Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS 31ST M O HMOUNTAIN AMM T MOTOCROSS ;.> ",..... ,..:> _'l_- \.JL 6A::. E- HE-L.p II ."---'----- Forme r 250cc MX World Champion Danny LaPort e com peted in the Open Pro clas s. The accom panying photo explains his ride. 22 repaired the machine b..tween motos and was determined to be tter his ninthplace first-moto finish . Out in fron t, Honda-mounted HoIland ran away and hid fro m the ot he r b ig - b o re s , wi th Ne lson s ..co nd and Myers thi rd , respectively. Four seconds beh in d the leaders, Lewis diced w ith Wind ha m , se ldom much m o re th an a bike Iength apart. Windham attempted a mo ve o n Lewis a ro u nd Ma m moth's infamous hairpin "Tree Tu m ," but the pass was scu tt led. Windham kept at it a n d even tually m a d e th e p a ss stic k . Lewis fou ght back, but after a few turns Windham w a s able to pu t some dis tanc e betw een hi mself and Lew is. But m is fo r tu n e s t r uck Win d h am a g ain w hen , a few laps later, Windham sudd enly slowed and th en he ad ed ~or th e pits, the vict im of a broken rear sus pensi o n . Th is m ov ed Taft in to fift h, but th en Taft pulled over with a n engine th at was over hea ting du e to lea kin g cool ant. A fter refilling the radiator, Taft rejo ined the rae.. to finish ninth in th e moto and salvage a top-I f finish. Ho lland cele brated his victory with a h uge w hi p-it fo r the fans, a nd he was fo llowed in by Myers, Nelson, Lewis and Danny La Porte, in th at order. The wi n gave ·Holla nd a confidence boost goi ng into t he weeken d's o ther Pro events. "I got o ut there and pu t a few seco nds o n those g uys," said Holl and . "I tried to save as much energy as possible a nd find so m e good lines for tomorrow." For Friday's 125cc racing, the p ro m oters return..d to a su percross- ty pe sc hed ule, as fo ur divisions of Juniors a n d two d iv is io ns o f I n ter m edi at es att emp ted to mak e the sin gle main event for each of those clas ses . Even two full divisions of 125cc Pros raced qua lifiers to d et..rmine who wou ld fill the 38 available spots on Mammoth 's concrete start pad . In th .. 125cc Pro class, Travis Riley hel d the early lead , with Jeff Pestana and heat-ra ce winn..r Billy Payne close be hind . Holla nd, w ho also won his heat race, w a s charging throu gh the field after a mid pack start, and clos ing in on the I..ad group w as a pack made up of Jiri Dostal , Chris Wheeler , Casey Lytle, Stephane Roncada, Jeff Northrop, Chris Gosselaar , Mike Young and David Evilsizer, all of whom were dicing for positions in thl! top 10. Pes tana took over th e lead a nd rode on the edge as he tried to build his advan tage, b u t small mistakes ke pt him fro m pulling away from Riley and Pa y ne; behind them , Dosta l and Wheeler w ere com ing on strong. Th irty-year-old Pest an a got ou t of shape o n the Ma mmoth downhill but so mehow saved it, much to the astonis hment 'o f th e fa ns . Still , it a p pea re d Pes ta na 's tenure in th e lea d was to b e s ho r tlived, a nd he was soon dispa tched to third . Wheeler ba ttled his way to the fro nt, built a three-seco nd lead and held th e le a d a hea d o f Payne.. P esta na a nd Dostal. Beh ind the leaders, Ho lland was wor kjng his way up, and after passing Riley ea rlier, he passed a fading Pestana to en ter fou rth be hind Dostal. Do stal also passed Payne to take over second p lace. Lytle had been si mmering all mo to, a nd whe n the ra cin g h eat e d up , he reac hed a full bo il , a s he p re s su red Payne again and again . Lytle mad .. a great move on Payne as he cut to the insi de, and the riders went sid e by side through the next turn . Lytle sh u t the door on Payne, and Payne wadded up, taking a hard s pill. Pa yne got up bu t appeared d a z ed and sh aken , and he cou ldn't get to hi s bike as riders rode past in single file. After that, Payne was not a facto r. . As the race w ou nd d o wn, Wh eeler ran out front, with Dostal