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/127775
Round 1:. ayto aInternational Speedway D n By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEACH, FL MAR. 8 , T eam Oliver Yamaha's Rich Olive r be g an the d ef e n se of h is champion ship by sho wi ng that unl ess the stan dard of the comp et it ion inc re ases dramatically and soon, h e will not on ly co ntin ue to rew rite the record books, but will also take all the drama ou t of the class. The two-ti me d efending nati on al .champion raced to an easy 250cc Grand . Prix victory on a sunny, cool, and windy d ay at Dayt ona, pulling away at a rapid clip and beating second- place fini sh er Randy Renfr ow by 28.282 seconds, more than a second and a half a lap better at the end of the IS-lap , 100-kilometer (62mil e ) race. Oli ver averaged 108.07 0 mph, not quite as fast .as his 1995 average of 108.749, but still eno ugh to notch his 23rd career win and mak e him the u ndispu ted career lea der for 250cc GP victories. "I want to say from the bottom of my heart that it is such a privilege to ride aro und Daytona," Oliver said after his third 250cc GP win here. "It's the greatest race in the world with th e greatest fans cheering you on . It's got the highest (Above) Defending 250cc Grand Prix National Champion Ric h Oliver put his head down and ran off with a convincing w in at the Daytona season-opener. (Left ) After starting from th e second wave , Randy Renfrow (96) put on an impressi ve charge throu gh th e pack to eventually pass Perfomance Machine 's Roland Sands (10) for th e ru nner-u p spot. banks, the tightest chicane, the most bum ps, and it's the hairiest place in the world to ride. And 1 love every second of it. We were in a position today to be a little conse rvative. We had a lap -time advan tage tha t we wo rked hard fo r. When you have that; you can pay attention to being precise an d smooth, and you don't have to worry abou t being on the ragged edge all the time." Second- place d Renfrow didn't have such a luxury. After heat-r ace pr oblems forced him to the 11th row on the second wave of the grid for the race, Renfrow had to work his way th rough 40 riders as quickly as possi ble. By the time he began to crack th e top 10, Oliver was long gone, but it didn't stop the Virginia veteran from forging his way up to second on his John Lassak-tuned Honda RS250, passing Performance Machines' Roland San ds near the start / finish line at the end of the 15th lap and taking a risk by leading throu gh the chicane on the final tour. "I didn't really have a stra tegy on the last lap," the Ra nd y Ren frow Motor- s p o rts Honda rider said. "Had h e passed me I'd have d rafted him, but the strategy was, ' Run like hell and try to put somebody between us.' 1 tried to do that, and I don't know whe ther I did or not. 1 don't know whe ther he got by all the guys tha t I got by, an d basically it was get the best drive I could and go as fast as I could and I figured th at was my fastest lap. If it wasn't, it certainly was close." "I looked back a lap before Randy came up, and 1 saw an orange bike back there and I figured th at it could only be him," Sands said. "He came by me and I just stayed behind him on th e last lap because 1 figured I could draft by him, and I got the best drive 1 cou ld out of the chicane and I came up a little short." Sands said that he' d lost the knee pu ck 'on the left leg of his lea thers with abou t five laps to go and was having a hard time in the left-handers after that. Fourth place was deci ded on the final lap, and neither of the riders who had contested the spot for most of the race actually en ded u p there. Pro Pac/ Cycle City / Ross Bar on Racing's Derek King