Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1 998G I California Fall Series North, Round 3 F By Jim and Valerie Enos Photos by Jo seph Gonzalez HOLLISTER, CA, OCT, 4 t w a s a ba tt le of th e Jeffs as Jeff orthrop and Jeff Pestana split mo to ins, with No rthrop taking the 250cc Pro-cla ss win and Pes tana to ppi ng the 125cc Pro class at the th ird round of the G FI Ca lifornia Fall Series, sponsored by MSR and Yamah a of Modesto, Both riders hounded each other for nearly every lap of bot h mo tos, kee ping the crowd on the edge of their sea ts th rough out each race o n th e AMP-prepped Holl ister Raceway, Surprising ly, Northrop ha d to set tle for second beh ind Pest an a in the 125cc ra ce - a race, he ad m it ted , in w hich he felt more co m fo rta ble, Bui w it h a w in in th e 250cc race, it m a y hav e been a sign th at Northrop is finally comi ng to g ri ps with the bigger machine , Pestana, on the o ther han d , looked co mfortable o n both ma chi nes, but he jus t could n't fin d a w ay around Northrop in th e 250cc class in his attempt to sweep bot h classes, With ma nufacturer con ti ngencies up for g ra bs, a fiel d of more than 300 riders too k to the sometimes o ne-li ned but always fas t Hollis, ter track, The 250cc Pro class started the day, with a 20-minute, one-mota format in place, It was Team Green / Axo FMF / Bel-Ray-back ed N orthrop taking the hol eshot, followed by Dan Pa ladino, Pestan a, Trevor Meag her and Zeb Armstrong. As th e top five entered the uphill sec tion of the track, Pest ana moved past Paladino o n the double jump and set his sig hts o n North rop, In fact, Pestana stayed right on th e rear fender of Northrop lap a fter lap, loo king for just the s ligh tes t bobble by No rthro p , Nort hrop rod e sma rt, thou gh , taking in sid e lin es when necessary to kee p Pestana a t bay , With Nor throp and Pestana caught up in their ow n race, the battl e for third bet w e en Paladino , Me agh er and Arm stron g w a s jus t as exciting . The trio stayed in tigh t formation for most of the race until Meagher s lip ped in sid e of Pal adino at the turn before the "Gravity Ca vity" to secure third , Pro Circuit / N-Style /O 'Neal backed Meagher immediately put some distan ce o n Paladino and se t o ut a fte r the leaders, Soon after Meagh er' s move, Armstro ng was stalked by Ben Shanka rider wh o had qui etly mad e his wa y up to cha lle nge fo r the fifth p ositi on , As bo th rid ers approa ched the double-d ou bl e section, Shank aired it ou t to make the pass on Armstrong, Paladino m aintained a secure fourth pos ition, though Shan k and Armstrong lurked close behind, Meanwh il e , Pe stan a a n d N orthrop continu ed to mirror each other tu rn for tu rn , and Pestana made several attempts to pass Northrop - only to find the Kawasaki rider still ahead of him at the exits , As Pes tana came over the finis h-line jump, his fru stra tion was apparent as he threw up bot h hands in an effort to signa l his crew that he had tried everything h e co u ld to pass No rthrop , With the mo to comin g to a close, Pes tana had a lock on seco nd and let No rth rop go , Th e checkere d flag w av ed w it h N orthrop tak ing a hard-fought victory, followed b y Pestan a , Me a gh er, Pa la d in o a n d Shank, "It's pretty mu ch a one-li ne track out th er e, which ob vious ly worked in m y fa vo r," No rth ro p sa id . " I got a great sta rt, and wo rk ing ou t this week reall y paid off:' Pest ana , backed by Clawson Mot?r- Northrop andPestana . tlllio of afkind ~~ ' U,U , -ftpr-r'; spo rts, 01' Air Filters, Pro Grip and A Ride Suspensions, was content with his finish , "There was nowhere to pass, and Jeff