seco nd and Holland th ird . En te ring the Fre eway sectio n before the finish , Wh ..eler looked back over his s ho u ld e r and mi ssed a g..ar . Dostal blitzed a considerabl.. p iec.. of rea l es ta te a nd closed in qui c.kl y . Dos tal a nd H oll a nd looked s tro ng as th..y go t close 10 the le a d ..r , while Wh....ler looked fatigu ..d aft er the pr essure of leading. Dost al caug h t Wh eeler and th e two w ent a t it like ca ts a nd d og s. Dostal passed Wh....ler aro u nd a ' sweepe r and w as abl e to ma ke it stick, but Wh eel er didn't give up and stayed right with him. The fans w..re on their f..et w hen the lead trio entered th .. fin al la ps . C los.. 'racing cont in ue d as th e racers en tered the back of th.. track, and Hollan d was right on Wh ..eler w hen the racers cam.. back in to th.. fans' vi..w. As the Suz ukis o f Dos tal a n d Wh eeler to ok to th .. insi de, Holla nd sho t th e o u ts id .. berm a nd for a mo ment it looked like Ho lland migh t ta ke the l..ad right there. A few turns later, Holl and d id jam past Wh ....ler. who had the skill bu t appeared to lack the stami na to hold hi m off. As the w h ite flag fl e w , Hollan d raced right be hi nd Dostal, looking fo r a cha nee to p ass . H oll an d pulled close, bu t th e Bill ' s Pipes /Pri ma l Irnpu lse / A nswer-b ac ke d D ostal h eld him off repe a ted ly. At the finis h, it was an ecstatic Dostal by a bik e length ov..r Ho lland. Lytl e slipped by Wheeler on the last lap to sco re third, while Pr eston, Roncada, els on, Pestana, Northrop and Don ovan Mitchell completed the top 10. "I would have liked to have first, but I ju st didn 't have enough," H olland said. "Bu t I feel good going into tomorro w. I hav en 't felt like I used that mu ch energy ye t, but th e 250cc will be even tougher. I've been training real ha rd ." " O u r Primal Impul s e te a m is a brand-n ew effort," Dostal sai d. "50 far everythi ng is goi ng great." In Su n d ay'S 250cc ma in , it was 17yea r-o ld rookie Pro Brett Racin e w ho wa s fastest off th e gate, and th e Team Gre en racer led Ro n ca d a, H o ll a nd, Keh oe, Lytl e and th e r..s t of the p ack d ow n th e Mammot h Mountain d ownhill. H ollan d cha rged through the buttonhook turn and had mom en tum heading throug h the hear t of the back side of th e track w hen he lost con tro l after hitting the back of anothe r racer. Ho lla nd fell off the bik e and lay crumpled on the ground in obvious pain . Ho lland eventu ally remou nt ed bu t rode slowly into the pi ts an d retir ed from the moto. " I hit so me body in the back and hit the bars with my sternum - st ra ight into it ," H olland ex plained. " Eve ry th in g doesn 't go you r way all th e ti m e . I decided to pull it in and get ready for the next one (rnoto). I would have liked to beat Du bach and make a litt le extra cas h, but I gained a lot of confid ..nee th is weekend. That's worth a lot more than cas h. I'm still reallv stoked." Ron cad a pa ssed Racin e coming out o f the back side of the tra ck, as d id Keh oe. As th ey began the s..cond lap, Dubach was u p to fo urth, with Davis right behind . Dubach an d Davis ba ttled aro und the tra ck, entering the horseshoe turn bar to bar, neith er rid er giving an inch in w ha t was one of the best battl..s of the w ..e k. Th .. ba ttling d uo wou ld vault pa st Ra ci n e, who a ttempted to mak.. it a th ree-man contest for a whi l.. before he ..ventually fad ..d . Racin .. ultim a t..ly fini sh ed 14th . Behind this fir s t clu ster o f rid ..rs , a s ec o nd g ro u p o f front -run n ers - mad e up of Gibson , Lytle, Tony Amaradio, Dostal , Payn .. and , orthrop - jockey ed for positions. H onda-mounted Roncada enjoyed a slig h t Iead tha t g rew somewhat w hen s..co nd-p laced Keho.. overshot th e tree tu rn , bu t he recov..red before Davis or . Du b a c h (w h o h a d t rad ..d posit ions mom ..nts ..arlier) could take advan tage of the err or. The racers w ere putting on an ou tstanding