Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

for a transfer spot and Birkinshaw went to the main. In the mam event, Grant sat inside of row one, Curry had the middle starting position and Venegas sat on the outside. Only two riders' made up the back row, as Matt King sat inside and Birkinshaw sat outside. Starcevic was a no-show. Venegas positioned himself into the lead right out of the gate and walked away to the championship. Curry ended up second in front of Grant. Birkinshaw had grabbed the fourth spot but retired on the third lap of the six-lap race. With Birkinshaw watching from the sidelines, King inherited fourth. C~ San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California Results: February 20, 1998 HEAT 1: 1. Doug Mignano; 2. Ronnie Kemp; 3. Gary Hesmer; 4. Matt King. HEAT 2: 1. John Grant; 2. James Birkinshaw; 3. John O'Neil; 4. Gory Ackroyd. HEAT 3: 1. Robert Curry; 2. Bill Hermant; 3. Jeff Orosz; 4. Steve Starcevic. HEAT 4: 1. Charlie Venegas; 2. John CTegg, 3. Jun Mnrtinez; 4. Brian Thompson. HEAT 5: 1. Matt KinS; 2. Charlie Venegas; 3. Jeff Orosz; 4. John ONeil. HEAT 6: 1. Steve Starc.evic; 2. Gary Ackroyd; 3. Doug Mignano; 4. Jim King. HEAT 7: 1. Robert Curry; 2. James Birkinshaw; 3. John Gregg; 4. Ronnie Kemp. HEAT 8: 1. John Grant; 2. Gary Hesmer; 3. Bill Hennant; 4. Brian Thompson. LCQ: 1. Matt King; 2. Gary Hesmer; 3. James Birkinshaw; 4. Bill Hermant. MAIN: 1. Charlie Venegas; 2. Robert Curry; 3. John Grant; 4. Matt King. AMA 0·36 Cross Country Series, Round 1 Kohler is king at Prairie City Grand Prix By John Silva RANCHO CORDOVA, CA, FEB. 22 MF I Arai/PCP-backed Erik Kohler was the overall winner and fastest 250cc A-class racer at the Polka Dots Motorcycle Club Prairie City Grand Prix, held at the Prairie Gty State Vehicular Recreation Area (the location of the annual Hangtown MX Classic). The Polka Dots' annual event kicked off the 1998 AMA District 36 Cross Country Series, which features contingencies from more than a dozen sponsors, including Moose, Pro Circuit, White Brothers, Works Connection and Mike's Cycles of Placerville. Northern California's crazy weather finally let up and gave the more than 200 racers a relatively nice day on which to compete. The well-designed course featured an eclectic mix of terrain with no shortage of rocks, hills or mud. For the afternoon's C-class racing, some of the track's more challenging features were modified somewhat to make for a safer and more fun layout for the less experienced. The approximately 10-miLe-long track was well-marked, and was both praised and respected by riders of all skill levels. Kohler completed a total of seven laps during the morning's AlB-class race in an elapsed time of 2:09:52, including a best lap of 17:30 on the traditional Grand Prix track. Finishing behind Kohler in the 250cc A class was Team Green-backed Craig Wesner, who finished less than a minute back from first place after more than two hours of F racing. Wesner also notched second in the overall scoring. Finishing a few minutes back were Brian Garrahan, Steve Bonita and Curt Wilcox. CCM racer Cole Marshall topped the Four-Stroke Open class with a ride that included a blazingly fast second-lap time of a hair over 17 minutes. Marshall's hope for the overall crumbled on lap three, when he encountered problems and subsequently took a disastrous 26:17 time for the lap. Marshall regrouped to turn nearly identical lap times of 18:30 for his following four laps to end up taking eighth place in the overall tally. AIJ outstanding ride was posted by Veteran A-class winner Robert Horton, who raced his Wilson's/MMTR-sponsored KTM to a third-place finish overall with a total time of 2:14:03 for his seven laps. Racers Under The Son rider 'Fred Sumrall completed six laps for first in the Super Senior A class over Peter Prichard and Ed Haymond. Racer Benjamin French gave his take on this year's version of the track while waiting to see how he did in the Senior C cla s. "It was real slick~ as much or more so than last year," French said. "All the rock was real slippery, and then big mud holes would develop. Guys were 'biffing' it everywhere! I end oed into one (mudhole), but I got out quickly. It's just a fun ride. I love the road section. They (the Polka Dots) did a good job." French earned fifth in his class and 36th overall for all C classes during the 90-minute afternoon event. Transplanted New Yorker Kevin Bearce pointed to "The Rockpile" as a difficult section. "The rock sections were tight, and gnarly," Bearce said. "You were definitely racing the course. That was the toughest part. I liked being able to race the wide-open sections, where you could choose your line almost anywhere. You look so far ahead and you're on the throttle, then suddenly there's a drop or tight turns. But it was all wellmarked - I never had trouble following the course." FOllr must have been Bearse's number, as he completed four laps to earn fourth in the Four-Stroke 401cc-Open class. 125cc C-class winner Loren Thomas used past Prairie City Grand Prix experience to help achieve a class win and also to earn sixth place overall in the Cclass race. "This is my second GP here, and I've also ran the Lilliputian Hare Scrambles twice, too - basically in the same location," Thomas said. "Last year' at the PCGP I got second place. This year the track was muddier, or so it seemed at first. I fell three times in the mud on the first lap but still kept the lead. I really liked this track today, Even the registration was fast. This is the most fun I've ever had at any race." "Wonderful, wonderful," was how Super Senior C winner PaulO' eil described winning his division, "The course was drying nicely all day, so 'I thought the track was great." Twelve-year-old Adrienne Nicholson won the Women's division on her RM80 with a little "help" from her dad, Edward Nicholson. Or' was it really the other way around? "It was grea t. I didn't have to touch her all day," Edward Nicholson said with a smile, "She had to help me out of a couple of puddles. She actually picked some better lines than I did." While keeping an eye on his daughter, icholson finished 12th in the Senior class. Adrienne Nicholson, clutching her (Above) Shane Prieto won a slew of classes at the opening round of the CCS Florida Region Road Racing Series, held at the Homestead Motorsports Complex in Florida. first-place award, smiled and summed up her day for Cycle News with one word: "Cool." fN Prairie City State Vehicular Recreation Area Rancho Cordova, California Results: February 22, 1998 (Round 1) A &t BRACE 0/A:. 1. Erik Kohler; 2. Craig Wesner (Kaw); 3. Robert Race Horton (KTM); 4. Brian Garrahan (KTM); 5. Tra\ris Sluder (KTM); 6. Steve Bonita (Hon); 7 Curt Wilcox (eag); 8. Cole Marshall (CCM); 9. John Mason (Yam); 10..1Cubi Hucek (G-G). CRACE O/A: 1. Eddie Benson (Hon); 2. Mike Pettinato (Hon); 3. Mark Lema (Hon); 4.. John Fiori (Yam); 5. Thomas Br.eault (Yam); 6. Lore.n Thomas (Kaw); 7. Kirk Lovejoy ·()-Ion); 8. Justin' Miller (Kaw); 9. Joe Paz Jr. {KTM); 10. Darrin Taylor n (Yam);;1 Adam Schmitt (Yam); 5. Richard c:.~ • bianco (Hon).

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