Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Meanwhile, Pocorobba rod e flawles sly. "When you rid e in t he mud , you have to get to the front quickly," he said. " I attribute m y success in th e mud to years of doin g this . I train by riding two 4D-minute motos six d ays a week." Thom as ended up with a DN F after stalling his bike. "I cou ld n't ge t it restarted," Thomas sa id. "I was already a lap d own , so I just pulled o ff the tra ck . I have n ot h ad mu ch mud racing, livin g in Florida." Neese's reflexes was quick as he bolted off the gate in the second mot o, follo w ed by Ke vin Wa lk er, Sm it h, Tim Hawthorn e, Rodney Carrier, Jon Boru ff.. Pocorobba and Thom as. By th e second la p , Walk er w as on Neese's rear fe nder, bu t fiv e mi nu tes into th e mot o, Neese ha d pull ed away fro m Wa lker, wh il e Pocorob b a h ad taken an inside line to pass Smit h. As a result, Pocorobba had closed the gap on Walker. Pocorobba, however , looped ou t his machine in the d oubles to take the pressure off of walker. Neese, mea nwhile, was s till ri d ing comfo rtably in the lead position . At the hal fwa y point , Walk er was still in sec ond, while Boru ff had worked his way into third, followed by Burkhart, Carrier and a recharged Pocorobba. Eve n tually, Ca rr ier wen t wi de, allow ing Pocorobba to pass him . Things kept goi ng Poco robba 's way: Burkhart sta lle d his bike, and the n, with th ree laps to go, Neese slowed with a failed re ar s hock a nd Wa lke r took over th e lead . Neese was soo n passed by Boruff and Pocorobba. "I was go ing over. a jump when m y shock came a pa rt," Neese ex p lained . "The low er end of the shock just bro ke." O n th e final lap, Pocoro bba closed the gap on second -placed Boruff, while Nees e, in fourth, was trying to hold on. Bor uff a nd Poco ro bba ra ced s id e b y side, and then Pocorobba mad e the pass and took over seco nd . Wa lker was now in Pocorobba ' s sig h ts , but th e moto came to an end. Pocorobba had moved from eighth to second to capture his first ove ra ll victo ry in the 1998 Four-Stroke Eastern Series. "I had the ho lesho t, and then I went into a big ru t," Pocorobba sa id of -his race . "I moved up to second ea rly and fell aga in w he n my ha nds came off the hand leb ars . I ke p t m y b ike r u nning, tho ugh, and got bac k up to land second for the moto and the overall class win." In the first 2SOcc Pro moto for the Fall Classic Series, Richard Pra ther grabbed the holeshot and was pursued by Cycle Sh ed /Pod ium O ne' s Larry "Sluggo" Gessner, Th omas Hofnaster a nd Kell y Smi th. . The seco nd lap saw Prath er still lead ing the pack as Sm ith moved into second . Gibson was up to third, and Gessner dropped to fourth. Gibson , how ever, di d not stay there for long, as he w ent down and recovered in ninth. Smith began pu shing Prath er arou nd the course, as Pocorobba , who was sixth o ff th e ga te, moved into th ird . Smith lost so me valuab le time when he go t in to a deep ru t in a sweep ing, ban ked tu rn. Elsewhere, Pra ther went down in the "Rocket Pocket" section of the track and rest arted in th ird afte r having trouble resta rt in g his ma ch in e. Fina lly unde r wa y, Hofn aster