was way faster ," he said, "I got arm pump in the end, and that was it" With a 25 0c c win under his belt, Northrop went into the 125cc Pro -class race with a bit of confiden ce, knowing that he could prob abl y rid e even better 'o n th e 125s, Howev er , Pestan a wanted to m ake sure Nor throp worked hard once ag ain, and w hen the gate dropped, it was Pestana taking the holeshot ahea d of No rt h ro p , Meagher, Pa lad in o a nd Sha nk. In fact, Pest an a opened u p a litt le cushion as he entered the u ph ill sectio n. H o w ever, tha t cus hion didn 't la st lon g, as Northrop care fu lly picked his lin es a nd q u ic k ly ree led in Pestana, Exce p t fo r t he fa c t th a t it wa s n o w Northrop chasing Pes tana, this m o ta loo ked like a rep eat of the 250cc mot o, with the two front-runners pulling away from th e pack. Mea gher; in th ird, also pulled away from the pack, yet he wa s having to work very hard to keep up with th e fro nt-ru nn in g du o. A t ab out the ha lfw ay po int o f the m ot o, things go t reall y intense between P esta na and No rthrop, as both riders cam e in to the tu rns neck and neck for seve ral laps. In fact, No rt hrop passed Pestana aro u nd the tree at the top of the hill to tak e the lead . That lead d idn't last long, thoug h, as o ne of th e m an y nasty ruts swal lowed up orthrop's front tire in th e back secti on of the track . Northrop w ent d own but quickly got up to m ainta in second . Meanwhile, the battle for third took a tu m w he n Meaghe r went d o wn in the back section of the track, ge tti ng back u p in fif th after letting Pa lad ino and Sha nk by. How ev er, Meagher m ad e a smooth ins ide pass on Sha nk just before th e finis h-line jump to secure fou rt h, But wi th th e m ota co ming to a close, Meag her and his Suzu ki couldn't reel in the Yam ah a of Palad ino . The flag came ou t a nd g ree ted Pes ta na with a w elld es erv ed w in; he was fo llowed by Nor throp , Pal ad in o , Meag her a nd Shank. "I rode good until about the hal fway poi nt," Pes tana said. "I got arm pump aga in and just rode to protect th e lead . Jeff (Northrop) ro de good, but it was cho ppy ou t there - jus t how Llike it." "I go t a good start and jus t followed Hollister Raceway Hollister, California Resu lts: October 4, 1998 (Round 3) 50 Frr (4-6): 1. C hristian Sta ndcrs (Lem): 2. Lacey Perales (Yam) . 50 STK BEC (4-6): 1. JOSh U.l G reco ( KTM~; 2. Ty Kcenom (Cob); 3. Mike y Cob..ton (K TI\,f) . 50 MOD BEC (4-6): 1. Cody L unbott (Act). 50 STK (4-6): 1. Sco tty C raven (Le m). 50 ST K BEG (7-8): 1. Richie Thomas (Cob); 2. 'Jake Ba ra ldi (KT M); 3. S haw n Murph y (KTM ); 4. Ru ben Hernand ez (Act); 5. Brandon Nicholson (K IM ). 50 MOD BEG (7-8) : 1. Da v id S l u m p (KT M) ; 2. C urtis Labriola (Act). 50 STK (7-8); I. Eric roth "(C{1b ); 2. Cody Jackson (K TM) ; 3 . Ja co b Bremen (KT M); 4 . Mi cha e l Flores (KTM) ; 5 . Richar d Rina u ro (KTM). 50 10-8) OPEN: 1. C hris Gilbe rt (Yarn) . 60 FfT: 1. Stephen Ta rpley (Kaw). bO BEG : I. Na tha n Holl ister (K,IW); 2. Russ Pachec o (Kaw} : 3. Denve r Ed w a r d s ( K,lW) ; 4. Ryall Ma r fi n (Ka w) : 5. Joey Ha rris (Ka w) . 60 NOV : 1. CM;{'y H i n so n (Kaw ); 2. Ma tt hew Spen cer ( K.1W); 3, Kurtis Batey (KTM) ; 4. Kyle Kent (KTM); 5. C rcg Fo ut s (K.1W) . 80 FIT: 1. Iust in Sa n ti no (Ka w ): 2. Ryan ~a r t in (Yam); 3. Stephen Ta rp ley (yam); 4. N ick Knci sly (Ya m ). 8 0 BE G 0-1: 1. Cas e y H inson {Su z ): 2. Ror y Ra d o v ich (H o n): 3 . Tyson ' Enzwei te r (Suz); 4. Sea n Ham pton (Suz): S. Chris Co nley (Kawl . 80 BEG 0 -2 : 1. P.1UI Ama vlo (Suz) : 2. Mat the w Spe ncer (lion); 3. Jeremy Kne isly (teaw); 4. Steven VO~ (Su z ); 5. Cameron Bowman (H on). 