Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·MOTOCROSS Round 4:Glen Helen ~aceway Axo S portGFI Winter S eries Jo- nson swee "J followed him for five laps," said Johnson. "Every line he was taking was my line, so I waited, then outjumped him over this one obstacle." Once out front, Johnson put the pedal to the metal and pulled aw ay to another hands-down victory, "My bike was set up for supercross," said Brandes. "My arms pumped up in the end so I let him go." Brand es se ttled for seco n d while Dubach, Eric Shn ell and Mike Chamberlain rounded out the top five. Ne w Mexico' s Ju st in Buckelew has shown no signs of letting up in the min i ranks, and he wo n the SOcc Expert and Supermini classes. "He is Yamaha ' s futu re superstar, " said . orth County Yam aha's Jim Hurkman. (Left) Team SplilFlre/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Casey Johnson swept the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at Glen Helen. (Below) Bryce Terzian (86), Mike Alessi (800) and Cole Seeley (22) lead the Pee Wee class through turn one. Alessi went on to win the 7- to 8-year-old class. while Seeley topped the 4- to 6-year-old division. Buckelew wo n three out of four motos en tere d, bu t gave up one moto to Team Hon da' s Danny Carlson. "He had wa y better lines th an me in the first Su per Mini race," said Buckelew . "So I decided to check ou t his lines." Buckelew learned the lines well and w ent on to defeat Carlson in th e a llimportant second moto. Buckelew, Carlson and Billy Payne wer e the only three m ini riders to clear the 90-foot double jump all day long. Jerry Aleman defied all odds by winning the 12See Intermediate class after he was forced to start backwards. "Me an d a bu nch of the 12SeeIntermediates rode in the wrong practice and the p ro mote rs pena lized u s by mak in g u s start backw ard s in the first m oto," said Aleman. Aleman charged from ou tside of the top 10 in a 36-rider class and finished a respectable fift h behin d Au st ralia n Mic ha el By rn e, Tim Bea tty, European Vojtec h Bruml a and moto winner Josh Taran tino. The second moto sawall 36 riders line the starting ga te facing forward, and this tim e it w a s Su zuki su p po rt rid er [iri By Tony Alessi SAN BER.\lARDINO, CA" FEB. 19. od ay's my da y!" exclaimedTeam SplitFire /Pro Circu it /Kawasaki's Casey Johnson, after win nin g the 125 a n d 250cc Pro cl asses a t round four of the Axo Spo rt GFI Wint er Series, held at Glen Helen Raceway. Tea m Yamaha's Doug Henry made his retu rn to racing at the event, and the pits were buzzing with anticipation. "The surgery wa s a success an d I feel good ," said Henry. "I want to start racing some local events so I can get used to havin g a lot of guys aro und me again on the track. For tod ay I'm just go ing to take it slow so I can grad ually get back into it." On e mi ght hav e w ond ered what Hen ry's version of "slow" was, after seeing the huge hol esh ot h e pulled at the s ta r t of th e 2S0c c Pr o m ain . Though Hen ry led the 4D-man pro field to the first tum, it was Johnson wh o eme rged as the leader. "He nry went a littl e too wide in the first tum and sta rted sliding. so I tucked in on the insid e and kept my momentum going and J came ou t in front of him," said Johnson. Henry raced up fro n t for three laps before the footpeg broke off his machine and forced the new Yamaha factory rider to retire, "Th a t' s the m ost fu n I' ve had in a whil e," said Henry. "Even though J only raced for three laps, it was great. " With H enry o u t of the ra ce, Mike Brandes was the next rider to move into .the spo tligh t. Brandes soon began to pressure Johnson. " J thought it was Henry behind me the whole time, then I looked back and saw Brandes," said Johnson. With that, Johnson wicked it up a little more and roosted away with the win. Brand es, meanwhile, had p roblems and drop ped to fifth at the finish. "J had to borrow this bike this morning and it wasn't set up for me, so J was ridin g uncomfort ably," said Brand es. Ya m a ha / Enzo Ra cin g- sp on s ored Dou g Dub ach worked up fro m ou tside the top five to finish second ahead of Travis Preston an d Jeff Willoh, whose riding has shown signs of newfound confidence followin g his win at the San Diego Supercross. Johnson re turned for the 12Scc-dass win as well after an earlv battle with Bran des. . T " (Left) A pair of aces : AII-Japan National MX Champion Jeff Matlasevlch leads Vet World Champion Doug Dubach in 250cc Pro-elass action. (Below) Doug Parso ns (23) leads 250cc Intermediate-class winne r Jerry Aleman (1 6).

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