Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events GFICalifornia Fall Series N orth Round4 HollisterHills : Pestana pulls through By J im.& Va lerie Eno s HOLLISTER, CA, OCT. 4 eff Pestana , a bo ard his Claw son Motorsport /O'Neal /Pro Circuit / A Ride-backed Su zuki, cam e throu gh with victories in both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at round four of the 1999 GFI Ca liforn ia Fall Se ri es a t the H o ll is ter Hills GP tr ack. Even w ithou t a sing le holeshot on th e day, Pest ana managed to meet the ch a llenges presen ted by Jes se Ke tch am and Jeff No r th rop to cla im the ove ra lls. In fact, Ketcham , in on ly his seco nd Pro race, wo n the firs t 125cc m ot o, hol d in g o ff Pes tan a a nd No rth rop the en tire mo to, but he could o nly muster a six th in mo to two , w hile Pes tana took the wi n. Northrop, aboa rd his Team Green /Fox / BeiRay / Du nlo pbacked Kaw asa ki, led most of th e se cond 125cc mot o un til a trip over the bars e n ded h is d a y. Pe st an a ' s co n s is te n t sta rts in the 250cc Pro clas s led to a convi nci ng 1-1 sco re on the da y, over an ever-impro ving Andy Bowyer. A chill y fog se ttled in over the Ai\TWpr ep ped track, and it lingered for mos t of the m orn ing, ma kin g fo r excellen t traction. Nearly 350 riders converged on a cha lle ng ing layo ut, co m p le te with a wh oo p sectio n an d enoug h eleva tio n changes to wa rra nt the use of sea-sickness pills. The morn ing sta rted off with a stro ng gate of 10 125cc Pro s. Ket cham grabbed the ho les ho t, a head o f Ya maha ride r Au ggi e Rodri gu e z . Wh il e Ket cham motored ahe ad , Rodriguez succu mbed to t h e p r es s u r e of Pe st a na a n d Northrop. In fact, in the last tw o mee tings a t Holl ister betwee n Pes ta na and Northrop, it wa s bar-to-ba r a ctio n as each claimed an overa ll victo ry o n the day. O n this da y, however , Ketcham was set to play the spo iler, and he clicked off consis tent lap tim es, wit h the duo hot on his ta il. Wh ile Pes tan a wa s neve r able to show Ketcham a w hee l. he was definitely bu sy keepi ng a persis ten t N orthrop b eh ind him . No r thro p 's p ers isten cy J 28 Jeff Pesta na too k bo th th e 125cc and 250cc Pro-c las s overall vi ct ori es at the fourth rou nd of th e GFI Californ ia Fall Series North. held on the Hollister Hills GP track. a p peare d to pa y off as he pa ssed Pestan a at the halfway po int wit h an inside mo ve o n th e uphill d ouble. Ho w ever, on e lap later, Pestana bounced back and ret ook second, for cin g i o rt hrop w id e with a bar-ba nging ins ide pa ss. Back in the pa ck, Mike Mason and Dennis Stapleton we re trying to ga in so me gro un d o n No rthrop, but they never go t close e no u g h to cha lle nge the Te am G re en rid er. The m o to e nd ed wit h Ketcham ta king th e win over Pes tana, who just ba rely he ld off 1 or throp for se co nd. Mason a nd Stapleton ro u nd ed ou t the top five. Having just w on his first Pro motu, yo u wou ld thi n k Ketc ha m w ou ld be ecsta tic. If he was, he hid it pretty w ell. Th e q ui e t Va lley Sp r in g s res id ent seemed u nfazed a t ha vin g just beat en the two seasoned ve terans . " I just di dn 't think abo ut those guys behind me and jus t rod e my own race," sa id the Th or /DH Cycles / FMF / Sm ith backed Ketcham. "Th e ga te d idn't d ro p at first, and I wheelied over it. I timed it just righ t, got ou t fro nt a nd jus t rode smooth ." Pest an a' s confi de nce didn't