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/127926
(Above) Garret Ward unw raps his new Suzuki DSSO with the
help of Good Times Kawasaki/Suz uki/Ducat; of Sacr amento
owne rs Sherman and Della Walke r. The bike was a gift fr om
Suzu ki and Good Times , to help Garrell better deal with a rare
lung disease.
(Left ) Billy Payne made the jump to the Pro clas in sty le by
winn ing the 250cc Pro class and finish ing second to Casey Lyt le
in the 125cc Pro class in Hungry Valley, California.
pull ing him up the long straigh taway going into
the w oods. Hadaway and Gray came -to gether
an d crashed, hand in g the lead to Qu ick, wh o
never looked back on the way to his win.
In the Vintage class. it was Maico-mounted
Kevi n Quick who nailed th e hol esh ot , leavin g
Kelvin Herrala and his Os sa in a cloud of sno w.
Herrala pu lled to within tw o bike length s by the
end of the first lap , a nd at the beg inning of the
thind lap they came together hard going into the
w oods. Quick w en t down, bu t H erra la managed to han g on a nd ca me ou t of the woods section with a sub st anti al lead . By th e end of the
fourt h lap , Quick blew by Herrala and motored
on for a well-d eserved victo ry . It was later
learn ed that Herrala's shif t shaf t was shea red
off at the cases wh en they came togeth er, leaving the Ossa stuck in first gcar.
Results
0-100; I. Matt Quick (Hon ); 2. JO!ICph Gray (Han); 3. Dan
Ha da w a y tH u n); 4. Ronn i(' Bardo (Su z:); S. N ick Ayees (Hom .
101-200 : 1. Jim Sch u ltze (Ho n); 2. Ca m Raffe rty (K.1W) ; 3.
Michael Williams (Kaw).
.
NOV: 1. Chri s Kunt e (Ho n); 2. Jaml'S Kalman (Mail ; 3. Rola n
Durlot (Hon); 4. Greg Sleza k (H on~; S. ' ('Moil' Smith (Cag).
VINT : 1. Kt."Vin Quick (Mal) ; 2. Kelvin Herr e ta (Q.ls).
201·2 50: 1. Allen Ca rm ke (Hun); 2. Caleb Kenne y: 3. Ken
C ha mbe rlain (He n): 4. Gregory Smith (He n): 5. Da vid McNeal
O-Ion).
VET A: I. Stephen Kosher (Han); 2. Matthew Mu rph y (Ka w ~;
3. Kelvin Hcrrala (Hl.n).
VET B: 1. ja mes Mouthy (K.1W ); 2. David Beneedu m (Suz) ; 3.
Richard Holbert (5 uz); 4. Ga ry Haskell (Suz) ; 5. La rr y Luthe r
(Suz).
SR A: 1. Jam es Spe nce r (Ka w): 2. Bru ce Miller ( Ho n): 3.
witham Ervin (Hon).
SR B: 1. David Ken ney (KTM); 2. JOM!ph Arce~>i (Ho n); 3.
Dav id Kun te (Ho n); 4. Eric Hemecki (Honl,
EX: 1. Tod d Sal ton (Ya m ); 2. Sco tt Rich (Ka w ); 3. Nat han
Kanne (Suz ); 4. Kevin Brown (Suz ); 5. James Spencer (Kaw ).
y
Payne turns Pro at
Hungry Valley MX
By Ton y Alessi
34
GORMAN, CA, DEC.14
Team Green 's Billy Payne-made a su ccessfu l
d eb ut in the 125 a nd 2SOcc Pro classes, taking
the 250cc win by storm and finishing second to
Honda of Troy's Casey Lytle in the 125cc race
du ring round thr ee of the SSC Thou sand Oaks
Kawa saki Winter Warm Up MX Series, held at
the Hun gry Valle y OHV area.
"I remember my first Pro race," Lytle said .
"I was nervou~ bein g on the line with all these
gu ys I read about and admired for years ."
After takin g what appeared to be two easy
moto victories in th e 250cc Pr o ,class, Pa yne
seemed right a t hom e in the Pro division s and
eager to prove his worth in the 125cc di vision.
Th e line was fille d with top-ranked talen t
as Payne pulled up to the gate. To his left was
Lytl e a nd Idaho' s Da nny Smith, a bo a rd his
new FMF I T eam Honda su p port rid e; to his
ri ght , teamm at e Tim Langdon a n d Swed ish
race r Espe n Bliks tad . Wh en the ga te d ropped,
Pa yn e a n d h is potent Pr o Circuit Kawasaki
p opp ed ah ead o f th e fie ld for a p erfec t
holeshot. Payn e w en t on to lead for most of
the ea rly laps w hile Lytl e a nd Smith go t in to a
battle for seco nd.
