Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~/~~~r~ERON COATNEY , Florida Winter AMA MX Series, Round 2 ". 28 GAINESVILLE, FL, JAN. 3-4 uzuki riders Tony Lorusso and Ron Tichen or were the big Procla s s wi n ne rs at th e seco n d round of the WorIdspor ts Florida Winter AMA MX Series a t Gat orback Cycle Park . Lorusso scored a close win in the 125cc class, w hile Tichenor, w ho swep t last week's opener, romped to the 250cc-class win. Even th ou gh th e first tw o rou nds we re held at the same track, things we re very mu ch differen t, as the cha llengi ng track was ru n in reverse. " It (the track ) was very fas t, and passing was more di ff icult t ha n the us ual co u rse," Tichenor said. Another large turnout was on hand, as approximately 600 rid ers from 22 s ta t es and seven countries enjo yed not on ly th e racing, but the warm, sunny Florida sunshine. Starting thin gs off in the 12Scc Pr o class w as Brando n [esseman, who led the pack into the first tu rn and was clo sely foll owed b y David Kratz, Jason Thomas, Er nes to Fonseca, Loru sso an d Paul Currie. La st w eek' s w inn er, Tichen or, was mired back in the pack b ut wa s quickl y ma k in g headway. [esseman ended up leading th e w ho le race, wh ile Tic henor co ncentrated on w orkin g hi s way up through the pack as fast as he cou ld, but it wasn 't fast enough. On th e white-flag lap, Tich en o r p a ssed Keith Johnson for third and made d espera te attempts to pass second-placed Lorusso , but came up short. "Tichenor go t alongside me seve ral times, but I held my line," Lorusso said . "We jumped to th e finish lin e side by side and I only bea t him by a fender." "I got a rea l bad start and then jus t h a d a h ard tim e gettin g go ing," Tic he no r said of his r ace . " I tried to catch Lorusso at the flag to stay in there for the overall." [essernan was thrilled wit h his win, especially in lig ht of the fact tha t he 's comi ng off an ankle injury and hadn' t had mu ch chance to train. " I go t real tired at th e end o f the race:' [essernan said. "Kratz closed up on me," In the second moto, Lorusso jumped ou t to the early lead, ahead of [essernan and Kratz; Tichenor was around 10th. On lap four, [esseman passed Loru sso for the lead but w ould only last a couple of laps before Lorusso got him back. "My arms pumped and Jesseman got by me: ' Lorusso said . "I tried to relax after that , caught my wind, and two laps later passed him back." As the race wo re on, Tichenor moved up to th ird a nd s ta r te d to ch a llenge [esseman for second. Tichenor eve ntual- ly got his wa y and started to reel in the leader, Lorusso, but time simply ran out and Lorusso hung on for the win an d overall. In th e fir s t 250cc Pro m oto, C ha d Shepard, Cory Keen ey and Fonseca battled for the lead early on and, a t the end of lap one, it was Keeney heading the p ack , fo llowed b y Fon seca, Shepa rd , Pau l Currie and Johnson. Tichenor was on the move in eighth place. At the halfway point, Keeney held a lfl-second advan tage over the rapidly cl osin g Tich en o r. Ticheno r w hit tle d Kee nev's lea d down to four sec on ds , an d th~n to abo ut a bike len gth. Before long, Tich en or ha d the lea d and was pulling away. "I knew Tichenor w as coming and knew that he would catch me: ' Keeney said . "H e go t close and I helped him ou t by blowing out a berm in the back." Tichenor said, "I didn't ge t a grea t sta rt, bu t Barry Kern (Tiche no r's tuner) ga ve me the time intervals and I knew that I cou ld ge t to the front. 1 took my time and saved so me ene rgy for th e end ." Keeney again rocketed into the ea rly lead in the second mot o, but Tichenor got a better start this tim e and was right on hi s rear fend er. By the fourth lap, Tichenor had control and that was tha t, as Tichenor rode on to ano ther victory. Keene y, meanwhil e, h ad Jo h nson and Canadian Jea n -Sebastian Roy to worry abo ut. Keen ey eve ntua lly ran out of steam and both Johnson and Roy got b y, making th e fi na l fi nishing order Tichenor, Johnson, Roy and Keeney. "The track was rough er in the second moto and I g o t tired early ," Keeney admitted . "When Jo h n s o n and Roy cau gh t up to me, there was not much 1 could do to hold them." In other classes, Vet Pro series leader Earl May was lost to the series w he n he crashed in the second mo to and bro ke (Right) Tony Lorus s o (s