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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127961
By Greg Robertson
26
SAN BERNARDINO, CA,SEPT. 6
. len Helen Racew ay pl ayed ho st
~jo r the CTI -sponsored opening
round of the GFI Racing Fall
Series. Nearly 400 en tries made for a full
d ay of racing that included a midday
award s presentat ion of numerou s
prizes. Close to 20 mountain bikes were
given away for those who did well in
the recently completed lO-race GFI at
Night Summer Series. :
. Out on the track, I6-year-old rookie
Pro Bryan McGavran proved he' s go t
what it takes to run with the fast boys as
he cam e from the back of the field for
the 125cc Pro victory. Kawasaki-mounted Jeremy Chau ssee did things the easier way by nailing th e 250cc Pro mota
holesh ot and staying out front the entire
distance for the win .
As the 12Sec Pro s blasted d own the
lon g sta rt straigh t into the sweepi ng
right-hand first turn for the 20-minute
o ne-sho t rna to, it wa s Jeff "Chicken"
Matiasevich w ith the lead ov e r Tim
Sharp, Tommy Harrison , Tyson Taylor
and Chaussee.
McGa vran found himself .bu ried in
the pack as they exited the tight lefthand second tum.
"I carne off the gate and I got a pretty
good jump and Matiasevich cut over on
me," explai ned McGavran. "I was still in
second place but then I came into the
first corner and I got hit and got put
back into about dead last."
Harrison ' and Chaussee pu shed
Sharp back to fourth while Tim Langdon was around Taylor for fifth after a
10th place start. McGavran was all the
way up to f:jfth by lap threeas.Matiase-
vich was starting to feel pressure from
Harrison and Chaussee.
Everything broke loose a lap later as
Harri son got sideways off a jump, lettin g
Chaussee and Langdon past. McGavran
was right there to pu sh Harrison back
one more spot. Chaussee lost his front
. end in a tum and picked himself back up
in eighth place. McGavran got around
Langdon; then a slight bobble on Matiasev ich's part gave the YZ125-mounted
McGavran the lead. Lan gd on followed
suit and passed Maliasevich a short time
later for the runner-up position.
With a clear track ah ead of him ,
McGavran sl owly pulled, away fr om
Langdon to greet the checkers first.
"I jus t charged the whole way," said
the Fox/ NCY/ N-Style/Dunlop/Oakley
backed McGavran after the win. "Once I
go t ou t front, I wasn 't push in g it too
hard . Most of those guys we re ou t of
control."
Lan gdon brought his Team Green /
Pr o C ircuit / A xo-sponsored KXI25
across the line for second a good 15 seconds ahead of Matiasevich,
"I was trying to ride a smart race and
I cou ld n' t catch him (McGavran), so I
just tried to ride smoo th and finish the
race," said Langdon.
Matia sevich had his hands full with
Taylor and Jeremy Aleman on the last
three laps and managed to hold them
off for the third-place money.
"I haven't even been on a bike in four
months since I retired, so I just tried to
keep a pace going where I could finish
the race" said the 29-year-old threetime Japanese National Champion. "I
guess I got a little bit of a racing itch to
come out. I came out here with no
expectations, just to have fun."
Taylor would edge ou..! the Suzuki-
mounted Alema n for fourth at the finish. Sharp held on to finish sixth ahea d
of Chaussee. Ryan Orr fought back from
a last-place sta rt to earn eighth ahead of
Suzuki riders Oscar Valdez and Jason
Dubin.
When the 250cc Pros were let loose
fo r their 20 minutes of track time, it
was Chaussee with the early lead, followed by Jose Polasek, Ron Gilbert an d
Ty Kady. McGavran once again d idn' t
have the start he wa nted. He stalled his
YZ40F on the line an d would begi n the
race nea r ly a mi nu te dow n fro m th e
leade r. Cha ussee was flying, and by lap
two he ha d a comma ndi ng IO-seco nd
lead over Polasek, w ho was fighting off
Kad y. Gilbert ran fourth, jus t in front of
Raymond Bowers and Dub in.
Kady finally put the move on Polasek
for second at the halfway point, but
Ch au ssee now e njoyed a 12-second
cushion. Kady trimmed off a couple of
seconds bu t would have to settle for second pl ace behind th e Th ousand Oaks
Kawasaki /Pro Circuit / Axe -sponso red
KX250 of Chaussee.
"Tha t was probably the first tim e I
eve r got a good st art ou t th ere," mentioned Chau ssee. "I saw that he (Kady)
was catching me a little bit, but I had a
pretty good lead and just rod e sma rt."
Even with a case of arm pump and a
still-healing wrist, Kad y held on for the
second- place mon ey.
"I' m get tm gbogus s tarts," sai d the
MSR /Pro Circu it / Wh it e Broth ers /
Motul/Smith /Ceet-backed Kadv , "I' m
just another clown ou t there with them
s ta rts . I th ou ght I w as ca tchi ng him
(C ha ussee). I d on 't k now if he wa s
rela xin g, bu t I was pushing th e pa ce.