The Pro racers were to be treat ed to a pair of
12-lap motes, wh ich raised qu esti ons a bo ut
Payne. Cou ld he go the distan ce? Is he in good
enough shap e?
Th e answ er a p pea re d to b e " no " w h en
Pay ne went down near the ste p-u p jump and
handed the lead to Lytle. Payn e re mo unted near
last place a nd went to work , repa ssing rid ers in
an effo rt to ge t back into the hunt. Lytle and
Smith went at it for the remain de r of the moto,
with Lytle ge tting the nod at the finish. Payn e
charged back for a very im pressive third by the
end of the moto.
The second moto saw Payne out front again,
with Lytle, Langd on and Smith all in tow. Langd on pressu red Ly tle early in the race, whic h
helped Payn e open up some dayligh t bet ween
himself and Lytle. As the race wo re on, Lang don and Smith began to battl e for third , while .
Lytle set out after Payn e.
As the racers com pleted lap II of the 12-lap
race, it was evident th at lapped rid er s 0 25cc
Interm ed iates) wo uld pose a potential problem
for Pay ne as they began to steal the lines of the
lead ers . Durin g th e la st la p, Lyt le mad e his
move after Payn e followed a tapper down the
fr ont st ra igh t. Lytle p er formed an awesome
leap to the left of Pa yne a nd passed bo th the
lapper a nd Payne in one feUswoop. Pay ne tried
in vain to retake the lead, bu t Lytle was a little
qu icker and we nt on for the moto a nd overall
.win in front of Payne and Langdon.
Results
50 (4-6): 1. Col e Pug m ire (tem); 2. David Mead e (Cob) ; 3.
Chris Plou ffe (KTM) .
50 (7-9): 1. Mikr Mead e (Cob).
50 (1-9) YAM: 1. Justin Eubanks (Yam) .
60 (1).8): 1. Jeff Ala..i (Kol. w); 2. Tren t Pugmire (Kaw );3. Mike
Meade ( Ka w ); 4. Ta nn e r Al exander (K.II w) ; 5. David Meade
(Kawl .
eo (9-11): 1. Mike Ak"!>Si ( Kaw); 2. Rya n Malh erbe (Kaw ).
80 n EG : 1. Tat e Misi..suk (Ka w ); 2. Ada m Ta kl ( Ka w ); 3.
Kevin William s (Yam ); 4. Kenn y Ce verh tll (Yam): 5. Josh BaAAe
(Ho n).
80 NO V: 1. 8ml Mo un lain (Yam ); 2. Bruce Wll kinMm (Hon) .
80 (12· 16): 1. Richard Euba nks (Yam ).
80 S / MINI: i . Mik e A lt.~si (Ka w); 2. Jeff AI~1 (Kaw); 3.
Bruce Wil k inson (Ho n); 4. Bre tt Mou n ta in (Ya m ): 5. Kevin
Williarq..'1 (Ya m).
lis BEG: 1. w es Cla rk (Ka w ); 2. T.' . Beraric (Ya m); 3. Brad
Stan ley (Kaw); 4. Kur l Nelson (Ya m); 5. 101.'1 Swa nso n (Suz) .
125 NOV : 1. Eric An derso n (Yam); 2. Colin Morri son (Han);
3. Brad Teuy (Yam); 4. Chris Oark (Kaw); 5. Brian Terry (Ya m) .
125 INT : 1. R.I. Thompsen (Ka w): 2. And reau l..Jbrador; 3.
Lann y Turner (Hu n); 4. J"--TI."mY San toro (Kaw) ; 5. Tra vis Sm ith
'
(Kaw ).
125 PRO : 1. CaSt" Lyt le (Hon); 2. Billy Pa yne ( Ka w l; 3.
y
Espen B1i s ta d (Yam): 4. Da nn y Smit h (Ho n): 5. Tim Lan gdon
k
(Kaw).
2SO BEG: 1. M a; k Eckman (Ya m); 2. Mike Malherbt> Yam ); 3.
Kip Co ntreras IHo n] : 4. Richard Caeta no (Su z); 5. Sieve Terry
(Ka w ).
250 NOV : I. jona tha n Schultz (Yam); 2. Mike Embry (Yam);
3. Brad Terry (Yam) ; 4. Bri,m Terry (Yam); 5. Joe Root (K.1w ).
250 !NT: 1. Jeremy Sa nto ro (J