Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

U.S. Open of Supercross . By Kit Palmer . Photos by Kinney Jo nes LAS VEGAS,NV.OCT. IG-lI ';'; _n the " little " cla ss, Yamaha YZ80::' 1'r m o u nted Jo n ath a n Shimp ca m e away as the big wi n ne r at th e U.S. Open of Super cross, held at the MGM Grand Ga rd en Arena in Las Vega s. Th e 80cc d ivi sion was run in conjunction with th e even t's feature 25 0cc class, w hich was won by factory Ka w asakibacked Damon Huffman, and , followin g two nigh ts of close and crash-filled racing , Shim p emerged unscathed an d car- .g.. ried off the hu ge first-place tro phy that he rig htfu lly earned. On a track that pe rhaps better suited th e smaller 80cc bi kes th an th e 250 cc ma chines , Shi mp threa d ed hi s w a y around fall en bikes and rider s to finis h seco nd in Saturday' s main and first place in the deciding Sunday aftern oo n main event. Shimp edged out fellow Yamah a rider Billy Laninovich for the win, whil e Kaw asak i rid er Adam Mennen ga took thi rd- place honors. going 5-3 in the two main events. Rounding out the top five was Suz uki rid er Shan e Bess and Yama h a p il ot Ry an M ora is , who won th e opening heat race on Saturday night. Usi ng a qualifying format sim ila r to that utilized by the big bikes (two heats, two semis, one last-chance qualifier, and one Ifl-lap final each night ), the SOcc program got under way, with Mo rais scoring the win. Kawasaki rider Mike Alessi led early on, but the tiny, 6O-pound rider, who was competing for the first time in the 80cc class, lost control of his "big " bike and we nt down in the w hoops. Posit ions cha ng ed often th rou gh out th e race - main ly due to crashes - but Morai s h u ng o n to win, fo llowed by Brand on La yton, La ni nov ic h , Daton Beav ers a n d Dary l Ecklund . Team Honda's Ezra Lusk's little bro ther Shan e finished sixth. Kawa saki Team G reen ' s Ed gardo Rojas rode his Kawasaki to victory in the seco nd heat race, followed by Menn enga, Bess, Michael Blose and Nic k Alvarez. Aft er taking him self ou t of th e firs t heat race because of a cras h, Kawasaki Team Green's James Stewart cam e back to wi n the LCQ ahead of Shim p. In the l a-lap final, Rojas led the wa y for a couple of laps befo re giv ing way to both Morais and Lanin ovich . For the next three la ps, Mora is held th e point until crashing and d roppin g ba ck to fourth and handing Lanino vich the lead ; Rojas w as second and Shimp third . Then it was Ro jas ' turn to cras h , which d ropped him out of the race. He was eventually credited wit h 12th place. U p fro nt, Laninovich co n ti nued to lead th e w ay, w hile Sh imp mo ved his Yamaha into second w he n Rojas w en t d own. And tha t's how it finished : Laninovich first, Shimp second, Morais third, Bess fourth, and Mennen ga fifth . Stewart was un able to finish the race afte r ban ging hi mself up in a cras h; his weeken d w as ove r. Morais, who led the w ho le wa y on a track that ha d been modified ' slightly to improve sa fety for the 80cc rid ers, won Su nday's fi rs t hea t ra ce . Lanin ovi ch pas sed Brandon Layto n early in the race to finish second . Lay to n took third, follo w ed by Sh imp , Josh Ha nse n a n d Aless i. Men nenga scored a wire-to-wire win in the second heat race, followed by Bess, Rojas, Blose, Nick Alvarez and Kyle Partridge. .Yamaha rider Ma tt Goerke w on the LCQ, and Lusk sneake d into the fin al with a second- place finish. In the deciding final, Shimp grabbed th e ho les hot a hea d o f th e prev iou s night's winner, Laninovich, and Mennenga and Morais. La ninovich was pres surin g Shi mp w he n he ca me up sho rt over a d ouble ju mp, dro p pi ng Lanino v ich ba ck to fourth. Th e top four riders - Shi mp, Mo rais, A B a ~ 00 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 C'l l-< CI) .o o ..... u o 30 (Above) Jonathan Shimp reaps the spoils of victory following his 2-1 s howing at the U.S. Open of Supercross in the 8Gcc clas s . (Left) Shimp pulled off a clos e win in Sunday's final. (Right) Billy Laninovich (321) won Saturday's final and finished th ird on Sunday for second ove rall. . Mennenga and Laninovich - ba ttled closely throughout the race. At one point. Menne nga mad e his move on Mo rais, w ho went tumbling to the gro und w hen Menne nga we nt by him. Morais would get back u p in fifth and stay there to the finish. O n th e la st lap, Shimp . Mennen ga and Laninovich were 1-2-3 and st ill d icing for the win when the checkered flag came ou t. Shimp jus t man aged to hold o n fo r th e victo ry. w hile La ni novic h mad e a last-ditch attempt to pass Mennenga for second but ende d up looping h is bike ove r th e fini sh -lin e d oubl e ju m p, a n d in th e resulting cr as h he repo rted ly broke his ankle. Bess finished fourt h. followed by Morais, Blose, Rojas, Alvarez and Lay ton. Lusk ro unded out the top 10. 1.\ MGM Grand Garde n Arena Las Vegas , Nevada Results: October 10-11, 1998 Saturd ay 80 H EAT 1: 1. Rya n Mora is (Ya m) ; 2. Bran d on La y to n (Ya m); 3. Billy Laninovich (Ya m); 4. Dat en Beavers (Ka w ); 5 . Da ryl Ecklun d (Yam); 6. Shane Lusk (Hen): 7. Josh Han sen (Yam); 8. Jonathan Kerr (I(aw) ; 9. jonathan Shimp (Yam ); 10. Dylan Lord (Kaw), 11. Jesse Cas illas (Yam ); 12. Mike AI('Ssi (Kaw): 13. Gen e Stull (Suz). 80 HEA T 2: 1. Edga rdo Ro jas (Ka w): 2. Ada m Mennenga (Kaw): 3. Shane Bess (Suz); 4. Michael Blose (Ya m); 5. N ick Alvarez (He n): 6. Scan Co llier (Ka w): 7. N ico las Evennou (Kaw): 8. Kvle C his ho lm (Kaw): 9. James Stewart (Kaw); 10. Davi d Millsaps (Su z); 11. M.att Goerke (Ya m) ; J.2. Todd Cosse laa r t Ho n): 13 . Kyl e Partridge (Suz ). 80 Leo: 1. James Stewart (KAw); 2. Iona than Shimp (Ya m); 3. Jos h Han sen (Yam); 4. Mike Alessi lKaw ); 5. Da vid Millsaps (Suz ); 6. Kyle Partrid ge (Suz ); 7. Matt Goerke (Ya m ); 8. Kyle C his ho lm (Kaw): 9. Jon athan Kerr ( Ka w) : 10. Todd Gossela a r ( Hon) : 11. Nicolas Evennou (Kaw): 12. Dyla n Lord (!(aw); 13. Jesse Cas illas

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