Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128102
GFt Racing Winter Series North/South Showdown Oatfietd Raceway (L eft) M ichael Brande s (4 3) took the 125cc and 250cc Pro v ictories at the GFI Racing Wimer Series North/South Showdown In Turlock, California . (Below) Chris Loredo (3 7) won the 125cc Intermediate contest. By J IM AND J USTI N E N OS P HOT OS BY J IM E N O S TURlOCK,CA,APR. l ic ha el Brandes, packin ' a pa ir of potent Moto XXX/DGY/ At om ic 22/0 'N eal -ba c ked Yamaha s , c a m e into town and outdrew the c om pe t ition with a clean four-moto swe ep o f the 12 5 cc a nd 2 50cc Pro cla sses a t t h e GFI Ra ci n g W in t e r S e r ies No rt h /South Sh ow d o wn . The La ke Els inore res ident, a rmed with a traditio nal two -stroke as well as a YZ2 50 F fou r-stroke , headed north to the Oatfield Raceway and took on a strong field of Pros that included the like s of Jeff Northrop , Turbo Re if , Ste ve Mertens an d recent No rCal hotshoe Evan Laughridg e . Northrop , a board a Te am Gre e n/Fox/Pro Circuit-b a cke d Kawasaki, ke pt Brandes honest with a pair of ha rd -earned runner-up s pots in both Pro cla sses . In fa ct , in th e firs t 12 5cc Pro m oto , Northrop jumped out to an early le a d, a hea d o f Brand e s, a n d th e tw o e ng a g ed in a he a te d battle in wh ich Brande s was ne ar ly run off the track b y No rt h ro p . Bra nd e s imm ed ia te ly retali ate d wit h 'h is o wn aggre s s ive inside move that left Nort h rop with nowhere to go but off the track. "I had the p ass m ade on him in the back s e c t io n of the track , but he Honda rid e rs Charlie Morrison (2 3 ) and Daniel Sani (168) do batUe In the 80cc Supermini c la ss . (A bove) Kawasaki j o c k ey Jeff North rop (9 9) kept Brandes honest, p lacing run n er-u p in both the 125 c c a nd 250 Pro c l as se s at Oa tfiel d Raceway. d e c id ed t o tr y a n d ru n me off th e tr ac k, " Bran d es later sa id, "so I came back a t h im and k ind o f repa id the fa vor and m oved h im ou t of th e way ." Bra ndes s teadily pu lled aw a y for the win. Northrop too k second , while Danie l Bla ir, who g ot th e holes hot , finis hed third. In mo to two, Br a n d e s took the holeshot a nd quick ly gapped th e field cue I e e n rou te to a n easy victory. Northrop had his han ds full with the Honda of R&R Hon d a /FMF / T RE/ Ambi g uo us Raci ng- backed Tu rb o Re if. Th e two wen t at it fro m wire to wire , with Reif holding on for second over North rop . Coupled wit h his fifth in mo to o ne, Reif took thi rd on the day . Brandes duplicated his fe a ts in the 2 50cc class desp ite challenges fro m n e _ S • MAY 2 , 2001 51