Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

" '. " . • " H ' ., ,, ',' .,"".:1'" ' .. ", 1.' •• " . " . t.,. '.' ~" ~' . ,j ' ;", ' . , '. Dan Berg flies off a Hungry Valley Raceway Jump en route to winning the Pro class in OTHG action at Gorman, California: Over ,TheH Gang NationalSeries,Final Round ill Berg ices OTKG National By Chris Sanchirico GORMAN,CA,OCT.17-18 ll fou r chap te rs o f th e Over Th e H ill Gan g assem bled a t Hu ng ry Valley Raceway to compete in the fi ft h an d fin a l ro u n d of th e OTHG Na tional Series. The two-d ay, four-mo te format saw Motowest/MSR-backed Dan Berg take hom e the lion ' s share of th e Pro p urse. The perfectly p repped a nd desi gned Sha ne Trittler track and beautiful Sout hern Ca lifornia weather were the perfect combination of ingr ed ients for fantastic race action . In th e Pro cl a ss, Berg a nd Ti m Te lf ord w aged wa r throu gh ou t th e . en tire eve n t. Berg' s Motowest-backed Gas Ga s looked incred ib ly fa s t as he ripped up th e Hungr y Va lley terra in . Berg's machine grunted with power as he absconded wit h the holesh ot in two of th e four mot os, claiming he 'ha rd ly ever had to sh ift the fou r-speed bike on the leng thy track. Telford can a ttest to the sp eed of the Gas Gas , as he fou nd himself watching Berg's rear wheel d isap p ear on se veral occasions. Th e race action resem bled the old fable of the turtle and the hare, as Berg wou ld launch in to the lead a nd qu ickl y es ta blis h a cushio n. But late in th e mot o, Telford not only managed to erode that lead , he went on to victory. And th at w as th e sc ena rio for the first three motos. Th e Dick All en H ond a -b a ck ed Telford had the overall within his reach going into the final moto, with a perfect 1-1-1 to Berg's 2-2-2, but d isaster struck for Telford in the fina l mot o. Comi ng o ut of t u rn two a n d in to th e s m a ll wh oop section, Telford hit a fals e neu tral tha t sent him flying over the ba rs. He remou nt ed in d ead last, and Berg seized the oppo rtu n ity to take the win and the overal l. Telford salvaged 10th in the moto for fourth overall. Putting in a very impressive and consisten t ride was. th e KX500-m ounted Randv Pockrandt. The Sierra Cha p ter Pro we nt 3-43-2 for the third and final podium position . In the ho tly contested Intermediate class, 24 riders lined the ga te to decide w ho wou ld b e Natio nal Champi o n . Be ll fl o w e r Yama ha -bac k e d Sco t t McD on ou gh p ro ved to be kin g of the cla ss, winning a ll four mo to s o n th e weekend en route to the overa ll honors. It di dn ' t m a tter w h er e M cDonou gh gated - by the th ird lap he had th e le a d , a n d he looked to b e a bi t much for the clas s. The real action wa s the war for second place betw een Brett Flory and Michael Ren ner , bot h fro m th e Sa n Fra ncisco a rea . As th e du o ba nged p lastic on several occasions in each moto, th ey were never separa ted by mor e that one position as they battled in a ll fo u r mote s. pa ssing each othe r countless tim es. Even their sta rts we re almo st iden tical , as the two had to weave th ro u gh the field or run up fro nt together. At the conclusion of the weekend , the two tied for seco nd place overall with 11. A ,...... ~ ,...... l-; aJ .n E aJ ;;- o z 38 DH Cycles-b a cked Flory narrowl y ed ged Re n n e r b y v ir t u e of the ti e breaking las t moto . Flory went 3-3-3-2, with the Fo x Ra cing / Z oo m Cy clesbacked Renner go ing 2-2-4-3 for th ird l~ overall. Hungry Valley Raceway Gorman, California Results: October 17-18,1 998 (Round 5 of 5) BEG : 1. Mitch Friedman; 2, Jeff McEntee; 3 . John McCanol; 4. Armando Aguilar; 5. Steve Mangione. NOV: 1. jacques German; 2. Brian Thienee ; 3. Rich Dandolo. lN T: 1. Scott McDo nu g h; 2. Brett Flo ry; 3. Mike Renner; 4. Sammy Marrin; 5. Bud Leahey. EX: 1. Fr ed Nic ho las; 2. Ch uc k v Gil mo re; 3. Chris topher Jose ph Sanchirico ; 4. Bria n .4. 