Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Robbie Horton won Friday's 250cc Pro main and finished second in Saturday's main at the Milwaukee Arena. (Above) Bryan McGavran leads a mob of Pro racers out of the first tum at round two of the California Gold Cup Motocross Series, held at Perris Raceway. PACE Motorsports Ultracross Series Round 4 Bartz and DeHoop hot -' By Pete Emme MILWAUKEE, WI, FEB. 19-20 t was a fantastic weekend for racing in Milwaukee when PACE Motorsports presented round four of the PACE Ultracross Series in the Milwaukee Arena. An enthusiastic crowd greeted .talented riders such as Todd DeHoop, Brandon Bartz and Wisconsin's Eron Ezerins. A record attendance of more than 6500 people watched Brandon Bartz capture back-to-back wins in the 125cc Pro and 250cc Pro classes on Saturday night after making podium appearances .on Friday night on the tight and somewhat technical track. Former 1988 AMA 125cc Eastern Region Supercross Champion Todd DeHoop made a valiant effort Friday night, battling an injury to capture a win in the 250cc Pro class and finishing runner-up in a heated match with Bartz on 'Saturday in the 250 Pro contest. Ezerins captured the first heat-race win over DeHoop after DeHoop bobbled and went down, handing over the lead to Ezerins. Austin Raubs nailed the second-heat win, while Brandon Jeffrey got the third beat. Fourteen riders lined up for action in the 125cc Pro main, in which Aaron H;uppe.rt captured the holeshot, with Greg Braet and Ezerins in tow. Upon exiting the treacherous whoop.section, Ezerins came out with the lead as many riders were gobbled up by the rockers. DeHoop, suffering from a mediocre start, began his charge through the whoops early on to get past the sixththrough second-placed riders in one lap. Meanwhile, up front, Ezerins was checking out, and he started to pull away on his Suzuki with a six-second lead ove.r DeHoop and the rest of the pack. DeHoop led a charge, with Braet, Bartz and Raubs close behind, through lappers. Near the halfway point, Ezerins' lead was almost cut in half by DeHoop's Power Motorsports Yamaha as he left the field to join the front-runner. Tragedy struck DeHoop in the I rhythm section, as a lapped rider crossed his flight path. DeHoop took a hard trip to the ground and was knocked out of contention. "The lappers have been a problem all night, not only in the main (but in the) heat races also," said DeHoop. "They should hold their line and things would be all right." Bartz moved past Braet moments after DeHoop's crash. Ezerins opened up his lead over second-placed Bartz by 14 seconds as he ran consistent laps through traffic to capture a huge hometown win. Bartz and Braet rounded out the top three. "I didn't want to make any mistakes," said Ezerins. "I tried to play it safe out there and stay smooth after the pressure dropped off. It's great to get a win in front of this crowd." 'Tm happy with second," said Bartz. '1 got a nice start from the outside but had trouble in the whoops, where I fell back, but I regained that and worked my way to second. But I knew Eron was gone." In the 250cc Pro main, DeHoop dashed out to the lead early with usual front-runners Ezerins, Bartz and Braet close behind, battling for position. DeHoop, riding banged-up with a hyper-extended knee, began to run into lappers by lap five (of 16). This time, DeHoop managed to separate himself from the pack by getting through lappers and extending his lead by six seconds over Ezerins by the halfway point. DeHoop led the train from start to finish, with Ezerins second and a conservative Bartz third. "This is great, considering how many times I've been on the ground tonight," said DeHoop. "Lappers were more aware in the 250cc main, and I rode hard as I could to get the win, and I hope to . be back up here on Saturday night." In Saturday's 125cc Pro main, heat winners Ezerins and DeHoop gated poorly. Bartz did not, as he garnered the holeshot, with strong starter Braet behind. DeHoop bailed in the rocker section, with Huppert taking both riders to the rear of the pack. Bartz used his strong start to move out in front of the field. DeHoop remounted his Pro Circuit Yamaha slowly but regained his composure, working past eight riders to move into fourth place by the halfway point. Ezerins made a few small bobbles that cost him precious seconds, 'Ietting DeHoop catch up. DeHoop made a move past the Suzuki rider in the whoop section to slide into third. Bartz and Braet were too far out of reach for DeHoop, with too few laps remaining. At the checkers, Bartz took ,the win, followed by Braet, DeHoop, Ezerins and Raubs. "I seemed to ride a good race," said Bartz. "I paced myself and didn't get tired, so I should be ready for the 250cc main." The largest Ultracross attendance of the series watched Bartz get another holeshot over Braet and DeHoop in the 250cc Pro main. Ezerins tangled bars with another rider in the first turn, sending him to the ground, hurting himself even more after having suffered a faceplant the night before in a heat race. Bartz led as Raubs crashed over the big triple, reeling his bike over the hay bales into traffic. DeHoop made his way past Braet and lappers to move into second and set his sights on the leader, Bartz. Two laps later, DeHoop was side by side with Bartz in the whoop section, but Bartz held the inside line to the lefthander before the triple to save his lead. On the white-flag lap, DeHoop tried again, but this time with a lapper to the side of him. Bartz once again had the inside line, and upon exiting he nicely put DeHoop up toward the outside of the turn, protecting his lead.. DeHoop, clearly out of energy, had nothing left for Bartz, who captured back-.ta-back wins. "1 felt really good tonigh t," Bartz saiq. "1 know Todd

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