see m to be affec ted bv Ketcham's win. "Ketcham rode smooth out there," he not ed , "but I' ll beat hi m in th e second moto." Pes tana had his work cut ou t for him in the seco nd mo to, as a speedy Dennis S ta p le to n, aboard h is Pro's C hoi ce / Rockoil/Pro Action Suzuki, grabbed the holes hot, w ith Northrop in tow. Pes tana tu cke d in behind orthrop w hile Natha n Tiea rney an d Maso n followed. Ketcham go t a near- last-p lace sta rt, but he wou ld mak e his wa y up to sixth by the en d o f th e m o to. St a p let on reli nq ui s he d hi s lead to No r thro p by th e third la p and then let Pestan a ge t by on the uph ill sec tio n, droppin g h im to third . . The man on the move, ho w ever, was Ti ea rn ey. The CMS / Thor / PJ1-backe d rid er mad e his w ay pas t Sta p le to n for third a nd wa s gaining grou nd o n Pestan a . Up front, Northrop was beginning to feel the pressure from Pest ana - and then di saster struck. As he came into the left-hander befor e the elevator ju mp, he came off the little jump too far fo rwa rd and we nt over the bars. Northrop end ed up cruising the remainde r of the moto to finish eig ht h. "I rod e the fro nt w heel for a little bit and then it tu cked ," a da zed Northrop later sai d . "I w ent over the ba rs and hit my head pretty ha rd . I'm s ti ll seeing stars. " With Jo r th r o p o u t, Pe stan a took over the lead a nd never looked back, even tually taki ng the chec kered nag and the overall wi n . Tiea r ne v fo llowed in seco nd, wi th Stapleton, Mason an d [er rad Fisher rou ndi ng o u t the to p five. Althou g h Ket cham finishe d sixt h, hi s firs t-mo to win netted him seco nd overall o n the da v. " I th ink "th e pre ssur e got to Jeff (Northro p)," sai d Pestana . " I was righ t on him and he was ma king a few bobb Ies befo re he w en t d o wn . Sta ple to n w as rid ing good u p front, but th en me and Jeff just motored away from him." " I fin all y go t a better s ta rt, w hi ch helped o ut, a nd Sta p le to n wa s pretty hard to pa ss." said Tiearney. "After that , I jus t kept it on ." In bot h 250cc motos, Pest an a go t secon d -p lace sta rts . Fox / Tim Morais Racing / DC Shoes-bac ked Bowyer too k the ea r ly lead in m ot o o ne. Bowye r, w ho has returned after taki ng a few years off, show ed good speed u p fron t u ntil Pestana got by him . Northrop a lso mov ed through and tried to cha se d own Pestana , but an un expected trials-style rid e over a hay ba le ended his cha se, an d he ev en tua lly se tt led for seco nd . Bowyer held o n to third, followed bv Mason and Stapleton . . In m ot o tw o , Ket ch am go t th e holesh ot but went way wide coming up to th e en su ing table top . Th e mis cu e all owed Pest ana to take o ve r th e lead , and with Northrop ou t after his mishap, Pestana was never challen ged. Bowy er pu t in a nother good ride, finis hing secon d a nd second overall on the day, follo w ed by Ha rold H agem a n aboa rd a Fox /FMF/VP Fuels Suz uki . Fisher took fou rth. and Sta pleton ro unded ou t the top five. eN Hollister Hills Ho llister . Cali forn ia Results: Oct ober 4, 1999 (Round 4) Pee W('(' T rack 50 Frr: I. C h ris to p her (li M); 2. Bria n joh nson IHu s): 3. T tmmv J,lI1l\isst' (KTM). 50 riw JR: 1. Co nno r Monta lbo (Suz ). 50 (4-6) ST K: 1. 7..nchary Cy r (I\l\); 2. Ier ry Bl,lkt' Jr. (HM); 3. Lindon Coh en (HM ); 4. J.,ke Cawy (Lem): 5. ZlCk Ma rtinez (KT \ O. SO (' -8) ST K: I. Cmvson Sw if t (Cob) ; 2 . C ha rl ie Mo ore ( KT M) ; 3. Cry~ td l l,'ytu n (KT M) ; .. . c.'