Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

r (Right) Ricky Carmichael (70) gets the jump on Brock Sellards (80), Steve Andrich (128) and the rest of the field on his way to winning the 125cc Pro class at the GFI Winter Series Showdown at California's Perris Raceway. (Below) Doug Dubach (39) won the 250cc Pro class over second-place finisher Doug Parsons (23) at the GFI Winter Series Showdown. '.p' ""'0" h, W~ .bl, '0 m=, P.p· !" palardo off his line and take over frst. Aden, who had been sitting in the third slot, was ready to make his move and went with Black to take over the second. Black looked to have things locked up, but fate intervened and in a photo finish the wiJ:1 went to Aden by a whisker. The best of the best lined up for the Sidecar main event and if the spectators wanted to see brute horsepower, there was plenty of it, and it came via several brands. Off the line came the screaming Mission Yamaha of Peter Lewis and Jamey Macy, who held the lead for one lap before the hauling Honda of Bob Brayton and Parke Weaver took the inside line out of four and along with it the lead. For two more laps all that could be heard was the brute horsepower of the big machines as they jockeyed for position to make the important drive out of four. The ones who did it best were ~ Brayton and Weaver, and they collected I the gold at the end of the rainbow. Lewis and Macy were second with Duane Car' mont and Richard Taling, last week's winners, third. Dirk Gardner and Doug Lynch, in their first outing of the season. rounded out the field in fourth. Paul Binnquist got his first-ever Support main win as he nipped Northern California rider Wes Englebrecht at the checkered. Richard Jones got by Danny Holt on the first lap but could get no further and settled for the show money. l:N I ~ Orange County Fairgrounds Costa Mesa, California Results: April 19, 1997 SCRATCH: 1. Bobby SchwDrtz (GM); 2. john Aden craw); 3. Rob Pfetzing (eM); 4. Mike Faria (GM); 5. Steve Lucero Oaw). . HOC!': 1. John Aden QDW); 2. Jerry BIDck QDW); 3. Mike ForiD (GM); 4. Rob Pfetzing (GM); 5. SIL",e Lucero QDW). SDCAR: 1. Bob Brayton/Parke Weaver (Hon); 2. Peter Lewis/lamey Macy (Yam); 3. Duane Carmont/Richard Taling (Hon); 4. Dirk Gardner/Doug Lynch (Kaw); SUP: 1. Paul Binnquist (Wes); 2. Wes Englebrecht eWes); 3. Richard Jones (eM); 4. Randy Skilmer craw) 5. David Lynch (Wes). . SUP B: 1. Stephen Downing (eM); 2. Matt King Oaw); 3. Rick Bishop (Wes); 4. Kerry Conner (Wes); 5. Eloy Medellan Qaw). GA Winter Series Showdown Carmichael cleans up By Tony Alessi PERRlS, CA, APR. 27 eam Pro Circuit/SplitFire/Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael piloted his Chad Watts-tun.ed KX to the overall 125cc Pro-class victory during the GFI Winter Series Showdown held at Perris Raceway. The purpose of the showdown is to pit northern and southern GFI Winter Series champions against one another to determine the best of the best and to crown state champions. Carmichael faced off against Team Suzuki's Mickael Pichon, who was riding his first race since breaking his leg at the LA Supercross in January, and YamalJa's Doug Dubach. Carmichael didn't seem too concerned, though. "I have been mountain biking about an hour a day, like 15 miles straight up a dirt hill," Carmichael said. "I feel strong." When the gate dropped, Doug Parsons had the early jump but was quickly removed from his line by Carmichael, who took the lead with authority. Halfway through lap one, Carmichael bobbled and hit the deck, letting the Suzukis of Andrich and Pichon past. Carmichael restarted in 12th place and began a remarkable charge back to the front of the field. . Pichon took over the lead and began to stretch out the distance between himself and the field while Andrich came to an abrupt halt with a blown motor. Carmichael blew past the talent-filled group that included Brock