I've got to get healthy for the races comin g up thi s w inter. I might hav e been
a ble to push it a little hard er , but it
might have ended in d isaster."
McGa vr an had his thumper on th e
gas the entire race and finished a creditable third.
"I was mad (after the s ta rt) . I ju st
cha rged hard because I could have won
that race easily. I guess third 's al right
for that kind of start, " said McGavran.
Dubin broke awa y from Polasek and
Bowers to finish fourth.
YZ80 rider Brandon Layt on won
three out of four motos ent ered to collect the SOcc Intermediate- and Supermini-elass wins. Team Green's Dylan Lord
won th e remaining m ot a for se co nd
overall in the Superminis. Ross Garcia
went 3-2 for third in th e Superminis,
with Donnie Gritton and Micky Griffin
fourth and fifth, respectivel y. Thomas
Glanbrenner used 3-2 fin ish es to edge
out Kyle Mace for second in the Intermediate ranks. Garda returned to split
mota win s with Billy Laninovich to take
the 80cc Expert /Open-elass overall hon ors. Lord earned th ird over Anth on y
Bruscella and Nick Alvarez.
(~
Glen Helen Raceway
San Bernardino, California
Results: September 6, 1998 (Round 1)
SO STK (4~6): 1. Bla ke Baggett (Cob); 2. Dakota
Garner (Co b); 3. Chase L ippie (KTM); 4. Bryce Stewa rt
(KTM) ; 5. Ala n Jiron (Co b),
50 STK (7-8), 1. Danny Gonzalez (Cob); 2. Richard
Sterling (KTM ); 3. Marcus Carrillo (Lem): 4. Cody Tithof
(KTM ); 5. john ny [ eld erda (KTM) .
SO OPEN: 1. Blak e Bagge tt (Co b); 2. Da n ny
Go nza lez (Cob); 3. Fran kie Ag u irr e (KTM); 4. Bryce
Stewart (KTM); 5. Johnny Ieldetda (KTM) .
60 BEG: 1. Zac hary Cruz (Kaw): 2. Casey Huntley
(Kaw); 3. Shaw n Hayes (Yam); 4. George jef fer (K.1W); 5.
David Grossma n (Kaw) .
60 NOV: 1. Jerem y johnson (Kaw) : 2. B.' . Kuntz
(Kaw ): 3. Bra ndo n Spe nce r (Knw): 4. Bryce Ter zian
(KTM ); 5. Ju stin Ca rmody (Kaw).
60 tNT: 1. Jeff Alessi (Kaw): 2. Ste ve n Schwa rtz
(Kaw); 3. C had Gores (Ka w ): 4. justin Mu lford (Kaw): 5.
Tra vis Chris tenson (Kaw).
60 OPEN :·l. Rob e r t Memoli (Kaw ); 2. Ste ve n
Schwartz (Kaw): 3. Cas Swift (Kaw); 4. Brand on Spencer
IKa w); 5. Jere my Johnso n IKaw).
80 Fff: 1. Dustin Cum mings (Ho n): 2. Sha wn Hayes
(Ka w ).
""-
(Left) Rook ie Pro Bryan McGavran, 16,
topped th e 125cc Pro field at round one of
the GR Racing Fall ser ies at Glen Helen
Raceway.
(Abo ve) Jeremy Chausee led the 250Cc
Pro race from start to finish.
80 BEG: 1. Dan e Jac kso n (Yam ); 2. West on Peick
(Suz); 3. Sean Borkenhage n (Kaw); 4. Antho ny Cha ret te
(Yam); 5. Jerem iah Whiteford (Suz).
80 N OV: 1. Paul Pearcy (Hon); 2. Spencer Meineke
(Yam); 3. Brand on Curr ie (Ka w): 4. Robert Memoli
{Hon); 5. Scott Theobald (Yam).
8 0 lNT: 1. Brand o n La y ton (Ya m ); 2. Th oma "
Gla nbrenner (Kaw k 3. Kyle Mace (Yam); 4. Ke vin Payne
(Yam ); 5. Donnie Gritt on (Kaw).
80 EX: 1. Ross Garcia (Yam ); 2. Billy Laninovich
(Yam); 3 . Dyla n Lord (Kaw): 4. An thony Bruscel la
(Yam); 5. Nick Alvaraz (He n}.
SIMINI: 1. Bran don Layton (Ya m); 2. Dylan Lord
(Kaw ): 3. Ross Garcia (Yam); 4. Donnie Gritto n (Ka w): 5.
Micky Griffin (Yam).
125 BEG : 1. Mike Davi s (Ya m ); 2. Woody Sta hl
(Ka w); 3. Nick Melanso n (Kaw): 4. Rob Styr on