Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·M T C O S·· Final Round: Gatorback Cycle Park OO R S .· F loridaWinlerAMA MX series atDr (Left) Ricky Horton (38) and Ron Tichen or (4) split the Pro-class wins at the final round of the Florida Winter AMA MX Ser ies at Gatorback. Horton top ped the 250cc class and Tichenor the 125s. (Below) Shane O'Conner slides out In front of the 125cc A class. Robbie Skaggs (44) emerged .victorious . . By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVILLE, FL, JAN. 27 -28 uzu ki-m ou nted Ron Tiche no r and T e am G r e en ' s Robb ie H o rton roll ed to th e 125 and 250 cc Pro cl a s s w ins in the fin a l r ound o f the Florid a W int er AMA M X Serie s a t Gat orback Cycl e Park, but i t w as Tichenor who left Florida with both Pro-class champion ships. For his efforts, Tichenor was awarded the J.D. Collins Memorial Aw ard for ' his series victory. " I am proud to win this award in ' J.D.'s honor," Tichen or said . " It is very sad when something happens to one of u s. We all lov e racing, but every time we get on a track we realize the risk that is involved . My thoughts are with his family today." H orton, m eanwhile, e a r n e d the respect of the crowd in the final 250cc mot ob y hold ing off a d etermin ed Tichen or for the last 20 minutes of the race. "I tried to stay smooth and enjoy the race," Horton sai d lat er. " It w ork ed! " Horton had fin ishe d s e co n d in th e opening moto. Earl Ma y top ped his Vet Pro adversa ry Pat Barton in both motos, but it wa sn 't e n o ugh as Ba rton h eld th e s li m mest of point lea ds to t a k e the cham pionshi p. "Barto n w as s trong through ou t the se r ies," May admitted. "I w ish I had ridden this w ell in every race." Scott Carter led the first 125cc Pr o moto a h e a d o f Tony Lo ru sso, Mi ke Treadwell, Tichenor, An thony Pocorob ba, Jeff Curry and Shane Siother. "I got m y w r ist ou t o f a ca st two weeks ago and thi s is the first race tha t I felt up to speed," Cart er said later. Carter's Manche ster Honda led for fou r la ps as Ti ch en or m ov e d pa st Lorusso and moved up to chall enge for the lead. "Carter was riding really fast, " Tich en or sai d . "I wasn't reall y on and cou ldn't put in tw o laps in a row without a mista ke." Pocorobba added: "I was in fourth and gaining when Tichenor put a block pas s on Carter. Both Ca rte r and Loru sso slowed, and I passed th em both at the same time ." S 20 Pocorobba re eled in Tich en or , but cou ldn't make the pass. Pocorobb a said: " I tri ed yelling at him, but I guess that he just laughed at me." Ticheno r res po n ded, s ayi ng, "Pocoro bba alw ays ye lls . I ju st ignore it." Tichenor collected the win ahead of Pocorobb a, Barry Ca rsten, Lorusso and Carter. Ke ith Johnson led m oto two with Tich enor, Curry, Au s tin Sq ui res, Treadwell, Lorusso and Carsten in good po sition. John s on w a s p a s sed b y Tichenor and faded after that, his con d itioning suffering somew hat after missin g th r ee weeks du e t o a shoulder inju ry. Curry moved past Johnson into the second p ositi on on lap four. " It was n ice to get a goo d st art," Curry said . " Ro n n ie (Tichenor) w as way out fron t, so I tried to rid e in con trol and held onto second." Tichen or took h is eigh th s traigh t 125cc moto win ahead of Cu rry, Treadw ell, Po corobb a an d C a r sten. Th e opening 250cc m oto s aw se ries newcomer Jim Neese battling for th e early lead with Tichen or, Scott Carter, Robbi e Horton and Poco robba. Tichenor took th e lead, but Neese's Jim's Cycle Sales Honda was pushing to take over. "I tried to pass Ronnie several times and th ought th at m y speed was good eno ugh to w in ," Neese said la te r. "I started mak ing too m any mi stakes; I've been rid ing all indoors this season and it shows." Tichenor ro de to an easy wi n, w ell clear of H orton, Pocorobba, and Neese. "I w as third on the start, tried to stay smooth and co o l," Ho rton said . "Pocorobb a p u shed m e hard a t th e end . My bike is set up for su percross, but it wo rked pretty well here." H orton rode hi s fines t ra ce o f th e series in the final moto, sta rting with a holeshot ahead of Neese, Tichenor, Lorusso, Pocorobba, Treadwell, Gene Na u mec an d Ju stin Jackson. Ticheno r m oved in behind Hor ton and d ogged him for the entire 25-minute moto. "H orton was awesome. Every time that I cam e upon him he