Sellards, Dubach and, finally, Pichon for the lead. T In the end, crash and all, Carmichael lapped the field all the way up to sixth place and won the race by nearly half a lap over Pichon, Dubach, Sellards and David Kratz. Father-to-be Dubach had an easy time in the 250cc Pro class after passing Parsons early in the moto. Track workers teased Dubach while he raced unchallenged by giving him pit-board signs like, "Hurry, she's in labor" and '11' s a girl." Dubach went on uncontested to the win, topping Parsons and RMmounted Pete Murray. South African exchange student Michel Constantinou left his mark in the intermediate ranks by scoring overall wins in both 125 and 250cc Intermediate classes. Constantinou battled with fellow YZ riders Tim Beatty and Bryan McGavran in the 125cc division, while the 250cc class saw the RM of Darrin Hoeft offer the resistance..Beatty and MeGa vran finished second and third, respectively, in the 125cc Intermediate class, while Hoeft finished second in the. 250cc Intermediate division. Randy NO~ri1an aced the 125cc Beginner class on his CR125. Norman brought great pride to the Northern California contingent with his pair of moto wins, which was good enough for the GFI state title. Kane Jameson finished a solid second despite first-moto problems, and Nick Uribe, Eric Willis and Chuck Henson rounded out the top five. It was showtime for NCY YamalJa's Sean Hamblin as he stole the show via a three-out-of-four-moto sweep en route to wins in both the 80cc Expert and Supermini classes. Hamblin was disappointed in the second Supermini moto by Team Green/ AXO backed R.J. Thompson, who hit the afterburners and rocketed away for the win. Unfortunately for Thompson, a first-moto fifth relegated him to third overall behind Honda/R&D's Mike Young. The 80cc ovice class saw Cale Wallace wail on the competition by winning both motos over the Chris Niban, who was celebrating his 11 th I:>irthday. Scott Simon was on the bubble all day long and recorded a solid third, while Montclair Yamaha-rider Erik Meyer and Micky Griffin foUnded out the top five. Northern California's Eric Heagan and Billy Jurevich were the top dogs in the 80cc Beginner class by finishing first and second, respectively. Heavy favorite Adam Bisso was a runaway winner in the first moto, but a crash at the start of the second moto left him a third overall in front of Justin Hargrove and Jason Domann. The 60cc Intermediate class saw Jarred Browne and Cas Swift duke it out during both motos of racin.g. Browne won both motos to earn the title. A protest was later filed by Swift for what may have been classified as an "unsportsmanlike" pass, but after all was said and done, the promoters ruled in favor of Browne. Team KTM's Dennis Jonon was king of the Pee Wee division as he wreaked havoc with a double-moto, handsdown, runaway victory over the combined 50cc class. Cole Seely topped the Stock class by winning both motos he entered, while Josh Coleman and Arizona's Buddi Bruner rounded out the top three. l~ GFI Winter Series Showdown Perris, California Results: April 27, 1997 Main Track SOSTK (4-6):1. T..v1sBakeo'(KlM);2. KyIeSmlth(KlM); 50 STK (7-8): 1. Cole Seely (Act); 2. Josh Coleman (Act); 3. Buddi Bruner (LEM); 4. Jeremy Johnson (Act); 5. Michael Moson (Act). SO OPEN: 1. Dennis Jonon (KTM); 2. Ryan McClintock (LEM); 3. Z.1ck Dupuis (KTM). 60 FR5T TMR: l. Josh Coleman (Kaw); 2. Jeremy Johnson (Act); 3. Jarrett Loop (Kaw); 4. Paschal Hernandez (Kaw). 60 BEG: 1. Dane Jackson (Kaw); 2. Hollis Lusk (Kaw); 3. Weston Peick (Kaw)i 4. Ryan Caley (Kaw); 5. Ryan McClintock (Kaw). 60 NOV: 1. Jeff Alessi (Kaw); 2. Brandon Hiner (Kaw); 3. Andrew Petde (Kaw); 4. Ph,illip Bruscella (Kaw); 5. Marc Abernathy (Kaw). 60 lNT: 1. Jarred Browne (Kaw); 2. Cas Swift (Kaw); 3. Steven Hernandez (Kaw); 4. Jeff Loop (1

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