Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

T G eam reenY outhWorld Natio al C n hampionship (Left) Mike Alessi was hot at the Team Green Youth World National Championsh ips at Glen Helen, going eight for eight in Division Four 60cc Stock and Modified. (Right) Florida's James Stewart made the trip west worthwhile as he dominated the Division 6 80cc Stock and Modified (12-13) classes during both days of racing. SAN BERNARDINO, CA. JULY4-5 aliforn ia's Mik e Alessi and Flori. da 's James Stewart came out on top of some tough competition t o p ost win s duri ng th e GFI Ra cing /Kawasaki Team Green 1998 Youth World National Championship, held at Glen Helen Racewa y. Over 300 entries during the two -da y event saw Saturday's races take place on th e fa mous Na tional track, w ith Sund ay's program being run on the mu ch tighter su percross track. Based o n th e co m b in a tio n of both da ys' results, th e Division 1-9 wi nners w ere awarded nice prize s su ch as GT mountain bikes, 'Fox umbrellas and Axo gea rba gs, along w it h specia l tro p hies d uring Su nday's aw ards presentation . Alessi showed th e crowd on hand wh y he's a multi-time Na tiona l Min icycle Cha mpion as he we nt eig ht for eight to sweep the Division Four 60cc Stock and Mod ified 9-11 ag e classes . KX60 ri der Robert Memoli chased Alessi all over the place for two stra ight da ys for eight consecu tive second-place finish es. Cas Swift, Steven Schwa rt z a nd Paul Pearcy all took turns finishing in third, w ith Swift comi ng out on top in the end. Th ing s were a little tou gh er for the 10-yea r-old Alessi in the Division Five 80cc Stock and Mod ified classes, where he used three wins along wit h consist ent top fin ishes to ea rn the cha m pions hi p over th e Yama ha o f Vince n t Rhoa d s . Rhoads rode to a top-five finish in ea ch moto, including a wi n in the final race, to earn a well-deserved seco nd place on the pod ium . Zac Wray won a Stock and a Mod ified mota, bu t too many mi nor fa lls held h im to th ird w he n all th e points we re added u p. Nick Davis and Jarred Bro wn finished fourth and fifth, !espectively. Even with only three 80cc mo to wins, Alessi was plea sed. "The weeke nd w ent excellent: ' sai d th e Team Gre en /Fox /Cu rn u tt / Boye- C sen / Afaru / Cl'L'Dirt Digit-backed Alessi. "I liked the motocross track on Saturday better beca use it wa s hard er and not as easy as the supercross track. The competition was a little hard in the 80cc class." Twelve-year-old Stewart eas ily d omi na ted th e Division .Six 80cc Stoc k and Mod ified 12-13 age classes on both da ys. He went three for four on Saturday, finishing second to Jesse Cas illas when he fell in the first Stock moto. A tri p over the bars off a trip le jump in the opening moto on Sunday gave Stewart a fifthp lace finis h, but a fter th at he smoked everyone in the rem aining three races to secu re th e cha mpi onship on his Tea m Green /Fox / Oa kle y / Shoei/ Du n la p / FMF/ Bel Ray / Ren thal-sponsored KX80 - not too bad for a gu y w ho was visiti ng Glen Helen for the first time. "This pl ace is pretty fun: ' Stewart sa id . "I lik e th e superc ross tr ac k. I'm really ou t here (in Califo rnia ) to test the bikes I'm going to be riding at Loretta Ly nn ' s . The gu ys ou t here a re p retty good . I'd sa y th ey're faster th an th e guys in Florid a, except maybe for one guy nam ed Ryan Da vis - he ' s pretty good ." Ho nd a-m ou n ted Ni ck Alvaraz and Eric Meyer ba ttled behind Stewart all weekend , with Alvaraz coming ou t on top by a single poi nt after eight motos to cla im se cond overa ll. Ca sillas wou ld end up winning both motos that Stewa rt had problems in to finish fourth overall by a single poi nt over Jimmy Ne lson. Nic Paluzzi piloted his Cobra to the Division O ne 50cc Stoc k an d Modified 4-6 age class championship by ",'inn ing sev en out of eight races. Second overall b el ong ed to Jo h n ny Jel d erd a, who cha se d Pa lu z zi ac ross th e fi nis h lin e each tim e ou t. KTM -r id e r T h o ma s Richie kept the lead ers in sight en ro ute to third ove rall ahead of the Cobra duo of David Meade and Bret Downey. David Mea de's old er b roth er Mik e was qu ite im pressive in Division Tw o 50cc Stock and Mod ified (7-8) compe titio n, using consiste ntly good ' sta rts to top Tyler Hem me for the championsh ip. Chap ma n Fie ne a n d Andy Strai ght sha red th ird-place finishes, with Fiene prevailin g in the end . Mark Proscelie 's p erfect four-moto swee p of the Division