hounded Prather. On the fourth lap , Pocorobba ga ined grou nd on Smith as the front pair pull ed away from third-placed Prat her. A t th e halfwa y m a r k , Smith was ho ld in g his own as the ga p wi dened betw e e n h ims e lf a nd Poco ro b ba . Pocorob ba later explai ned tha t he had backed off his pursuit of Smith because of a loose chain. "My chain ad juster was all the way in, so my chai n was loose," Poco ro bba sa id . A battle d eve lop ed between Pra ther a n d Gess n e r . Ev entu all y , Gess ne r tu cked to th e insid e of th e turn a t the end of th e Su percross Six to move b y Prather a nd ta ke the th ird -p lace position. Boru ff, who ha d starte d in 14t h, picked off riders to work his way up to fourth. With tw o laps to go, Boruff moved into thi rd , where he re main ed to the checke red flag. Smith la nd ed the wi n . Pocorobba cros sed the finis h line so me dis ta nce back in se co nd. Pr a th er fi nished third , w hile Gibson , riddled with p roblems throu g hou t th e moto, took third , followed by Gessner. In the second moto, Smith and Andy An aya g ot a g o od ju m p, but Boru ff came out on top th rou gh the first turn and was chas ed by Tim Hod ock, Dou g Stone and Pocorobba. A ra ce for second tigh ten ed up, as Hod ock fe lt th e pres su re fro m Sto ne . Stone ev entu ally d ived by Hod ock to move into seco nd pl ace. By th e third lap , Boruff had s tretche d hi s lead , as Stone began to pull away fro m third placed Hod ock. H odock ' s problems w ere fa r from o ve r, beca u se Poc o r o bb a s ta r te d to brea th e dow n his neck . Th e pair rod e sid e by s ide around a tum, but it was Pocorobba wh o came out in front for the third-place spot. Pocorobba the n began to reel in Stone. Th e ra ce wou ld be all Boru ff' s. He ran away wi th the moto, whilePocorobba sli pped by Stone for se co nd a t the halfway ma rk and stayed ther e the rest of the wa y. Smith, who finis hed first in the firs t moto, ended u p a sa fe fifth . With the su n fin ally shin ing, the first moto of the 12Scc Pro class fired off the gate. Neese wa s the first rid er in to the first tu rn, but Team Green' s Jeff Gibso n qui ck ly p o w ered hi s ma ch i n e b y Neese's to take cha rg e. Wit h the track d ryin g ou t, .p ositions cha nged rapidl y throughou t the first lap. Gi bson held o ff N eese d es pite h is serious challenges from the air a nd over the jum ps . As Gibso n and Neese p ulled away from their com peti tors, Stone and Brad Stru nk tang led fo r third , w ith Stone doing everything in his power to kee p Stru nk at bay. Eight minu tes into the m oto, lead er Gibson case d a jum p, w hich resulted in a big cras h. Neese was in the righ t spot at the righ t time and took ove r the lead , and he stayed there to the finis h. Gibson go t back und er way, bu t at some di stance back . He still sa lvaged second, w hile Ston e se tt led in to third after breaking aw.ay fro m S tr u nk. Hodock was next across the line. Track co n d itio ns h ad impro ved grea tly by the tim e the second moto go t und er way . Ind ia na ' s Jeffrey Ba k er grabbed the holeshot a nd was closel y followed bv Stru nk, Thomas , Neese and Stone, in that order. Strunk kept Baker on