show, an d it was anyone's race. Out front, Roncad a' s strateg y was obvio us: to ru n and hide. Before the ra ee , Dubach ha d ex pressed his strong d ..sir.. to win this eve nt. "You kn ow, I' ve go t second - I can' t even count how manv tim es - and third a hand ful of times, but the 250cc wi n has alwavs ..Iud..d me," he said . " I' ve won just a bout every o ther eve nt up here exce p t the 250cc fina l. I'll be tu rn ing 35 tomor row." It was clear that the bir thday present he wanted mos t w as the on e thingJhat had eluded him for so lon g. Du bac h forced his w a y into second p lace , and t h e n he beg a n to slowl y reel in Ron cada, Soon, Dubach was onlv five seconds behind; th at lead shrunk to two second s after the uphill /downhill section. As they emerged fro m the back sect ion , D u b a ch w as wit hin a b ike length of the leader. Down the finishstraight Freeway, Du ba ch pu lled a longsi de a nd d ived into the followi ng 90d egree turn. Dubach ma de a clean pass th ro ugh the turn a nd too k over the l..ad. After that , there was no looking back, as Dubach qu ickly rode away from Ron cada and built an ever-increasing I..ad and raced th e final laps flawlessly to ta ke the win over Roncada, Davis, D ost al, Kehoe, Preston, Arnaradio, Mitchell, Nelson and Payne. n Mammoth Mountain Motocross Mammoth Lakes , California Results: June 25-28, 1998 VET PRO: 1. Doug Dubach (Yam); 2. Rich Tclvlor (Ya m) ; 3. Erik Kehoe (He n ): 4. Dr ey Dircks (Hon">; 5. Kell y Andris (Ka w), S R PRO : 1. Rex Sta ten (Kaw); 2. Mark White (Ka w) ; 3. Ron Turner (Ya m); 4. Ale x Jorgen sen (Ka w): 5. Brent Walli ngsford (K.,W ). S R INT: 1. Mike Cossc lear (He n): 2. Robert Han sen (5u z); 3. Larry Brown (Hen): 4. Jet Harriott (Ka w): 5. Jo hn Handelin (5 uz) . VET JR: 1. Scott Schu bert (Yam); 2. Ste ve Edwards (5u z); 3. Rand y Tweed y (Hu n ); 4. Eric Huffine (Yam); 5. Phi l Ro se (H on), VET INT: 1. Drew Olivia (Hon): 2, Joe Hopkins (Ka w): 3. Troy Jo h nso n (Ya m) ; 4. Donald Fran klin (Yam); 5. Tro y Lee IHon) . SR JR: 1. Russ Crackn e ll (Hon); 2. Mik e Alt enhofel (H o nk 3. Jo h n Ca pe r (H en): 4, Rich Tia g o (Ya rn); 5. Steve Roark (Ya m). WM N JR: 1. Shee na Patterson (Suz) ; 2. jac q ue lin Hud son (Ka w): 3. M. Billin g...ley (Ya m); 4. Sara h Cro foot (Suz) ; 5. Michelll' Engel (Yam) . WMN tNT : 1. Sh ell y C o m p to n tS u z) : 2. S. Thorwald son {Ho n}; 3. Tr icta Young (Yam ); 4. Tina Handelin (Yam); 5. l yd ia Hoeppner ( K., W) . WM N P RO , 1. Dee Wood (Kaw ): 2. Se de nna J, L0 50eY (H o n) : 3 . Brooki e Renker (Y.l m ); 4. Michelle Bednar (H on ); 5 . ]l-n n ifer Nel son { Ka w}. 4-STRX JR: 1. Derek Chase (Yam); 2. John W. Bun' (Yam); 3. Ran d y Commans (Yam ); 4. Sky King (Y.:md; 5- Jim Finetty (Hbg). 4· ST RK INT : 1. Brva n McGavran (Ya m ); 2. Zeb Ann. .trong (Y am ); 3. Tr oy lohn son (Yam); 4. Troy Le . e (Yam); 5. Ed die Davis (Yam ). 4·STRK PR O : 1. Spud Wa lte r!> (Ya m ); 2. Sco tt Mvers (Ya m); 3 . N a t ha n Wo od s (Ya m ); 4 . Jimm v U.·M.,~tu·S (Hus); 5. Cliff Coo k (Yam ). . M INI PR O : 1. jo nathan Shi m p (Ya m ); 2. Billy Lanioovich {Yam}; 3. Shane Bess (Suz); 4. jesse Casillas (Yam); 5. joshua Hansen (Yam ). M INI JR: 1. D lt.ob ~<;.t' la ar; 2. Vince nt Blair ( Htm); 3. Jo s h C ox (Ya m ); 4 . Nic h o las H ensel y (Ya m); 5 Tommv Jon es (Yam) . O PEN JR: 1. jason Trubey Oeaw) ; 2. Sam Sawdey (Yam); 3. Brett Fm (Hon): 4. Ph il R~ IHon): 5. Randy Tweedy (H on) . OP EN PRO : 1. Ru..ty Holland (Ho n ): 2. Sco tt Myl'T'S (Yam ); 3. Du stin Ne lso n (Y.l m ); 4. [immv Lewi s (Ho n): 5. Ed M... Coy (Ho n). r . ssic Ketchu m (Sw:); 2. Just in W. Smith 125 JR: 1. Ie (Ka w): 3. Michael Meadows (Ya m ); 4. Sea n O'Co n nor (Ya m); 5. S am Saw d cv (Yam l. 12 5 INT: 1. Bobb v Bonds (Ya m ); 2. IV Tt.odL'$CO iin (Va m) ; 3. Bryan McC.l\,r.,n (V., m) ; -I. Ik'n Ridd lt. (K. W · 1 ); 5. jO~hU.l Wood~ (Kaw l. 125 PRO : I. Jiri Do!gt'T'S (Va m) .

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