Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1999 GFI California Winter Series North, Round 1 • Events By Jim and Valerie Enos TURLOCK, CA, DEC. 27 usty Holland swept both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes a t the opening round of the 1999 GFl California Winter Series, but one of the most anticipated races of the day was the 125cc Intermediate race, due to the fact that it would be Ryan Morais' debut racing a 125 - a contest, as it turned out, which he would win. Morais has dominated the BOcc class for several years with back-to-back championships at Loretta Lynn'S and the Florida Winter Olympics. The 250cc Pro-class race started off with Suzuki-mounted Scott Davis taking the holeshot ahead of Evans, Holland, Dean Matson and Jeff Pestana. Davis was soon overwhelmed by Evans and Holland, who sent him back to third, while Matson and Pestana battled for fourth. Evans and Holland quickly pulled away from the pack, battling each other lap after lap. On the third lap, Holland made his move and passed Evans on a tricky right-hander. Evans, however, stayed glued to Holland's rear fender and even carved ou t a crafty line across the side of a long tabletop. The line saved Holland precious time lap after lap by keeping him flying low. Meanwhile, Pestana made his way around Matson up the long straightaway and then passed Davis on the same stretch three laps later to snag third; he then set his sights on the frontrunners. The Holland-Evans express was long gone, however, and Pestana settled into a pace to secure third. With a 20-minute, single-moto format, time was running out for Evans, who followed Holland around the track. As the duo came over the long tabletop, Evans took his low line and took the lead from Holland. Holland returned the favor on the ensuing straightaway to retake the lead and the win. Evans took a well-deserved second, followed by Pestana. Terry Fowler took his big fourstroke Yamaha from a poor start to fourth, and Davis rounded out the top R five. "I was pretty tight and ha ven' thad much time on the 250," said Holland about his win. ''I'm a lot more comfortable on my 125. Tyler (Evans) rode good and kept me moving the whole moto." Evans was a little disappointed. '1 had him (Holland) over that tabletop that 1 was cutting," he explained, "but he block-passed me coming out of the next corner. I was so tired that I had nothing left on the last lap." The 125cc Pro-class race saw Yamaha-mounted Dean Matson rail the first turn, followed by Pestana, Dan Paladino, Evan and Holland. Pestana fell victim to a crash that set him back a ways, while Holland blew through the whoop section to take over the lead from Matson. Holland, admittedly more comfortable on a 125, checked out and quickly opened up a izabJe lead. Evans made his way pa t Matson over a tabletop for third and then outgunned Paladino through the whoops to take over econd. Evans then set about catching Holland, but he found the task rather difficult; as Holland set a blistering pace thai Evans s'imply could not match. Meanwhile, back in the pack, Kawasaki riders Jeff Northrop and Brett Racine hooked up and sliced their way through the pack to eventually secure the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Paladino held down third. As the moto wound down, orthrop reeled in Paladino and got witllin a few (Right) Rusty Holland ended '98 with wins in the 125 and 250cc classes at round one of the GR Winter Series North in Turlock, California. (Below) Tyler Evans ran strong all day but was unable to beat Holland to the checkers. bik e lengths of taking over third, but Paladino held strong to the finish. Holland cruised to an easy win, followed by Evans, Paladino, Northrop and Racine. "The track was pretty teChnical, and the berms they put in were good changes," HolJand said. "1 found some good Jines out there and kept a good pace the whole moto." "I almost ate it a couple of times out there" said Evans about his secondplace finish. "The track was pretty onelined, but my new Suzuki worked great." Paladino was content with his thirdplace finish. "l gol a good start and banged bars with Matson," said Paladino. "After Holland and Evans passed me, 1 just settled in third and rode a good pace." A huge 125cc Intermediate class forced a two-division format to be implemented. The top seven from each division transferred to two separate main events. In the first division, Morais took a wire-to-wire victory over Steve Mertens, Jesse Dawson, Nathan Tierney, Randy orman, Craig Truglio and Kenny Heess. The second division saw Kelly Quinn take the victory over Calvin Andlovec, Jeremy Santoro, Logan Masterson, Mike Anderson, Robert Harold and Dylan Vid1a. This set the stage for the all-important second division-one moto, and as the gate dropped, it was Suzuki-mounted Quinn squeaking out the holeshot over Morais, Tierney, Heess and Mertens. Quinn kept Morais behind him until the duo hit the downhill triple. Quinn doubled while Morais tripled and inher- ited the lead. After blowing through the whoops, Morais quickly opened up a lead that would steadily increase lap after lap. Meanwhile, Quinn and Tierney tangled in a lefthander and both riders went down, and Mertens and Heess seized the opportuni ty to take over second and third. Heess did his best to pass Mertens but had no success. Santoro made his way up into fourth after battling with Dawson, who had gone down. Truglio ba ttled with Andlovec for fifth. The two duked it out to the wire. au t fron t and taking the checkered flag with a huge margin of victory was an elated Morais, who was follqwed by Mertens, Heess, Santoro and Andlovec. The overall results, due to the two-division format, gave Morais the win, followed by Mertens, Santoro, Andlovec and Heess. "rm not nervous now," said Morais. "1 thought I had the holeshot but Quinn flat-tracked it down the start, but l got him on the downhill triple. I want to thank my brother Cory; he didn't ride and was my mechanic for the day." t:III Oatfield Raceway Turlock, California Results: December 27, 1998 (Round 1) Pee Wee Track 50 Fff (0-8): 1. Joshua Phillips (KTM); 2. Vincent Gully Jr. (Yam); 3. Kyle Koehler (Yam); 4. Kyle Kruenegcl (KTM); 5. Trevor Haue (KTM). 50 PIW JR: 1. Calvin LaCuffelle (Yam); 2. Tucker Hopson (Yam). 50 STK (4~6): 1. Christian Slanders (Cob); 2. Andrew Haskett (Hus); 3. Dylan Padilla (KTM); 4. Tyler Kruenegel (KTM); 5. Dylan Femand'cs (KTM). 50 MOO (4-6), 1. Stuart Luper (Yam). 50 STK (4-6): 1. Cary Kotowski (KTM); 2. Cryst

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