80 NO V: 1. Steven Hernand ez (Yam); 2. A.J. Perez 1.Su 7o); 3. Davi d Darsey (Suz) ; 4. A nd y D' Arrigo (Suz ); 5. Justin God oy (Ya m) . 80 L"T: 1. Ryan Mora is (Ya m) ; 2. Nick Da vis (Yam) ; 3. Cory McD.tnicl (Yam); 4. Matt McCru m nwn (Ya m); 5. Eric McCrumrnt.·n (Yam) . 80 O rEN EX; 1. Dav id Boothe (Honl. 80 Sl M IN I: 1. Rya n Morais (Ya m); 2. David Boot he (Honk 3. Eric M((:rummen (Yam); 4. Nick Davis (Yam); 5. Matt McCrummen (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Aaron Casados (Yam); 2. John Good by (Ya m) ; 3. Do n Bailey (Ya m ); 4. Ty ler La rick (Ya m); 5 . CI'1\' Diorowe (5oz). ' 125 NOV: 1. Ada m Baca IKe wj: 2. John Replogle ( K.1W); 3. Sam Sawde y (Yam ); 4. Mark Ver hc ugstrae te (Su z); 5 . Simon Temmerman (Yam ). (Top) Dan Paladino (40) gets the jump on the field in the 250cc Pro class in roun d three of the GFI California Fall Ser ies in Hollister. Eventual winner Jeff ' Northrup (15) gives chase. (Right ) The 125cc Pro mota featured a batt le between Jeff Pastana (173) and Jeff Northrup. In the end, the win went to Pastana. 125 (NT: 1. Jesse Ket cham (Suz): 2. Tu rbo Re if (Ho n ); 3. Jeremy Sant oro (Yam ); 4. Rod Kreiss (Ho n); 5. Jason Stu rdevan t (Su z ), 125 PRO : 1. Jeff Pes ta na (Yam) ; 2. Jeff No rt hrop (Ka w): 3. Dan Paladino (Ya m); 4. Trevor Meagher (Suz): 5. Ben Shank (Suz ). 250 BEG: 1. David Se ligm ... (Ho nk 2. Alex W il~n (Hon ); 3. Antho ny Lorscheid er (He n) , 4. John I t:'w is ( K..1 w); 5. Alla n Covert (Y am) . 250 NOV:. 1. Chris Platero (Ka w ): 2. Billy Iurevich (KTM); 3. Mik e Hu n ter (Yam) ; 4. Jus tin Sp rugasi (Suz): 5. Justi n Brook... (Hun). 250 INT: 1. Cory Mora is (Yam ); 2. jeremy Santoro (Ya m ); 3. Kellv Quin n (Suz ); 4. Ma ti Fowler t Kaw ): 5. Turtle Wikoff ( K..1 w). 250 PRO: 1. Je ff Northrop (Ka w) : 2. Jeff l'est en a , (Yam); 3. Trevor Mea gher (suz); 4. Dan Paladino (Yam); 5 . Ben Sha nk (Sux). 500 BEC : 1. Craharn Hin sdale (Ho n ). SOD PRO: 1. Ran d v Pockra ndt ( K.......:); 2. Mi k e j o hnson (H us). . 2 5+ REG : 1. Mark Silva (K.1W); 2. All'x WiI ..on (Hen): 3. Joh n l ewis (Ka w): 4. Randy T ufts (Yam); 5. John Mo lina (Kaw). 25+ NOV : 1. Dav id l o we (Kaw) : 2. Mi ke H u n ter (Yam); 3. Brooke Shaw (Han); 4. R.K. Field (Suz): 5. Bill Smy miotis (Honl . 25+ INT: 1. Mike Hod ges (sU 7.); 2. Joh n Mat.. alamaki (Sua) : 3 . Don Mend e n ha ll (Y.1m ); 4 . Rus s Flem ing (KTM); S. Ju stin Sp ruge si (Suz }. 30+ BEC: 1. Jon Gib b (K.1\v); 2. Phil H.lllpt (Suz); 3. Brian Lian (KTM); 4. Glen Smi th (Su z): 5. Frank Sanchez (H ont . 30+ NOV: 1. Dan Dc blu z zo (He n): 2. R.K. Fie ld (Suz) ; 3. Da rin Pow ell (Kaw): 4. Lud Daw son (Su7o); 5. Tra vis Huch (Ya m). 30 + INT: 1. M i k ~ Hod ges (Su z) : 2. Ski p G u in n (Kaw) : 3. Jo hn Mata lama ki (Suz): 4 . Mike Seg undo (Hon); 5. Don Mendenha ll (Yam ). 30 + PR O: 1. Te rr y Bostard (Yam ); 2. Jeff Watt s (Sul); 3. Randy Pockran dt (K..1 w ); 4. Marc Tuck er (Hon): 5. Cco ff Woods ( Ka w ). 35+ NOV: L Ran dy Lynch (Yam) : 2. Pa t Sa ugar (Y.1m ). . 3 5 + IN T : 1. j oh n Mat a larna k i (Suz ): 2. Juhn Han d clin (Suz) ; 3. C raig Lane (Yam) ; -to Tim Alvarado (Kaw): 5. Mi ke Hod ges (Su:£). -t0+ NOV: 1. Robert Fields (Ya m ); 2. Bobby Lynch (Yam); 3. N ick :-'1cKinn on (Yam) ; -to Dav id McCand lt.SS ' (Ho n ); 5. Jeff Critch (Y a m) . 40+ INT : 1. jose ph Gon zalez (Y.1 m); 2. C ra ig Lan e (Ya m); 3. Di rk Te rnmerman (Ya m). 4. Henry ~ 1i S I.1 k (Yam ); 5. Jl'tT)' w ohlgemuth (Hu n). 40+ EX: 1. Joh n Ha nd elin (Su 7o). WMN: 1. H e idi Hen ry (Suz): 2. Ti na H an d d in (Yam) . A 8 ~ ~ , 00 N ~ Q) .g ..... o U 27

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