1("n; 5 .· Ch uck 1 Bennet . 38+ BEG : 1. Ed She rman ; 2, Reid Fran ke; 3. Don Reed : 4. Bob Kosovilka ; 5. Bill Boum an . 38+ NOV: 1. John Ada ms ; 2. Ca ry Juola ; 3. Steve Evans ; 4. David Coo ley; 5. Jam es Holman . 38+ INT : 1. Jim Roth; 2. Mark Avery ; 3. Joe Stem; 4, Marty Wes terman. 38+ EX: 1. Cliff Coa tes; 2, Tim McArdle; 3. Jam es Coppedge; 4. Sta n To wnse nd: 5. e.G. Scheidler. 38+ PRO: 1. Willy Kennedy: 2. Rick johnson; 3. jCM." Root; 4. Allen Delarge. 5. David Fontez. PRO : 1. Da n Berg ; 2. Ran d y Pockrandt: 3. Tim Telfo rd ; 4. Mike johnsen: 5. John Varner . S UP: 1. Chris Sa nchi r ico ; 2. Spruce Criswell; 3. Jo rd an Borrough s: 4. Rick Johnson; 5. Wa lt Bennett. AMX Grand Canyon StateC 'shipSeries,R 5 ound Hamman hammers Ocotillo MX By Johnny Wh ite boots ELOY, AZ, OCT. 18 yan H amma n used a perfect 1-1 m ota score to ca p t u re h is fir s t career 125cc Novice ove rall " in on a beau tifully sunny Sunday at Southern Arizona 's Ocotillo Raceway. Racing his Thor / W is ec o / Pro -Circui t-backed Honda in the G rand Can yon State Cha mpionships, the win improved his momentum and his chances of achiev- R ing his goal of becoming Arizona State Champion for 1998. The gate fell for moto one, and Jeremy Las to vica led everyone out of the first tu rn , fo llowed by Ha mma n, lla n Grossman, Brian Schott, Jason McTygue and the rest of the pack. Everyone was workin g har d to ma inta in their p osi tions and looking for op po rtunities to pass, bu t the order remain ed unchanged up front. Hamman w as pressuri ng Lastovi ca a ll around the track d u ring lap two, a n d the two r id e rs h a d pull ed away fro m Schott and McTygu e and the rest of the tightl y gro u ped pack. Disast er befell Lastov ica on lap three w hen he crashed com ing out of the tight left -h and turn in th e ba ck , a llo wi ng H amman i n to th e lea d . G ro ss m an, Schott and McTygue also go t by before Las tov ica cou ld rem ount an d res u me the race. Lap four saw Scho tt wo rki ng hard to find a way around Grossman, as Hamm an was pulling away with a comfortabl e lead of five bike lengths . Schott wo rked the 'ou tside of several turns, but Grossma n wasn't giving up the position easily an d mai ntained his second-place position . During lap five , it w as cl ea r th at Gro ssman was holding up the train of Schott, McTygu e and Las tovica, as they were.trying to ge t aro und on both. the inside an d the ou tside at the same time. Diving into the triple step-down kno wn a s "The Pit," th ey w e re t h ree wide . Co min g o ut over t he b ig d ouble, McTygu e held on the thro ttle longer and mo ved from fourth to second . Grossman mana ged to hold off Sch o tt for third place. At the line, Hamman brought out the wh ite flag, followed by McTygue, Grossman, Schott, Lastovica and the rest of the field . Sudd enly, McTygue let off and pulled off the track, going from second to fifth. "I thoug ht I saw the checkered ,flag w hen I went by the flagm an, but when everyon e blew by me, I took a second look, sa w the white flag, and got back on the gas," McTygue said later. Grossman ha d regained his original second-place standing, but he couldn't hold off Scho tt after bobbling in a tum. The tight left-ha nder in the back mu st have bee n tr ouble, as McTygue