Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Motocross Florida W National Olympics inter GATORBACK CYCLE PARK By Mike and Anne Adai r GAINESVILLE, FL, NOV. 'l1-V •, - -.... espite being docked three positions in 12Sec Stock, Chaparral Ya mah a's Rya n Mora is still managed an im pressive performance at legendary Ga torback Cycle Park's popular Florida Winter National Olym pics, top pi ng one class in su percross, two in motocross, and four in IT. More im portan tly, he came away with both the prestigious Seott Go lde n Goggle and Pro Circuit Platinum Pipe awards. "I was penalized three positions for going on the wrong side of a tire, and I thought it m ig ht cost me the championship:' admitted Morais, who last yea r took the Fox Bro nz e Boot award. James Stewart, w ho is justifiably considered by ma ny Florida fans to be the nex t Ricky Carmichael. cruised effortlessly to wins in every final hea t a nd moto of 85cc 12-13 and Su per mini competition. At the Win ter Os, Stewart confessed his eagerness to start riding a 125cc machine. Other riders w ho won all of th eir classes in IT, supercross and mo tocross were Kristi Myers in Junior Women, Jessica Patterson in Senior Women, and Barry Mayo in OVer-SO. -._rtt' 1T ... iii .c g g C 20 Chase Reed led Ben Ridd le, Brett Racine and Paul Yeracka in the 125cc A Stock Final. Riddle moved by o n the second lap and ma d e the w in stick, a nd Reed explained, 'The IT is such a short co urse a nd I didn't have time to get comfortable on it" Riddle's American Suz uki led flag to flag in the 12Sec A Modified final . Said a less fortunate Racine, " I w as going to the fron t early in the race, go t taken ou t to 10th and was lucky to get fourth." In the 250cc A stock main, Rober t Farn e ll held th e number-t w o spot behind Rid dle un til Reed and Ra cin e tag-teamed h im fo r the secon d - and third-place finish es. A confident Andrew Sho rt said after finis hi ng behind Riddle, Racine a n d Reed in th e 250cc A Mod fin al. "I feel good; one of us can beat Ben." Bobb y Bonds, w ho w oul d d o better ' in every o ther event said, " I had a terrib le d a y; p oor s ta r ts a nd then lo ts of trouble." Ricky Renner and Zack Os borne each won a 65cc (7-9) main to b egin th eir eve nt-long q uest for th e class cha m pions hip. Ritter said, "I had smooth sa iling in the Stock final, but Zack passed me in the Modified final. I got caug ht in lappers and he won it " M ik e Alessi, w ho joined KTM in October, won bo th 65cc 00-11) mai ns . Alessi sa id, 'The IT course was so short that we we re into lap pers by the second lap ." The 85cc (7-11) competi tion was closely co n tested b y Ky le Chisholm, Davi Milsaps, Josh Lichtle and Mike . Alessi. Chisholm a nd Lichtle won IT finals . Alessi said, " I w as leading th e stock final. bu t a lapper brake-checked me, I was pitche d si deways and Kyle w as right there for the win." James Stewart passed Teddy Mai er in the 85cc 02-13) Stock ma in, and erased an early lead by Bryan Johnson to win th e Modified ma in . M ora is , the 1998 Bronz e Boot winner, quick ly p la ced himself in th e running fo r this year's Go lden Goggl e award by sweeping both 125cc 0 2-15) finals . In the O ver-35 final , Jim Mars ack prevailed . Runner-up John Lundy said, " I worke d up fro m a thi rd -place sta rt a n d had th e lead, but Marsack was Desp ite some stiff punishment for going on the wrong s ide of a tire in one race, Ryan Mora is won four clas ses dur ing Thank s giving Week. to u g h and too k the lead ba ck for th e win." R.J. Tho mson's Suzuki sta rted a roll by d om in atin g both 250cc B cl asses . Thomps on wo u ld be unb ea table through supercross. SUPERCROSS Un limited Sports trac k designers Jerry West and Barry Mayo vastl y improved the su percross tr ack for 1999. New sec- . tions we re added and the lap time w as s ig n ifica n tly longe