Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

GFI Racing Fall Series South Round 1: Glen Helen Raceway Park (Left) Double Pro-class winner Craig Decker (75) leads Teny Fowler (2), Bryan Allen (292) and Billy Mercier (501) early In the 250cc Pro race at the opening round of the GFI Racing Fall Series South. (Right) Cobra tamer Colt Hubbs topped both the 50cc Stock (7-8) and 50Cc Open classes in San Bernardino, California. STORY AND PHOTOS BY GREG ROBERTSON (Right) Riehle Owens (18) and Sean Collier (83) do battle In the 125cc Intermediate class at Glen Helen Rac_ar Part<. Owens took the overall wlp, while Collier won the Schoolboy class. SAN BERNARDINO, CA, SEPT. 2 he National track at Glen Helen Raceway played host to the opening round of the GFI Racing/Goat Eyewear/Pro Circuit/Scott/Fox/FMFsponsored Fall Series, and Craig Decker proved to be untouchable as he ran off with both the 125cc and 250cc Pro-class wins. YZ125-mounted Sean O'Conner absconded with the lead when the gate dropped for the one-shot, 20minute 125cc Pro moto, over Decker, Chris Gosselaar, Cody Knauss and the rest of the field. Decker hounded O'Conner for a lap before going underneath him for the lead. A bobble by Gosselaar on the opening lap dropped him back to ninth, as Turbo Reif moved up into third place, ahead of Gordon Ward and Brandon Schlensig. With a clear track ahead of him, Decker was putting a couple of seconds per lap on O'Conner, who was now being dogged by Reif. On lap eight, Reif found a way around O'Conner, but Decker's lead seemed insurmountable by this point. At the checkers, it was Decker by a comfortable margin. Gosselaar charged for the entire 14-lap race and was rewarded with the second-place money after getting past Reif with just a couple of laps remaining. O'Conner stayed close for fourth, followed by Knauss and Ryan Orr. Terry Fowler put his YZ426F into an immediate lead when the oneshot, 20-minute 250cc Pro moto got under way. Decker settled into second place, ahead of Billy Mercier, Ward and Bryan Allen. Fowler's lead lasted a couple of laps before Decker pushed him back to second place. A miscue a short time later dropped T 52 SEPTEMBER 26, 2001 • cue Fowler back to sixth; Mercier inherited second place, with Ward all over his back fender. Just as in th~ 125cc Pro class, once Decker was out front, he easily distanced himself from the field for a convincing win. Mercier and Ward spent the entire 13-lap moto arguing over second place, with Mercier eventually prevailing. Allen claimed fourth, ahead of Fowler and Ulysses Pollard. Tyler Duncan led the first few laps of the opening 125cc Intermediate I e n e ..., s (Above) Patrick Bleckert (972) snares the holeshot in the first 125cc Beginner moto, but Matt Cleveland (120) went 1-1 for the win. moto until Sean Collier sliced underneath him in a comer to steal the lead. Collier blistered the track during the remaining laps en route to the firstmoto win with a 20-second lead. Richie Owens put in an excellent effort after his lOth-place start to pass Paul Pearcy on the white-flag lap for sec- ond place. Corey Macomber also nipped Pearcy on the final circuit for third, with Donnie Weber finishing fifth. Duncan got off to another great start to lead Matt Gomez, Owens and Tyson Burmeister in round two. Owens slowly reeled in Duncan to take the lead on lap four. Duncan tipped over in a rutted turn, allowing Collier and Gomez to move up into second and third, respectively. Collier pressured Owens for the remainder of the moto, with Owens holding off Collier by a bike length at the checkers for the hard-fought win. Macomber went 3-5 for third, followed by the 8-4 score of Duncan and the 7-7 tally of Josh Stice. Owens returned to absolutely run away with the first 250cc Intermediate moto win aboard his Kawasaki Team Green/Troy Lee Designs/Pro Circuit/ZLT -backed 10<250. Stice got around Cory Murphy at the top of a hill on lap two for second place, where he stayed until the finish. Murphy, Chad Gaumer and c.J. Mahon all took turns holding down third place, with Mahon's reign being on the last lap, when it counted most. The second moto was a duplicate of the first, as Owens rocketed out of the gate and into an immediate lead and never looked back. Justin Eide controlled second place for a couple of laps before he was swallowed up by the hard-charging trio of Branden Milstead, Gaumer and Stice. Stice prevailed, going 2-2 for the secondplace brass, over the 5-4 score of Gaumer and the 4-5 score of Murphy. It was a YZ250F slugfest at the front of the 125cc Novice class. The blue machines dominated the first four overall positions on the highspeed circuit. Rick Schaffner ended up splitting moto wins with Franklin Ziegler for the overall honors. A.J. Steinbach used consistent 3-3 finishes for second overall, with Jared Minor going 2- 7 for fourth, behind Ziegler (6-1). Collier was untouchable in both Schoolboy races aboard his Honda of

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