Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Fourth annual Thousand Oaks Yamaha/C CMini Nationals R Events the By Gre g Roberts on PAL',lDALE, CA, JULY11 o b ra tamer Dakota Garner crushed the co m petition a t Los "A n g e le s Count y Raceway in Palmda le d u r in g the fourth annual Thousand Oaks Yamaha /California Racing C lub's Mini Motocross Nationals. " Unusually humid cond it io ns at th e H igh Desert track didn ' t seem to faze Ga rne r, wh o won seven o u t of eig h t m ot os en tere d to claim four Pee Weeclass victories. Ka wasa ki Team Green's Sean Collier was al so in a cla ss of his own, taking wins in th e 80c c (12-13), Supermini and 80cc Pro classes. There were also some big winners off the track . Along with the numerous free bies thr own out into the crowd d uring the trophy presen tation at th e end of the d ay, a coupl e of $100 and $500 college scho la rs h ip s were raffled off. Grand-pri ze w in ne rs included Charlie Fox , w ho w on a n ew Yamaha PW 50, and Da vid N orris, who held the wi nning tic ket fo r a 2000 Yamaha TT R90 four-stro ke. On the track, Collier sta rted out his perfect da y with a wire-to-wire romp in the firs t Supermini m o to aboard his Th ousandOaks / N -St yl e /Shift /FMMbacked Kaw asaki. Chris N orr fini sh ed seco nd, ahead o f Anthony Barbacovi a nd G a rrett Warren . Loui e Santia go held d own third in the ea rly stages, but a co u p le o f cras hes dropp ed h im to sixth, beh ind Mike Eps tein. Warre n g r a bbed th e seco n d -mote start, but Collier knifed under him comin g ou t of th e w hoops on the opening lap to steal th e lead and then di sapp ear for the win. Wa rren held off Santiago to go 4-2 fo r second overall . Barb a co vi fought back fro m a last-place start to earn thi rd on a 3-4 performance. The 80cc (12-13) class was more of the sa me for Collier: A couple of good star ts turned into seemingly easy wins. Ryan Royb al had no problem bri ng ing his C R80 across th e line for a pair of runner-up finishes . Ricky Parks a n d Mi ch ael Bre w er a rg ued over th ird in both mote s, with Park s comi ng ou t on top in mo to two. David Norris rounded out the top five. Collier g o t around a fa st-starting Santiago early in the o pe ni ng 80cc Pro moto and eventuall y pulled o u t a 20second lead by th e time th e ch eck ers fell. Norr gated in thi rd but went d own o n th e first la p and h ad to make h is run for th e m oney fro m las t place. Santia go al so took a n LACR soil sa m p le C (Above) Dakota Gamer was the king of the pee wees at the fourth annual Mini Motocross Nationals, taking a fantastic four class wins. (Left) Sean Collier conquered the competition in three classes. a n d fin ish ed well ba ck . Ty e H am es , w ho was t he yo u nges t rid er in th e field , worked his wav arou nd Wa rre n to finish in second place, Norr bounced back fo r fourth, ahead of Epstein and Barbacovi . Hames and Santia go ran ou t front until Colli er za ppe d them both. Coll ier continued on uncontested to tak e home th e first -place m oney . Hames fin ished all by himself for a we ll-deserved second ove ra ll. Warren we nt 3-3 for th ird , with Ep st ein holding off Barbacovi on the final lap to go 5-4 and ea rn the fina l mon ey-pa ying position of fourth. Garn er's tou gh est compe tition of the d ay came in the for m of KTM-m ounted Co dy Fa rrar. Farra r pick ed up the w in in the first Pee Wee Advanced rnoto, but Garner re talia ted with the tie-breaking second -mote win. Michael Truglia went 3-3 to top fellow KTM riders Dalton Costahaude and Christopher Bracket for thi rd overall. Garner also kept Fa r rar a t bay throughout the Super Pee Wee (4-6) and Pee Wee Open classes for a pair of ove ra ll wins. Kei th Rob inson o utr an Chris Deed s and Chris Plouffe for third in the 4-6 class. Robinson returned for ano the r' 3-3 showing to defeat Ma rcus C arrillo and Deeds in the Open races. The Pee Wee 60cc class also belon ged to th e Pr o Cho ice /O' N ea I/ Uni-backed Gamer, wh o went 1-1 for vet another win . Armando Aguilar flew hiS KTM to 3-2 finishes ahead of Plouffe and Tyler Hemme. Robert Memoli went four for four to dominat e th e 60cc (9-11) and SOcc (7-11) classe s. Ados Bak chis and Davi d Med ina had a great battle in the second 60cc rnoto, with Bakchis pulling away on the white-flag lap to earn the second-place tr ophy. Garrett orr went 2-2 behind Mem oli in the SOcc class. It looked like Memoli wa s on his w ay to w ra p up h is th ird cla ss win on th e day, afte r cru ising home with th e firs t 60cc Open moto win, but a seco nd -moto fall handed th e overa ll to Trent Pugmire o n a 2-1 score. A s haken Memoli go t back up to finish 1-7 for fourth overa ll, behind the 3-2 of Casey Huntley and th e 5-3 of Pres ton Lun d in . " The Jiron brothers, Alan and Roberto, cleaned up in th e 60cc and 80cc Beginner classes, resp ectively. Ala n Jiro n ran off with the 60cc Beginner first-moto victory over Dana Dreier and J.B. Peek. T yl er Hemme ca me ba ck to s moke everyone in the s eco n d m o to , b ut a cra sh -induced eighth in round one held him to fifth overa ll. Jiron's runner-up finish was good enough for th e w in over the consistent 3-3 rides of Peek. Rober to Jiron aced both 80cc Begin ner motos on his Suzuki, ahead of H un tley . Timothy McDaniel's 4-3 sco re ea rned him third , toppin g James Sendleb ach and Tiffany eN Sm ith. Los Angeles County Racewa y Palmdale, California Resu lts : July 11,1999 PIW YAM BEG: 1. Matthe POp? (Yam ); 2. Pan os w Bra vos (Yam); 3. Zachary Townsend (Yam ). P/w YAM A D V: 1. Kyle Prin ce (Yam) . P/W 50 BEG: 1. Kayl Kolkman (KTM ); 2. David Hill (ATK); 3. Jeff Locklev Jr. (KTM); 4. Ca lvin La C urelle (Poll; 5. Colt on Sanders (KTM). P/W SO A D V: 1. Dakot a Ga r ne r (Co b) ; 2. Co d y Farrar (KTM) ; 3. M ich a el Tr ug lia (KTM) ; 4. Da lton Cos ta ha ude (KTM); 5. Chris to phe r Bracket (KTM). S /PIW (4-6 ): 1. Dakota Ga mer (Cob); 2. Cody Farr a r (KTMl; 3. Keit h Robi nson (Cob); 4. Chris DcOOs(KTM) ; 5 . Chris Plouffe

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