his toes aro un d the cou rse, while N eese moved u p to third . The second lap saw the mor e experienced Neese sneak by the Baker /Strunk du o th ro u gh a turn . After ma king the pass, N ee s e w a s un sto p p abl e . H e ro m ped hom e to vic tory and grab bed the overall honors. Strunk managed -to get by Baker, as did Thomas and Ston e. Baker ended up Husqvama's J im Neese won both 125cc Pro motos in the AMA Fall Classic MX Series. Jon Boruff topped the 250cc class. in fifth. Gibso n climbed back up to finish C 'X sixth after getting off to a bad start. Daniel Boone Motocross Park London, Kentucky Results: October 4, 1998 (Round 3) EAS TERN FOUR-STROKE N AT IONAL MX SERIES MO TO 1: 1. Ant ho ny Pc cc robba (Yam); 2. Kell y Smith (H us ): 3. Mark Burkh ar t (Ya m); 4. Jim Neese (Hus) : 5. Todd Downs (Yam); 6. Jon Boru ff (H us ) 7. Rodney Ca rri er (Yam); 8. Sha ne Slat he r (Ya m); 9. Ke vin Wal ker (Yam) ; to . And y Ana ya (Yam) . MOTO 2: 1. Kev in w a lk er (Ya m ); 2. A nt ho ny Poco ro bb a (Ya m); 3. Jon Boruff (H u:;); 4. Todd Duwns (Ya m); 5. Jim Na'SC (H us); 6. Mark Burkha rt (Ya m ); 7. Rodney Ca rrier (Ya m); 8. Andy Anaya (Ya m ); 9. Tim Hawthorne (Yam); 10. Kelly Smith (Hus). O /A: 1. An thony Pocorobba (Yam) ; 2. Jon Boruff (Hus): 3. Todd Do wns (Ya m) ; 4. Jim N~ (H us ), 5. Ma rk Bur kh art {Yam}; 6. Kevin Walkr (Yam); 7. Kelly Sm ith (H us): 8. Rodney C arrie r (Yam ); 9. And y Anaya (Yam) ; 10. Tim Hawthorne {Ya m ). AMA FALL CLASS IC MX S ERIES 125 P RO MOTO 1: 1. Jim Nees e (H us ); 2. Jt:'ff Gibso n (Ka w); 3. Doug Stu n~' (Kalt\.); 4. Brad ley Strunk (Suz); 5. Tim Hudock (Su z): 6. Thomas Hofndster (Suz); 7 . Jeffrey Baker ( K.1W ); 8. Richard Pretber ( K"rM); 9 . J.1o;oO McDonald (Su z); 10 . Ja son Thomas (H us ). 125 PR O MOTO 2: I. Jim Neese (H us): 2. Brad ley S trunk (Suz): 3. Ja son Th omas (Hus): 4. Doug Stone (Ka w): 5. Jeff rey Baker (Kaw): 6. Jeff Gibson (Kaw j: -7. Th omas Hofnaster (Su z ); 8. Jason McDonald (Suz ): 9. Richard Prather (KTM ); 10. Na tha n Miller IHo n). 125 PR O O/A; 1. Jim N~; 2. Brad ley Strunk (Su z ); 3. Do ug Stone (Kaw): 4. Jeff Gib son IKa w) : 5. Jeff rey Bak er (Kuw} : 6. Ja son T h oma s (H us ): 7. Thomas Hofnas te r (Suz ): 8. Jason McDonald (Suz ): 9. Richard Prat he r (KTM ); 10. Jerel! Black (Yam ). 2 50 PRO M OTO t , I. Kelly S m i t h (K T M ); 2. An tho ny Po corobba (Su z) : 3. Jo n Bo ru ff (S u z) : 4 . Richa rd P rat her (KTM); 5. [eff G ibson (Kaw): 6. Larry Gess ne r (KTM) ; 7. Je ff re y Ba ker {Kaw): 8. Thom as H ofna ste r (Suz ): 9. Tod d Down s (Yam); to. Doug Sto ne (K. W) . 1 I 250 PRO MOT O 2: 1. Jon Boru ff (Suz); 2. Antho ny Poc o rob ba (Su z ): 3. Do ug Sto ne (Kaw ): 4 . Bra d ley Stru n k (Suz ): 5. Kelly Smith ~KTM); 6 . Andy A naya (Yam); 7. ThO ITh1 S Hofnaster ISuz): 8. Tim Hod ock (Suz): 9. Richard Watson (Suz) , to. Larry G .. -ssne r (KTM). 250 P RO O / A : 1. Jon Bo ruff (S uz): 2. An tho ny Pocorobba (Su z); 3. Kelly Smit h (KTM); 4. Doug Sto ne (Ka w); 5 . Bradl ey Strunk (Su z); 6. Thomas Hofn a ster (Suz) ; 8. Richard Prather (KTM) ; 9. Todd Downs (V.1m); 10. Andy Ana ya (Ya m) . , ...... N J-< (l) ,.!::l o ..... u o 33

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