swa pped and wa dded coming out of the turn.cTo add in jury to insu lt, he we nt d own right in front of Schwanbeck, who had nowhere to go and ran over him . At the finis h, it was Ham ma n by severa l seconds ahead of Schott, Gross man, Lastovica and the rest of the field . The crowd pressed u p ag a ins t the fences in a nticipa tion of mota two for th e 125cc N ovices , a nd th ey got their mone y's worth rig h t fro m th e drop of the gate. Lastovica nailed a great jump off the ga te a nd looked to ha ve th e holeshot goi ng into the firs t turn, bu t Hamma n drove de ep on the inside line and came ou t in the lead , followed by Las tovi ca , G ross ma n, Aston, [ u s ti r; Mye rs and the rest of the pack . Lastovica rac ed ha rd , show ing a wheel every cha nce he could get, bu t Hamman maintai ned a cool head a nd prot ec ted hi s lines an d the lead . As in the first mota, the pair of racers pulled to seve ral bike lengths ahead of the pa ck. Th ird-placed Grossman and fou rth -placed Myers also pull ed a gap over their nearest competition. McTygu e wa s in fifth and was being d ogg ed by Brad Mill ika n, Schw anbeck an d Kyle Off. Myers set up Gro ssman pe rfe ctly an d passed him ove r the finish line to start lap three. Schwanbeck ' foun d a wa y aro u nd Mill ikan, but he coul d n 't m ake it s tic k, a s M il likan p assed him back a t the line to sta rt lap fo u r. Th is was turn in g into th e be s t b attle o n th e tr ac k, a s Schw an be ck pas se d Mill ik an a ga in to tak e s ixt h place. Back u p front, it was a battle royal between Ha mman a nd Las tovi ca, w ho ha d found Hamman's on ly w ea kness: the tight left-h ander in th e back. Lastovica d iv ed . to th e insid e on la p five a n d pulled along sid e, but H amma n sh u t the d oor and continued to lead. M cT ygu e ma n a ged to dr ive insid e Grossman in the sw eeper after the 90foo t tabl etop a nd p assed him to take fou rth pl ace. The w hite flag came out fo r th e le ad ers , an d i t see med to ch a r g e u p La s tov ica , w ho apphed even more pressure o n Ha m man . He p ulled up aga in in th e back se ction, but Hamm an ma inta in ed. H e pulled up alon gsid e th rough the w hoops, but Hamman h ad th e in sid e in the next turn. Th ey went side by side ove r the tab let op, but again Hamma n held the insid e and ra iled the turn . At the finis h, it wa s Ham m a n with a ha rd ea rned seco nd- mo ta win for the overa ll on th e da y. Lastovica wa s second , Mye rs a s u r p risi n g th ir d , McTy gu e four th , Grossman fif th a n d Sch w an f~ beck sixth . ' Ocotillo Raceway Eloy, Arizona Res ults : October 18 , 1998 (Round 5) 50 BEG : 1. Tamara Beaver (y a m); 2. Kennet h Smith (Suz). SO JR: 1. Paul DeSoto III (KTM); 2. Bradley Waite CKTM); 3. Co le Martinez (Le m ): 4. Joseph O 'Gara ("1M); S. Cody Carlson (Lem). 50 (7.s): t. Mitch wise (A ct ). 50 OPEN, !. Mitch wise (Act l. 60 BEG: 1. Cory Hud d les to n (Kaw): 2. Ryan Bishop (Kaw): 3. Ju stin Rei ners (Kaw): 4, Jo nathan Carroll (K,l W). 60 (9·11 1: 1. jeremy Jo hn so n ( K .1W) ; 2. Tra vis Lumby (KT M); 3. Karl O rr (Kaw); 4, Steve Wal ker (KTM); 5, Brandon Ca rbon (Kaw). 60 On:N: 1. Jeremv johnson (Ka w j : 2. Steve walker (KT M); 3, Bra nd on carbon (Ka w ); 4 . Travi s Lu mbv (K1"M); 5, Rya n Bishop (Kaw). • 80 NEVER TROPHY: 1. Ge o rge C yrus (5uz ); 2. Daniel Wil burn ISuz ): 3. Nathan Hollander (Ka w); 4. Micha el Lodek (Yam ). SO BEG : 1, Case y C rel ey (Ka w) : 2. C o ry Hatch (Ka w ): 3. Kody Ste ph en (Yam); 4. Moe Puller (Ka w ); 5. Cody Hudd leston (Suz).

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