hown) won the 125cc Pro class at the second round of the Rorida Winter AMA MX Series. (Below) Barry Carsten (43) leads 250cc Pro winner Ronnie Tichenor (27) in the 125cc Pro clas s, where the two finish ed seventh and lhird, res pectively. Carslen also won the Over 25 and 30 A classes. his leg. Class wi nner Matt Crown sa id, "Ea rl had just pa ss ed me for the lead and his foot caught so mething, and he we nt off the drop-off sid eways wi th his foot still off the peg - but he never let off the throttle; it looked like a bad fall." In Satu rday's amateur p rogram, Jessem an and Fon seca split moto wins in the 12Scc A class, with [essernan ge tting the nod for the overall via his second-mo to win. Roy won both 250cc A motes, while Jam es Stew art con tinu ed his winning ways in the 8Scc 02-13) and Su per Mini (~ classes . Galorback Cycle Park Gainesville, Florida Res ults : January 3-4, 1997 PIW (okt): 1. Bubba Crosby (Cob ); 2. Cotto n Bailey (Cob); 3. Josh Humphries (Cob); 4. Benoit Kare l (Act) ; 5. Troy Smith (Cob). PfW (7-8): 1. Ricky Renne r (Lem): 2. Tony Rhon elli (Cob); 3. Kyle Key lon (Co b); 4. Lou is Ce ilenfelt (Cob); 5. Sean Hackley (Cob). &0 (7-11): 1. Davi Millsaps (Ka w ): 2. Kyle Chisho lm (Kaw): 3. Brya n Johnson (Ka w): 4. Matt Buni (Kaw): 5. Forres t Smith (Ka w ). 85 (?·ll): 1. Math ew Goer ke (Ka w); 2. Oavi Millsaps (Sa p ); 3. Jimm y Keys IKaw); 4. Andrew Matu sek (Suz); 5. Kyle Chis holm IKaw ). 80 (]2·13) : 1. [ame Stewa rt (K., W); 2. Dan Truman s - (Kaw): 3. Derrick Fisher (Suz); 4. Brian Gray (Yam); 5. Nathan Davenpo rt { Ka w). 85 (]4.1S) : 1. Ryan Da vis (Ka w), 2. Troy Adams (Ya m); 3. Michael McGourty (Yam); 4. Tho ma s Kelley (Ka w): 5. Shawn Mavo (Kaw) . SfMlNI: 1. Ja m'es Stewa rt (Ka w ): 2. Dan Tru man (Ka w ): 3. Ryan Davis (Kaw ): 4. Troy Adams (Yam); 5. Brian Gray (Yam ). US YrH: 1. Tony Med rano (Kaw ): 2. Tyson Had sell (Yam); 3. Robert Farnell (Yam); 4. 10n Masters (Ya m ); 5. Cha d Albritto n (Ho n). 125 A : I. Br a nd on Iess e m a n (S uz); 2. Erncs to Fonseca (Yam); 3. jeff Giese (Su z ): 4 . Chad wick Shepa rd (Suz); 5. Ada m Rake (Suz). ' 125 B: 1. Tyson Had sell (Yam); 2. Robert Femel l (Yam); 3. Ben Riddle (Ka w ): 4. Michael Ca mpbell (Kaw ): 5. Jeremy Shu ttleswort h (Suz). 125 C: 1. Stephen Cro we ll (Ka w ): 2. Lee jon es (Suz): 3. Steve Rhoa des (Ya m ); 4. Carm ilo Zapala (Ya m); 5. Jason Smith (Su z}, 125 PRO: 1. Ton y Lor u sso (Suz) ; 2 . Bran d on Iesseman (Suz): Ronnie Tiche nor (Suz) : 4. David Kratz (KTM); 5. Cory Keeney (Ya m). 250 A: 1. jean -Sebastian Roy (Kaw): 2. C had wick She p a rd (Su z) ; 3. Ron nie Renn er (KT M); 4. Iarrett Tipp ing (Suz); 5. jason Fink (Ka w ). 250 B: 1. Ben Rid d le (Kaw); Scott La mb IKaw): Jeremy Shuttlew orth (Kaw ); 4. Jon Masters (Ya m); 5. Agu stin Font (Yam). 250 C: 1. Lee Jon es (Suz k 2. Mike Taylor (Suz); 3. Steve Rhoad es (Ka w ): 4. Ronald Barrett (KTM); 5. Brad Cru mbley IKaw ). 250 PRO : 1. Ronni e Tichenor (Suz); 2. Keith John son (Kaw): 3. Co ~ Keeney (Yam); 4. [ean-Seb asttan Roy (Kaw); 5. DaVld Kratz O (TM). 500 NOV: 1. Da vid Red mo nd (Ha n); Barry Mayo (KT M); 3. Dave Lovegrower (Ho nk 4. John Gillespie (H on): 5. Iec Stradi (Hen). VET P RO : 1. Matthew C ro wn (Kaw ): 2. To m my 1 Martin (Suz ); 3. Mark Beam er (K.. W); 4. Gavlon Dickson (Yam); 5. Lee Mdlvain e (Ya m). t " 16-24: 1. Ca ntilo White (Yam); 2. Robert Stevenson (K aw ): 3. Michael Stev enson (Kaw): 4. Joh n No r ton (Kaw): 5. Terry Meyer (Yam). 25+ A: 1. Barry Can-ten (Suz): 2. Earl May ( K.1W ); 3. Ty Wa llace (Yam); 4. Ma tthew Crown (Kaw) : 5. Tommy Ma rtin (Suz). . 25+ B: 1. Steve Dumon d (Suz); 2. Scott Duk e (Yam ); 3. Tim Eggers (Suz ): 4. Michael Lam pe (Suz); 5. Bryan Abe l (Kaw). 30+ A: 1. Barry Ca rsten (Suz); 2. Earl May (Kaw); 3. Ma tth e w Cr o w n (Kaw ): 4. Mark Beam e r (Kcw ): 5. Gaylon Dickson (Yam ). 30+ B/C: 1. Ste ve Du mond ISuz ): 2. Ti m Eggers (Suz ); 3. John Ca mello (Hen), ':I. Sco tt Duk e (Ya m); 5. Tim Stokes (Ka w ). 35+: I. John Lundy (Suz ): 2. Tim Egg ers (Suz ): 3. Rick Perry (Ya~); 4. John Camelio (Han) ; 5. Tim Stokes (Kaw). 40+: 1. Kenn eth Frankenberry (Kaw ): 2. Cary Peak (Ka w) : 3. Thom as Brass (Hus): 4. Barry Mayo (Kaw ): 5. Doug Harve (Kaw). y 50+: 1. Thomas Fogs; (Yam); 2. Ga ry Peak IKaw), 3. Bar ry May o (Ka w): 4. Th om as Brag g (Hus): 5. Dave Cuny (Suz).

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