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
MOTOCROSS " Round 5: Perris Raceway . GR WlnterMX Series· South . - ...sti c.I':» : s ~ I OlD _ CL> ~ :: Dubach cruised to victo ry with Schn ell finishing up in seco nd, Up ton third and Chamberlain fourth. Mike Metzger trad ed in hi s Hond a for a new Suzu ki and rounded out th e top five. Former 125cc National MX Champion Micky Dymond showed tha t he slill h as serious speed by leadin g the early lap s of th e 250cc Pro class. Dymond ac tu a lly brok e free of th e pack fo r a w hile, but a cou p le of cos tly bo bb les kn ocked the wi nd ou t of h is sails. He w ould eventu ally fall back to fou rth at the finish. Greg Schn ell topped the results column in the 250cc class after catching and passing Upton at about halfway through the race. Schn ell inch ed away and went on for the class win in one of hi s first 250cc Pro appearances . Upton looked s trong for second, whil e Dubach finishe d a solid third. [iri Dostal had his race face on in the 125cc Interm ediate class and came away with a win. Dostal chased down Jerry Ale man in the first moto then created his own insi de line to force his way into the lead. Aleman tried to ret aliate but th e damage was done, as Dostal went on to win the moto . . In the second moto, Oscar Valdez, last year's top novice in the GFI series, led for over half the race before Dostal picked him off over a double ju mp . Valdez 's co ncen t r a ti o n was broken sh ortly thereafter and he dropped back (Above) Doug Dubach whipped up on the 125cc Pro class at Perris Raceway during the . GA Winter MX Series. (Right) Chris Monreal (374)got the jump on Jeff zagorski (27)and Brighton Truay (19) In the 125cc Beginner class. By Tony Alessi PERRIS, CA, MAR. 3 eam O'Neal's Doug Dubach defied the law s of age by outriding a hungry gro up of young 125cc Pros and collecting the overall win at round five of the GFI Winter Series at Perris Raceway. Whi le most 32-year-old racers have settled into th eir respective vet classes or perhaps sp end most of their spare time rid ing in a golf cart instead of on a m otocro ss bi ke, Dubach is s till going s tro ng, t es ting during th e week for Yamaha and racing nearly every weekend. Though he says he d oes not train like h e d id when he w as ra cin g th e national and supercross circuits, no one w ould have ever guess ed, es pe cially after watching the show he put on whil e whipping th e 125cc Pro class, a class comprised of you ng riders, so me .h alf . his age. There wa s no s h o rt a ge o f r a cin g action at the start of the one, long 125cc T Pro race. The local "King of Perris" Don Upton broke free from the melee, while Eric Schnell, Dub ach, Terrance Ma lan, Chris Wheeler, Greg Schn ell and Mike Chamberlain filed in behind him. Eric Schnell coul dn't quite maintain the ferocious pace and dropped back, as did Wheeler. As a'result, Greg Schnell, Dubach and Chamb erlain settled into the second- through fourth-place positions. Dubach's pace was clearly quicker than Upton's and he was soon pressuring Upton from behind . Dubach would make up most of his time through a section of whoops that Dubach was tripling and Upton only doubling . It was only a mat ter of time befor e Dubach p assed Upton, and w he n h e d id, th e Yama h a rid er pulled aw ay, ope ni ng up a fou rsecond lead in no lim e. Up t on ' s probl ems w e r e fa r from over, as h e no w h ad Greg Schnell to conte nd with. Upton blocked Schnell for several laps before Schnell finally forced the issue and took over secon d. Now with clear sailing, Schn ell managed to close the gap on Dub ach, but it was a case o f too little t oo late, a s to fifth behind Tim Beatty, Josh Tarantino, Alem an and winner Dostal. Danny Ca rlson sent shock waves through the Yamaha camp by upstaging Jus tin Buckelew in the Super Mini race. Carlson won both motos. In the 80cc Expert race, Carlson wasn't as successful. He did win the first mo to over Bu ckelew, but in the allim portant second mote, Buckelew came ou t swinging and took the win, registering th e overall victory and returning norm alcy to the Yamaha camp. La n don Robbins fo und the racing close today in th e 80cc Beginner class and discovered tha t he might have some new competition to conte nd wi th, namely Jeremy Keipe r and Josh Gra nt. The first m oto sa w Keiper flat -o u t flying on his Suzu ki, as he simp ly beat Robbins for the win. Keiper looked like he was going for a repeat performance in the second moto bu t w as caug ht off guard in a freshly watered section of the track and slid out. Robbins inherited th e le a d until Grant made the pa ss of the d ay by outbraking Robbins going into a deeply rut-