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/127932
CMC Golden State Nationals South, Round 4
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, FEB. 15
",
eff Will oh and his Stiffie -backed
Suzuki posted the overall victory
in th e 125cc Pro class a t roun d
four of the Glen Helen Cycle Park-hosted CMC Gold en State N ati onal. Willoh
ou tro de Kaw asaki rider Keith Johnson
and fellow Suzuki rid er Tyler Evans to
the finish line in both motes, bu t Evans
di d find suc cess in the 250cc Pro class,
win ning his bat tle over Esp en Blikstad .
Not only was the racing on the riders' minds, bu t so was the wet w eather.
Things were rather damp after rain fell
for eight consecutive hours in Sou thern
California the da y before the eve nt, but
fo r CMC officia ls , it w a s bus in ess as
us ua l.
"We hav e only canceled fou r races in
22 years; we're no t abo ut to let a little
rain s to p us today," said CMC's Stu
Peters .
Out o n the t ra ck , N ew Mex ico 's
Keith Johnson led most of the first 12Scc
Pro race aboa rd his AXO /Pro Ci rcuit I
Bob by 'T'-backed Yam ah a, but, as fate
would have it, he wo u ld lose the lead to
Willoh in the last 100 ya rds of the race.
" I thi nk his bike sta rted to cut ou t,"
Will oh sai d , "so 1 squa red off the tu m
and kind of jumped by him."
Willo h fin ished first , while Johnson
ga th ered up seco nd p la ce, a head o f
Team Green' s Billy Payn e, Evan s and
Espen Blikstad .
Th e s eco n d m oto s aw Ev a ns a n d
Willoh scrap in what was not hin g sho rt
of a bar room brawl. Will oh let it ha ng
out on the fina l lap of the race and made
the pass of the d ay when he' flew up the
top s t ra ig h ta way wit h the t h ro t tl e
pinned and his feet flyin g in the air to
slip by Evans before the tum.
En g land ' s Jam e s Dobb - runnin g
third - looked like he, too, w as getting
h is s h ar e o f th e pressu r e b y Jimmy
Va r is, o n h is FM F I A n swe r- bac ke d
Suz u ki.
" I s ta r te d to figu re ou t tha t 1 ju s t
n e ed ed to se t tl e d o wn, " Va r is sa id .
"Th en 1 can concentr a te on r a cing . 1
kn ow my sp eed is righ t u p the re with
. the best gu ys."
Varis even tually found the fas t lin e
around Dobb, d rop ping the Englishman
to fou rth, while Johnso n cruised beh ind
in fifth.
Willoh we nt on for a well-earned victory , w h ile Eva ns a nd Varis h e lp ed
make it a Suzuki sweep of the top three
finis hing positions.
Eva ns returned la ter in th e day to
swee p bot h motos in the 250cc Pro class,
where he topped Bliks tad and Willoh in
a race tha t saw Billy Payn e cra sh an d
injure his arm.
" He b rok e his arm ," Bill Payne Sr .
said . "He and Scott Brown collid ed ou t
there and Billy looks to have go tte n the
wo rst of it."
Team Su zuki' s mini pil ot Kyle Partridge had a weekend he cert ainly won't
ever forge t.
" O u r h ou s e burn ed d own thi s
week," he said .
Kyl e ' s fa ther , G u s, ad ded, "Kyl e
went inside ou r burning garage, and he
co u ld onl y thin k a bou t s a v i n g his
minis."
Pa rtri dge su ffered so me minor burns
but still ma naged to sho w up and win
both 80cc (7- 11) motos.
.
It was ano the r ba nn er .weekend for
Sha ne Bess, w ho topped bot h the 80cc
(12-13) and Supermini di vision s on h is
FMFI Scott-backed Suzu kis. Bess topped
Team Green's Dylan Lord and Arizo na' s
Michael Blose in the 12-13 di visi on and
Jonathan Shimp and Billy Lan ino vich in
the Supermini.
Canadian Ca ndace Eng lis h put a n
end to Jennifer Ca puto's stra ng leho ld on
the Wom en 's class by posting a d ouble
moto v icto ry o n h er Ba yd an M iln e
Bro's-backed Kaw asaki. Caputo, who is
a pro fessional stunt woman, wa s slightly off the mark tod ay.
" I had to work almost all nig ht," she
said . "When work comes in, vou hav e to
take it. Unfortu nately, 1 was 'up most all
night."
Da wn Rog ers to ok third on h e r
Answer /Noleen-backed Yama ha a nd
was followed across th e finish line by
Melissa Billingsly and Shay Ga rcia .
Kenny Zahrt posted the overall victory in the Over 40 Mas ter division . Zahrt
d id n' t ha ve it easy, how ever , as Pa rry
Klassen kept him honest right up to the
end . Jeff Harriott posted a solid fourth
overa ll, w hile Bob Shimp and Ra ndy
Wysocki rou nded ou t the top six.
c\
Glen Helen Raceway
San Bernardino , Califo rn ia
February 14, 1998
so t4-6): 1. Don nie Kearn ey (KTM); 2. Alan Jiro n (Cob); 3.
Du stin Pipes (KTM) ; 4 . Matthew Dormiclr.(KTM); S. Janws MI.-Trill
(Cob) .
50 (7- 8): 1. Co il' Seel y (KT M) ; 2. Mike Me ad e (C o b ); 3.
Willia m Balles terc (KTM) ; 4. Ta nner Langha m (KTM ); S. Chad
Go res ( Le m) .
•
.
1) (0-8 ): 1. Jeff A less i ( Ka wl ; 2. M ;lr lr. Pr o scel le ( K. W); 3 .
0
1
Jtm at h.l n Ara na (I<.lw ) ; 4. Cha d C ores (J(.}w): 5. Co le Seely UYw).
60 (9-11): 1. Mike Ales si (Ka w) ; 2. Pa u l Pea rcy (Kaw); 3 .
Rob ert M ~m nli (Kilw) ; 4. Rya n Bro wn (Ka w ); 5. Ryan Royb a l
(Kaw ).
SOBEC : 1. Jerem y Ma lott (Kaw ); 2. Cha se Mein eke (Yam); 3.
Spen ce r Me int'kt.> (Ya m l; 4 . Ro be rt Mt"moli (Ho n) : 5. Bri .n
MdiJIt"inwr CYolml .
80 (7·11) ; 1. Kylr Partridge (Suz) ; 2. Sco tt Simon (Suzl; 3.
Cha rlit" MOrr1i'1un (Yam) ; 4. Mike AI("!'I s i (Kaw); 5. Ch ris BI():;(" '
(Suzl .
(Abov e) Winner Jeff
Willoh (39) gets the
jump on the 125cc
Pro class at the
CMC Golden State
National at Glen
Helen . James Cobb
(8) and Keith
Johnson (68) give
chase.
(Right) Tyler Evans
looks back en route
to the 250cc Proclass win.
SO (1 2· 13): 1. Sha ne Bess
tSuz); 2. Dyla n Lord (Ka w) ; 3.
. Mi chele! Blose (Yam ); 4 . Kyle
Mace: 5. Sean Collier (Kolw) .
80 (14· 161: 1. Ross Garcia
(Yam); 2. JonAtha n Shim p
(Yam); 3 . Sleven Mertins
(Yam); 4. Ja re d Will i a m s
(!Caw) ; 5. 5.JmSc.. nJon (H on).S/ M INI : I. Shane Be ss
(Su z) ; 2. Jon