gra bbed more throttle and held me off," Tiche nor said. "He wouldn't ma ke any mistakes, and it came down to the eleva tor jump. He wa s clearin g it every lap and gain ing on me. I avoided it, because it bit me last year an d scares me. I had to start going for it on the last lap s." "I twi sted the throttle so ha rd that I must have spun the grip around," Horton admitte d . Whil e the drama played out for the le ad, Nee se locked into third a n d Treadw ell m oved past Lorusso and Pocorraba to hold down fourth. On the wh ite-fl ag lap, Ti ch enor soared over th e top, but blew th e followin g berm, falling out of H orton' s range. He cou ld -only watch as Horton earned the moto win and the overall. Ricky Palmer p layed spoiler by leading Kevin Knig ht, May an d Pat Barton in the ope ni ng Ve t Pro m oto. Ma y passed Kn igh t ove r the g ra n ds ta n d doubles, reeled in Palm er and put th e mot o awa y. . "We ra ce d ov er 15 m in utes, an d I was rea dy for that checkered flag," May said. "It didn't come a bit to soon." Ma y led th e final m oto flag- to- flag for the overall wi n, but Barton moved into secon d by mot e's end to claim the series championshi p. In Saturday's p rogram, Po corobba won se ries titles in both 125cc A and 250cc. A classes with a rapidl y movin g fro n t turnin g a hard, fast track in to a mud bog by the second mot o. "Robbie Skaggs w as on th e gas and won the 125cc A class today," Pocorobba sa id . "My closest series battl e was wi th Robbie Hor ton in the 250cc A class." Po corobba trailed H ort on in m oto on e, but clinched the titl e with a fina l mot o win . Both Ricky Renner and Davi Milsaps swep t th eir respective 50cc m otos to e a rn champion ships. Ja mes St ew art earned d ouble championships in both 711 d ivisions. The 65cc class was a cakewalk, but in the 85cc fina l moto Stewart dumped hi s h ole sh o t in fr ont of the pack. He got up last, but hustled back to second behind Gene Stu ll at moto's end . Brandon [essem an sco re d 85cc (1213) an d Su per Mini wi ns at th e final ' ro und . Cha d Johnson's second m ov ed h im ahead of Aaron Lin dsey for the class title. Ma tt W al k e r was i m p r ess i v e in claimin g bo th 85cc (14-15) and Super M ini- class champ io nships . W a lk e r recovere d from a dislocated sho u lder in the first Super Mini m oto to win the final moto. Ernesto Fon seca top ped the 125cc (12-15) cha mpionship. Ma y carded series w ins in both 25+ A and 30+ A cla sse s. "Barry Ca rs ten was gone in the first 25+ A moto, bu t I got a better start and p assed him in the se cond," Ma y sa id. May waltzed with Pat Barton in both 30+ A motos before w inning the pai r. George Singler sta rted the d ay tied with Terrell Welborn in a close 50+ battle. Singl er lost the ov erall to Frank Carillo, but topped Welborn for the overall by winning the last moto. Marcus Pedrero, who works in hi s fam ily's painting busin ess u sed, a yel low Suzuki to claim the 25+ B-class championship . Team Gr een Kawasaki's rising star Ricky Carmichael swept the 125cc B, 250cc Band 16-24 classes with style in his second week ba ck from surgery. H is worth y competitors - Shae Bentley and Nichol as Wey - to ok the 125cc B and 250cc B championships, th ough. . Jessie Fleming's domination of the 125cc C and 250cc C cha m pionship s w as amazing consi dering th at h e retire d from racing eight yea rs ago while still in the 65cc class . Johnny Borders had fun finishin g the 35+ A class second to John Lu ndy an d winning the 40+ A cl ass. Borders won his first race at Gatorb ack in 1972. Border s sai d with a smi le : "I wo n both -the 125 and 250cc Pro classes on Bultacos. Look for me at the Winter C\ AMA Series next year, too ." Gatorback Cycle Park Gaine s ville, Florida Res ults: January 27-28, 1996 125 PRO : 1. Ronn ie Tichenor (Su z ); 2. Anthony Pocorobba (Suz) ; 3. Barry Carsten (Suz ); 4. Jeff Cu rry (Suz); 5. Ton y Lorusso (Ho n ); 6. Davey Yezek (Suz ); 7. Scott Carte r (H on ); 8. Keit h Joh n son (Kaw); 9. Jeff Janssen (Yam); 10. Davi d Krotz (Suz ). 250 PR O : 1. Robb ie H orto n (Kaw); 2. Ronni e Tic henor (Suz ); 3 . Jim N use (Hon ); 4 . An th ony Pocorobba (Suz); 5. Barry Carsten (Suz); 6. Jeff Curry (Suz); 7. Mic h ae l Trea dwell (Suz); 8. Gen e Naumec (Yam); 9. Travis Blackbu rn (Kaw) ; 10. Tony Loru sso (Hon). VET PRO: I. Earl May (]

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