Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

all of th e guys a t Yamaha . Th ey did a gre at job." . Vet racer extraordinaire John Dowd took his factory Yamaha to th e front of the p ack as well, and finis hed th e d ay with a hard-fought secon d overall with a 2-3 tally. Third pl ace overall for the day was sna tche d up by defen ding Nationa l Champion Steve Lamson , who h ust led h is Team Ho nda-prep a red CR125 to a resounding secon d-mo te win after a rear flat early in mo ta one that hel d him to sixth position. Team Spl itf'ir e/ Pro-Circuit' s Casey Johnson put in one of his better rides to gra b the fou rth-place h on o rs w ith 3-7 results a nd Team Su zuki' s Tim Ferry looks to be ge tti ng back to form after a recent knee inju ry by taking fifth pl ace overall wi th a 4-10 score. The even t promoters th ou ght th ey wo uld outsmart th e weather by m oving the even t up in the year to get some cool s pring t ime w eathe r . Mo ther Nature wo u ld ha ve none of that, th ou gh, greeting the rider s and spec ta to rs alike with unseasonabl e tem peratures that reached a high of 102 degrees. The heat and smog had so me riders rememberin g th e las t National th at was held at Glen Helen in '93 w hen the AMA tried out a one-mo ta final forma t in th e grueling midsummer sun, instead of the u su al two-mota formal. The track was liked, but not loved by most of the ride rs and featured a mountain ous four-s tory hillclimb an d a just -asominous dow nhill d ouble. Th e te rrain had an ou tdoor feel to it, but also ha d some supercross-style jumps to keep the flight-loving fan s happy . The tra ck was plenty wid e, but became harder to pass on as it det eriorated and sta rted to ge t d usty. Very dusty. Mul tiple flat tires were the not- sa-trendy tren d of th e day, an d would pu t a stop to man y rides . 125cc NATIONAL When the riders blasted off the concrete starting line for mota one, it was th e Team P rimal Imp ulse/ Bill's Pipes/ Ho n da CR125 piloted by Robbie Reynard that sh ot to th e lead, followed closely by Honda of Troy / Sinisalo's Jeff WilIoh, Quicksil ver's Jam es Dobb, Lamson, an d Dow d. " I go t a gre at start," exp la ined Reynard . " I guess 1 ha ve to say tha nks to my horne tr ack - 59th and Dou glas in Okl ahom a. Thanks for having a cem ent starting gate for me to practice on." W indham was back in th e pack, but not far. By lap two, the Yamaha pilot was putti ng pressure on Reynard, who was riding a very brisk pace eve n with the flat rear tire he had sustained. Windham kept the pressure o n and would eventually p ass Reyn ar d early in lap three, never look to back again. Team HoT's Mike Craig was putting on a va liant ride and passed Reyn ard for second place on lap seven: Cra ig crashed hard when he came up short over a do uble, th ou gh, ringing his bell hard eno ugh to retire ba ck to the piIs. Team SplitFire / Pro-Circuit /Kawasaki rider Casey Johnson was having a good rid e and was putti ng p ressu re on Reynar d for secon d place. He wo u ld eve ntually squeak by for th e pass on lap ni ne. With five lap s to go, it w as Windham in first an d pulling away followe d by Johnson, Reynard, Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk, Dow d , Dobb, and Scott Sheak. Sheak would eventually pull off af ter lap 11 with one of the day's many flat tires . Rey nard's rid e was p ut o n e terna l hold w hen his rear tire came off the rim, afte r hol ding his own fo r qui te a while with the flat. "I got th e holeshot, but on abou t th e second lap 1 got a flat," explained Reynard. " I rode the rest of the race as hard as 1 could, but when the tire came off of the rim th e tube go t stuck in th e rear wheel and that was it." Lamson was having a tough ride from ou tsid e of th e to p 10 after goi ng down early o n lap o ne, and ge tt ing a flat on about lap three. He would eventually finish a hard-fought sixth. "When 1 got the Hat 1 was worried, but 1just kept passing guys," Lamson said. "I d idn't wan t to pull off and waste time changing whee ls, but 1 d idn't want to end up like Reynar d." . On the last lap Dowd put a clean pass o n Jo h nson to ta ke over secon d, an d w ould hold that position until the finish even afte r an attempted reta lia tio n by Johnson in one of the last comers. Windham took the wi n going away, followed by a hard-ehargin g Dowd, and Johnson. Suzuki's Tim Ferry worked his way up to fourth after a me d iocre start, and Do bb took fifth . Lamson finished sixth, while Willoh dropped back slightly to seventh . The San Diego 125cc Super- (Above) Suzuki's Greg Albertyn (16) passed McGrath (1) and pulled out a huge lead in the first moto. With McGrath clos ing in late in the race, the former three-time World champ crashed and ended up second. He registered a DNF in the second.moto after a first-lap mishap. (Left) Windham holeshot bot h 125cc motos. Here he is chased by Chad Pederson (21), Buddy Antunez (22), J eff Wllloh (73), Case y Lytle (119) and Jo hn Dowd (7). cross winner was followed horne by Australian Kim As hkenazi, Pederson, and Team Green 's Robb ie Skaggs, w ho rounded ou t the top 10. The sta rt of mota two saw Win dham jump ou t to a clean holeshot, followed closely by Ped erson, HoT's WilIoh, Lam, son, and Dowd. Ferry and Team Chaparral's Brian Deegan would start dead last after a collision in the first comer. Windham was on fire and had p ut aboutfive seconds o n th e fie ld by la p th ree, but La mson was mounting a cha rge of his own in second place.

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