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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127963
By Greg Robertson
PALMDALE, CA, SEPT. io
fter claiming the 2S0cc Pro win at
th e. openi ng round a coup le o f
weeks ago at Glen Helen Raceway,
rookie Pro Jeremy Chaussee proved his
speed is for real as he worked his wa y to
th e fron t of the pack for the 12Scc Pro
wi n at Los Pongel es Cou nty Raceway
during th e second round of GFI Racin g's
annu al Fall Series.
Team Green 's Billy Payn e , wh o
missed th e first round, returned to go
wire to wire for the 250cc Pro-clas s victory at this Noleen- sponsored eve nt.
. Payne won the drag rac e to the firs t
turn w hen the 20-minute one-s hot 12Sec
Pro m oto got under w ay. Pa yne's lead
la st ed exac tly o ne turn b e fore Je ff
Willoh fo rced him off the tr a ck temp orarily.. H onda of Tr oy' s Casey Lytle
w as qu ickl y into second , just ahead of
Payne, Cha ussee and Don ovan Mit chell.
Lytl e w as all over Willoh and kept the
throttle on a little longer w hile coming
d own off th e Over-and -Und er sect ion
on the o p e n ing la p to take th e lead.
Willoh sta y ed glu ed t o Ly tle, w hile
Chaussee hounded Payn e in third .
Lytle slowly pulled cle ar of Wi lloh,
and it started to loo k like the rac e w ould
be his - u ntil he went d own.
"I came in a little too far to the left in
the w hoops," exp lained Ly tle. "If yo u
go to the left, it kind of sucks your back
end ou t sid eways a little bit, and by the
end of the whoops I was more sideways
and I hit the berm and bo th of my tires
w ash ed up the face of the berm. It w as
kind of a bummer. 1 was pulling away a
little b it a n d I thou ght I co u ld h a v e
wrapped it u p."
v.
W illoh now led, with Ch aussee getting aro und -Payne when Payne bumped
in to the d owned Ly tle. A t one point,
Willoh had five seconds o n Cha ussee,
b u t C ha ussee, wh o was now b ein g
push ed by Payne , soon cau ght the Suzuki-mounted Willoh.
With three laps remaini ng, Chaussee
fo un d a quicker lin e through t h e
whoo ps to pass Willoh for a lead that he
w ould hold until the check ers.
"Tha t good s ta rt helped o u t a lo t,"
sai d the Th ousand Oaks / Axo / Pro Circuit/Radiator Shop-backed Chaussee
a fter t he w in . " I kn ew th at Will o h
wou ld get a little tired because he kept
that pace up and w as rid ing hard."
Payne also used the w hoop section to
p a ss Willoh with s lig h tly over a lap
rema ining to cl a im th e seco nd -p lace
money.
"I had the hol esh ot and Jeff (WiIloh)
kind of put me off the track in the second corner and I go t pa ssed by a couple
o f g uys , an d t hat s crewed up m y
rh ythm," said Payne. "I m ad e a lot of
mi st akes the firs t co u p le of laps, and
th en I got my rhythm again and it was
to o late by the time I ca me up on him
(Cha ussee) ."
Will oh kept his Stiffie /Dunlop/Maxima / Works Connect ion /UFO /HRP /
IMS-sponsored RMl25 right in there for
a close third, ahead of Lytle.
.
" I had th e lead and w as riding fin e
and th en made a couple of mistakes,"
Willoh sa id . "My arms started to -pump
up after that and I couldn't hold on very
much longer, and those guys go t by me."
Mitchell brought his YZ12 S a cross
the finish line in fifth . Tommy Harrison
fought back from a bad sta~t to six th,
ahead of Jason Dubin and Eigo Sato.
Payne nailed his second holeshot of
th e day over Chaussee, WiIloh and Ty
Kady as the single 20-minute 250cc Pro
moto began. Chaussee and WiIloh w ere
A
all over Payne, making for a great threerid er battle for the lea d tha t would last
.
for the next seven laps.
, At the halfway point, Cha ussee mad e
a bobble and Willoh was into second
pl ace, Will oh kept Payn e in sig h t, and
with a couple of laps left he closed in on
the leader, but it was all Payne at the
chec kers.
"Th at w as a little mo re m y kin d of
race," sai d Payne after hi s win. "I got
th e holeshot, which is w ha t I needed. I
heard Willoh back there. I sta rted to pull
away in th e fir st cou ple of laps, and I
had this o ne bad lin e that I was takin g
and I think 1 took it for ab ou t half th e
moto before I figured it ou t, but once I
go t th at d own, I d on' t think th ey eve n
came close."
Se co nd -pl a ce pa yba ck we n t to
Willoh, who ended up a few secon ds
ahead of Ch aussee.
"1 sta rted to reel him (Payne) in, and
th en th e two-laps-left board ca me o ut
a nd I m ad e a mistak e in the back and
th en so me lapper s w ere th ere, and he
pretty much sewed it up righ t th ere,"
sa id WiIloh,
Kady, on hi s Anaheim Suzu ki /Pro
Circui t / MSR / M o tul / C e et -b a ck ed
RM250, had his hands full with H onda
of Troy' s team m an ager and former Vet
W orld Champion Erik Kehoe fo r th e
entire 20 minutes, bu t he would prevail
in th e e n d for fourth . Dubin s lo w ly
worked his w ay up for sixth, ahead of
Jason Fields and Tim Sharp. .
Donnie Durrer was untouchable in the
firs t 12Scc Novice rnoto, running away
wi th the wi n over Scott Howe and Kane
Jameson. Howe grabbed the holesh ot in
round two and went uncontested for the
moto and overall win. Jameson and Durrer go t bad starts. Jameson worked up to
collect second overall with 3-3 rid es. Durrer foug ht his way thro ugh to finish fifth
and earn third overall, ed ging out the 5-2
of Matt Co ndon.
Tra vi s Sm ith u sed hi s home-track
advantage to p ick up th e 250cc Intermed ia te win. Brian Rei ch el go t around
Smi th on th e last lap of mot o two, but a
third in round one held him to se cond
overa ll beh ind Smith . N ick M airose ,
Ru dy Rodriguez and Brandon Milstead
ro und ed ou t the top five.
1'N
Glen Helen Raceway
Palmdale, Californ ia
Results: September 20, 1998 (Round 2 of 4)
50 STK (4-6): 1. Dakota Garne r (Cob ); 2. Jake Lace y
(Cob) .
50 ST K (7-8): 1. Jo nathan Hor gan O