Three 60cc Stock and Mod ified 4-8 age classes on Saturd a y ca rried h im th rou gh to Sunday, w here Ch ad Gor es and Cole Seel y d id most of the wi nn ing on the su pe rcross track. Prosce lle was crowned the cha mp, with Gores runner-up over Seely by a cou ple of points. Billy Laninovich led a Yamah a sweep of the top thr ee po sitions of the Division Se ve n ~Occ Stock and Modified 14-16 age classes . Ross Gar cia picked up a pair of moto wi ns to ed ge ou t Josh Hansen for second overall. Riva ls Bryan McGav ran and Sean Ha mblin went at it in the Division Nine 12Scc Stock an d Mod ified Intermediate clas ses on bo th d a ys. McGa vran w as untouchabl e o n the fa s te r Na tio na l track, d ominating all four motos on Sat urdav . "! liked Sat u r day's tr a ck better becau se it go t rough: ' McGav ran sa id. " O n the su p e rcross tr ack , ev eryo ne we nt fast and was doing everythi ng on the track ." Hamblin could n ' t quite hang with McGa vra n o~ Saturd ay, but go t so me revenge by top ping McGavra n in both Stock-class motos on Sunday. " It feels goo d to beat McGa vran, no d oubt about it: ' said Hamblin . "I liked Sunday' s track a lot better for my style." McG avran h a d t h e final lau gh , th o ugh , topp ing Hambl in by a few points once bot h d ays' results were tallied up . "It' s all righ t finish ing second to Sean in the Stock class - he finishes second to m e all the t ime ," joked McGa v ra n . "Now I know how it feels." Co ns is t e n cy p aid off fo r Micha e l Sleeter, who picked up some nice p rizes w ith his th ird-o vera ll pl acing in the 12Scc Int ermed iat e class, a hea d of R.J. l~ Thompso n and Dustin Ryley. RESULTS D·1 so ST K/M O D (4-.6): 1. Nic Pa luzzi (Cob); 2. John ny Ield erd a (KTM ); 3. Th oma s Rich ie (KTM); 4. David Mead e (Cob); S. Bret Down ey (Cob). 0 -2 50 STK / MOD (7-8), 1. Mik e Mead . (Co b); 2. Ty lo r Hemm e (KT M ); 3. Ch a pman Fie ne ( KT M); 4. An dy Straight (Cob); 5. B. Reyna (Cob) . 0-3 60 STKJM O D (4-8), 1. Ma rk Proscelle (Kaw): 2. Chad Gores (Kaw ): 3. Cole Se el y (Ka w ): 4. Just in M u lford (Kaw); 5 . Kurtis Batey (KTM) . 0-460 STKJMOD (9-11); 1. Mike Alessi (Kaw); 2. Robert Memoli (Ka w ): 3. Ca s Swift (Kaw): 4. Ste ven Schwartz (Kaw); 5. Paul Pea rcy IKaw) . 0 -5 80 STK /MOD ( 7~11): 1. Mike Alessi (Kaw ): 2. Vince Rhoad s (Ya m ); 3. Zac Wray (Yam); 4. Nic k Davis (Yam); 5. Jarred Bro wn (Su z) . D-6 80 STK/MOD (12-131; I. ' a mes Stewart (Ka w ); 2. Ni ck Aiva raz (He n): 3. Eric Me yer (Ya m); 4. Jesse Ca sil lias (Yam); 5. Jimmy Ne lson (Ya m). D~ 7 80 STK/MOD (t4~16): 1. Billy Lani no vi ch (Yam); 2. Ross Carcia '(Yam ); 3. Jos h Ha nse n (Yam); -I. Dereck Costella (K., W); 5.' Tyler Duncan (Yam). D-8 125 STKlMOD NOV; I. Randy No nna n (Yam); 2. T ravis Frinnk (Ka w ): 3. Sea n O'Connor (Ya m); 4. Brandon Reed (Suz) ; 5. Donnie Durre r (Ya rn) . D ~9 125 STK /MOD INT: 1. Brya n M cC a v ra n (Yam); 2. Sean Hamblin (Yam); 3. Michael Sleeter (Yam); 4. R.J. Thompson (Ka w); 5. Dus tin Ryley (Yam). 0 ·10125 STKlMOD EX: 1. Scott Co nley (Ka w). 50 BEC : 1. D. Kuntz (Yam); 2. Co rey Smit h (Yam); 3. Kei th Adams (Act). S/P/W ( 6---9): 1. Ma tth e w Spence r (KTM); 2. Tylor ( Hemm e O TM ). &0 BEC (4-8): 1. M.. tth ew Kent (K., W). a 60 BEC (9-11): Ryan McCli n tock (Kawl. 80 BEC (7·11): 1. Justin No ble (Kaw) : 2. W. Peick (Suz); 3. An thonv Charette (Yam); 4. Kris Pa lozz i IHon ): 5. DaiL1Si Peick (Su z). 80 BEC (12-13): 1. Garrett Warren (Ka w ): 2. Matt Jen ning s (Yam); 3. Steve Forsyth e (Ya m ); 4. C . Baco n IH on ): 5 . Ra ndy Landstrom (Yam). S/M IN I: 1 Sean Co llier (Ka w): 2. Micky G ri ffi n ·. Ot" (Yam); 3. J Page (Kaw) . SC H BY: 1. Ku rt Case lli (Ka w) : 2. Ju stin Meye rs (Suz ): 3. Jos h Morai ne (Hen): 4. joson McTygu e (Yam); 5. N ick Melanson (Ka w). 125 BEG: 1. Davi d Kelly; 2. Justin Meyers (Yam); 3. Bobby Blood worth (Ho n); -I. Brian Melsh eim er (Ya m); 5. Jason McTygu e (Ya m). 125 NO V: 1. Rod Hamby (Ya m); 2. Iganacio Rueda (Yam); 3. R. Baco n (Su z); 4. R. N elso n (Yam ); 5. Eric Wood (Hen). 125 PRO: 1. Greg Schne ll (Yam); 2. Ton y Ha rrison (Yam}. 250 BEC : 1. Dustin Schaller (Kawl; 2. D.1Ve Gifford IKaw). 250 INT: 1. Bry an McGa vr an (Ya m) ; 2. Craig Truglio (Ka w); 3. Mike Collier (Kaw); 4. D.J. Um phri es (Ya m). 250 N OV: 1. Chris Paul son IHon) . 250 P RO : 1. Billy Pa yn e IKaw ): 2. Jose Po la sek (Yam); 3. Scott Conley (Kaw). VET NOV: 1. Co rey Sm ith (Hen): 2. Mike Mi ze IHon). 31

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