike from a r a cer whom h e didn't even kn ow. " 1 walked the pits until I found a RM250," said Tichenor. "I asked a total st ranger oh n St arlin g, a 30 + B-cl ass R a 22 rider), and he allowed me to borrow his bike." Tichenor' s mechanic Barry Ke r n switched fro nt forks, the sho ck and the p ipe. Tich en or w ent on to w in b oth 250cc motos an d maintain hi s serie s point lead. Tichenor's wife, Brandi, com mented with a smile, " There are some really nice people out in the world, and Starling is on e of them." Tich enor's toughest challenge cam e from Ton y Lorusso in the final 125cc Pro moto. The pair swap pe d the lead sev eral times before Tiche n or to ok the checkered flag . An impressive turnout of 490 rid ers enj oyed a warm, su nny Florida d ay of racing at Rand y Yoho 's Dade City Tra ck . After relatively hard-pa ck ed tr acks at Gainesville an d Ocala, san d rid ers were ready for their tum to shi ne. In th e opening 125cc Pro m oto Tich enor squeezed ou t o f the first tum ahea d of Jeff Curry, Brock Sellard s, Robbie Ska ggs, Ch ad Sheppard, Ch ris Bailey, Yu l Kawa shima, Richi e H orton, Mathew Crown and Pat Barton . . " Ti ch en o r was in th e cle ar: ' sai d Curry, the eve nt ua l runner-up. "I tried to be careful wi th the lappers, but ha d to also worry abo ut Skagg s." Anthony Pocorobba, who ended the moto fourth behind Tichenor, Curry and Skaggs, said, "I fell in the early lap s and had to make up a lot of places. I was trying to catch Skaggs, but banged a previously injured hurt knuckle on the bar s." Tony Lorus so improv ed hi s fir stmoto sixth w ith a winning start in the fina l moto ahead of Jeff Jan sen, Barton, Curry, Mike Treadwell , Sha ne O' Con nor, David Kratz and Skaggs. Suzu ki/ N ank ai / Dunl op / Pro Cir cu it / Sh oe i / Alpine Star s /Bill's Pip es / Perf ormance Engineering-sponsored Ticheno r said, "I started we ll, but crashed on the first lap and had to ru n a bunch of guys down." (Right) Pat Barto n (5) and Earl May (82) battled In the Vet classes. Bart on top ped the Vet Pro class, May aced the 25+ divisi on. (Beiow) Matt Walke r (27) ri pped to th e win in th e Supe r Mini class with a wlre- to-wi re romp. Lorusso rolled int o the lead an d at the five-lap mark ha d Curry, Tichenor, Jansen, Treadwell an d Barton in hi s roos t. "1 sta rted to get a little tir ed, made some mistakes and Ronnie cau gh t and passed me," sai d Lorusso. "But then he high -sided in a turn, and I regained the lead ." T ich en or reco ve re d . qu ic kl y a n d closed th e ga p again befor e accelerating pa st Lorus so o n the fa st uph ill straight for the w in. Lorusso held off Curry ·for second ahea d o f Treadw ell and Barton . Shane O 'Connor' s fi rs t 250cc Pro mot o lead w as short-lived as Tich en or rocke ted pa s t . Whil e Tichenor cont roll ed th e le ad , Curry an d Gene