Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·" Big Six GrandPrixSeries, Round 5: Viewfinders GP By Matt Freem an SAN BERNARDINO, CA,OCT. 3-4 fter taking the su mme r. off, the Distri ct 37 Big Six G rand Prix Series re turned to bu sin ess at Glen Helen Raceway for the Viewfind ers' 25th annual Gran d Prix. TIle race, first mad e famous hen it was held at thelon g-since-gone Riversid e Int ernational Racewa y, has found a new home at Glen Helen. The circuit 'is like no other in tha t it includes a motocross an d su percross track, a high speed sand -wash section, a creek crossing, and the ever-popu la r Glen Helen Sheriff's road course. Like the rest of the events in the se r ies , the two-day race d rew close to a thou sand ent ra n ts, bu t unlike the rest of the races in the series, the Viewfin ders GP is a timed race. Montclair Yama ha's Ty Davis sta rted on the third row of the Expe rt /Ama teur 125cc /250cc / Open / Four-Stroke ra ce, and some 40 riders filed through the first turn ahead of the off-road champ. W h en the firs t 8-mil e lap was over, howeve r, Davis, was leading on adjust ed time, though he sti ll had a few rid ers ahead of him . One of th ose riders was Team G reen's Pa ul Krause, aboard his usual KX500. On th e s e co nd lap , Davi s chased d own Krause a nd passed him . Davis was ridin g the same YZ400F Yama ha that he had just ridden in the 527-mile Veg as-t o-Ren o race , Aft er makin g th e pas s on Krause, Davis had no problem keeping his lead . "I drove home from Reno all day Saturday and just changed the gearing on th e bike, " Da v is said . "I thou ght it would be fun to come out here an d ride. Plus, I'm trying to pu t in as much seat time as possible for the Six Days that is com ing up." I When the checkered flag flew , Davis had com pleted six laps in one hour, 14 min ut es and 20 seconds - almost three minutes' faster than second-place finisher . Kra u s e . Te a m Green ' s Oakl ey Lehman finished in third to rin g up the 250cc Exp ert win, but he had to come from beh ind to do it. Early on, ATK-mounted Joey Lanz a looked like he wou ld be the man to beat, but a lat e-race cha rge by Lehman put La n za as s eco n d 250cc Exp e rt a nd eighth overall, H eading up th e 200cc Expert class was KTM -mounted David Rees, w ho tu rn ed in a solid rid e for fourth overall b eh ind thi r d -pl a ce fi nis her Da v e Ondas. Ma ny r iders who comp eted in th e Best In The Deser t's Vegas-to-Reno race took par i in th e Semi-Pro Team rac e. The race offere d a 200-percent payback, and th e lon g drive p aid off for Mike Healey and Tim Staab, w ho pil oted their YZ400F to the overall win . ';We were up all nigh t, trying to get this thi ng ready for today ," said Staab. "I went to tighten the spokes and almost every one of them wa s on ly finger- tight, bu t the thin g h e ld up good a n d we made good money this weekend: ' . Se cond in t h e te am rac e went t o moto cr oss ers Sco t t Myers and Scott Mit che ll. Th e y al s o ro d e a YZ40 0 . Krause and Steve He ngeveld sw itch ed . back and forth on Krause's KX500 and Hengeveld ' s KX250 to fin ish th ir d . Ond a s a nd Lehman finis h e d in th e fo urth spot. "Dave rod e h is 500 a nd I ro de m y 250," sa id Lehman. "We had a really clo s e ra ce g oing with Kr au s e and Hengeveld, but we were at a disadvantage in the end , because when I was on the 250, Krause was on the 500." A Da vi s teamed u p w i th ex-d es e r tracer-turned-mountain -bike r Ga ry Dudley to take fifth, just ahead of the fina l money-paying po sit ion , filled by Kurt Caselli a nd Joey Lanza, who ran close .be hi nd the Krause/Hengevel d team at one point. fX Glen Helen Raceway San Berna rdino, Califo rn ia Results: Octo ber 3-4, 1998 (Rou nd 5 of 6) UlCLFD: 1. Micha el Mead ows (Ya m ); 2. Ed McCoy (H a n); 3. Rand y Norm a n (Kaw): 4. Alex Zapata (Yam ); 5. Ca ry Bro w n (Y<1 [h ). CLSSC NOV: 1. Brent Ja ckso n (Ca n); 2. Vin ni e Ma nd zak (Mai): 3. james H ow ard o Z 29

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