!'ll (K.1W); 5. Kurtis B.'Il..'y (Yam) . • ' 80 B/W: 1. Ch.l d S h imo n (Hon); 2. Ca sl..'V Frt. nc h (Han) ; 3. JO!'oh Mourer (K.,W); ". Tvlt' r Fn'nch (Ho n) . 80 N O V: 1. D.\\.ojd D.ll"~Y (V., m); 2. Ju stin WOlld s u (Y.l m); 3 . Jarro J M,lrkn :-o (Y.lm); .. . T v.!' n En /wl'i ll'r (Y,l m); 5 . Tr.wis Enzwl'ilt.·r(Y,lm ). ' 80 INT: 1. C h M Iit.· Mo rr isCln (Y.l m); 2. Jilek V,ln Ca m p (Va m ); 3. Aar on Bcq;.l n tz (Yill n ); .t, C o ry MeD,m il'] (Yam) ; 5. AMo n DiC i.mu (Yam ). 80 S/M I N I: l. C harlie M o rri ~o n (Y,l m); 2. Cort'V McD., n it'1 (Y,ml) ; 3. Oa vid D.u~y (Y., m ); ... J,lek V.ln Cilm p (Y.,m); 5. A,uon &'r,;.lnt z (Yn kins ( Kdw); 3. Aht- John!>On (Ya m ); " . Jaso n Buu~ud (Ho n); 5. Chris Row ell (K" w) . 12 5 NOV : 1. John Goodbv ( Ya m); 2 . Trafto n Chandler (Ya m); 3. Jos h Co x (Ya m) ; 4. Adam Mi lle r ( l(aw ); 5. M il.. ' Sta rkwea the r (Ya m) . t 125 INT: I. St eve Ma rtens (Y.,m); 2. Rv.m Mo ra is (Yam): 3. Turbo Rcoif (Ho n): ... Randv Nor~,an (Y,l m ); Keith Verd in (Y,l m). • 125 PRO : I. Jdf Pes ta n.l (Suz ); 2. Jt.~ .!'e Ketc ham (Su z ); 3. Nathan Ticarrwy (Su z); 4 . Denni s Sta p le to n (5U1:); 5. Mike Mil.... (Hon) . m 25 0 BEG : 1. C.ny R o ~ (Ya rn): 2. \1 ylt-' La nois (Ka w): 3. j e ff Beaubie r ( Hon): 4. Tr o y Kaczmarczyk (Ya m ); 5. Frank Fra ~ula lSuzl. 2SO T V: I. j.:l l..t.' Hem phill (Ka w]: 2. Robert Bl.lke O (Ka w) ; 3. Mol k n(lu~ut.-'f: . 30+ PRO: 1. Jd f Pt""t.ll1.1 (Su; .). r 35+ NOV: 1. Ku rt Sm it h (5u 7.); 2. Ro..... Robertso n (Y.:I m) ; 3. Robert Field .. (Yarnl . 3 5+ I NT: 1. j oh n Mo ore (Y.1m) ; 2 . Gary Pla .l t jP (1(.1W); 3. Jdf B.ntl'r (Ya rn ): -t. Steven Storie t Hon]: 5. T im Alvarado ( Ka w). 40+ NOV: 1. Rub...'T1 Field-, (V.lm) ; 2. Milu. Am.l rat ' (Y.am ~ ; 3 . Crt.·~ Dou~I ."" (Hun) ; 4 . Kevin Wilkinson tSuz): 5. Pat Saugar (Yam). .. 40 + I N T : I. Tim Alvarado IKa w ): 2 . Je ff Bax ter (Yam ); 3. \ t il..t, Corda (HtJO); 4. l'errv Sherman (KT Ml; 5. Jnhn Handclin <5u1:). . AMAFallC lassic Eastern Four-Stroke N l ationa Round 4 Daniel Boone M : otocross Horton, Riddle, Smith at DBMX By S usan S . ,Willian LONDON. KY, OCT. 3 ith so me 347 rid ers present a t Dan iel Bo on e M ot o cro ss , t he four th ro un d of th e 1999 AMA Fall Classic Eastern Fou r-Stro ke Na tional - run in conjunction with race 15 of th e U.s. Me g a Se ries a s we ll as the Pepsi-bac ked Kentucky Sta te Motocross Cha m pionship - was filled w ith exci tement. Team Atlas Yamah a /Mot o Plane t / Bo ve s e n - ba cke d Rob b ie H ort on ea rn ed ove rall honors in the 125cc Pro cl a ss , w hil e 16- ye ar- old hometown fav o rite Ben Riddle w on th e 250cc Pro contes t and KTM's Kellv Sm ith landed the overall in the Four-St~oke Natio na l. A t th e s ta r t o f th e fi rst 125cc Pro moto, sev eral riders w en t down in the first corne r as Kevin Walker pu lled ou t to an early lead . Ne xt w as Han s Nee\, foll o w ed b v Team G reen /Podi u m O ne / FMF / Su spensio n Plu s-spon sored Riddl e . On th e firs t la p , Horton wa s back in six th bu t o n the m ove. By la p two, Riddle had hit the d irt a nd Horton had worked his way int o third, right on the Neel's rea r fender . Neel we nt d own, allowing Riddl e to move int o third . Tw o laps before the chec kered, Hort on went d own, movin g Rid dl e up ano ther slot. Horton recovered and pu lled alongside Riddle. O n the final la p, Ho rton passed W

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