r than in previou s years. A qualifyin g acciden t ended Ben Riddl e's incredible w in streak. Just after the s ta rt, Ridd le cl ip p ed a turn, the bike tu m bled an d he suffered a broken col larbo ne, ribs and a cracke d ve rte brae. "It's a real shame," sai d Riddle. "I was on such a roll." Bobby Bonds got back in the ga me in s u p er cros s, hi s Honda explod ing to 125cc A Stoc k an d Modified and 250cc Mo dified wins . "Racing is fun again," sa id Bonds. Racine blitzed the 250cc A Stock final flag to flig. Racin e co m men te d , "The start worked. I kept my head down and pushed. I knew Robert Farnell, Hadsell and Bonds we re comi ng ." In th e 250cc A Mod main, Andrew Short led th e firs t three laps, but Bond s too k over. "I had it won and m ade a stu pid mis take ," sai d Sh ort. "I left Bonds th e ins id e; he' s a good rid er, and he too k it " Forrest Lane led the first tw o laps of the 51 cc (4-6) main before Ian Tre tt el made hi s fo r the wi n . Adominic Izzi erased Les Sm it h's holes hot a nd h u ng o n to clinch th e 51cc (7-8) fina l. Ricky Renn er, w hile leading the 65cc (79) main, hit a hayb ale and dropped to fifth behind Zack Os bo rne, Sea n Hackley and Ryan Dungey. Mike Aless i an d Za ck O sb orn e dueled again in the 65cc fina l, A le ssi even tua lly ea rni ng both w in s . Al es si said, "I had to get past Zack in the Mod ified main; he stu ck with me, and it was a close race." Joshua Hansen rode his Yamaha to a flag-to-flag victory in th e 85cc (14-15) class. Dy lan Lord r esp ond ed with a Modifi ed w in a hea d o f N ic ho las Vaughn and Ryan Sipes. In th e Su pe rm in i fi na l, Joshu a Hansen led James Stewart in the earlier go ing before Stewart w orked his way by fo r th e win . "Stewa r t is goo d :' sa id Ha nsen . " Rid in g agains t h im hel ps bring my rid ing to the next level." In the 125cc 02-15) Modified main, Joshua Summey took the point ahea d of Ryan Morais, Billy Laninovich and Billy Ma rsha ll. " I felt good, and wanted to wi n, bu t Morais jumped ins ide me on a d ouble and held the next turn for the wi n," sa id Summey. Kr isti Myers won her second Junior Women even t, but w as push ed hard a t the end by Cara Chada in a close race. Jessica Patterson' s tra ining is payin g off, as she notched her second Senior Wom enclass sweep. She not only practices on her bike, but runs daily and hi ts th e gym thre e times a week. Th e Tallahassee, Florida, high schoo l stu den t said, " l'rn fortu nate to be able to train occasiona lly with Ricky Carmichael an d Ezra Lusk." Eddie Ray showed that hi s IT wi n w as n o t a fl u ke by pu tting h is fourstro ke Yam aha a t th e fro n t of the +25 Su percross main and keeping it ahead of Gaylon Dickson and Earl May. "The four-stro ke ge ts g rea t traction and has p len ty of power, but the extra 30 pounds mak es it a little harder in the tig ht tu rns," said May. May, who en ded u p second in th e Plus-30 class, said, "C aylon Dickso n go t a grea t start. I caug ht Larry Ges ne r o n the back straight. I closed up on Dickso n, but he w as no t m akin g any mistakes ." Laninovi ch pushed Morais hard in the 125cc B m ain even ts, leading bo th finals and forcing Mo rais to pass for the wi n. "In the stock final, I messed up," said La ni novich . " Rya n passed m e, b ut I ca lm ed d ow n and held second . In the modified main, R.J. Tho mpson passed m e, but I got hi m back and wo n the moto." One year after starting his racin g caree r, young Texa n Cody Rheinlander w on three of the four 125cc C and 250cc C finals. . M OTOCROSS Th e m ot ocros s track wa s rerou ted and length en ed this yea r, and riders report ed it smoo the r, but st ill fast and fun. In the fi r st 125 cc A Stock m o to, Tys on Hadsell led Bre tt Racine and Cha s e Reed for two. Said Reed , "Racine and I

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