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Florida Winter Am Series Round 1: Gatorback Cycle Park Josh Lichtle started off the new season with three class wins, in the 125cc B, 250cc B, and 125cc Youth (12-15) classes, at the Florida Winter Am Series' opening round at Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville. STORY AND PHOTOS BY CRAIG AND ANGELA JOHNSON GAINESVILLE, FL, DEC. 28-29 ~he 32nd annual Florida Winter IfJJ Am Series started off bigger than ever. The race format went to two days because of the tremendous rider turnout. as a total of almost 1000 riders took to the famous Gatorback track. The Unlimited Sports crew did a great job with track conditions throughout the weekend. Two riders who started off the new 2003 year with three class wins apiece were Nick Adams and Josh Lichtle. Adams won the 125cc A class on Saturday and the 125cc Pro and Four-Stroke classes on Sunday. Lichtle won the 125cc Band 250cc B classes the first day and came back to win the 125cc Youth (12-15) the next day. On Saturday, 58 riders tried to compete for the 40-rider gate of moto two in the 125cc B class. Lichtle and Matt Boni won their respective first motos, taking them to the final moto. Following the two winners were Kyle Chisholm and Mike Willey. Matt Goerke and New York's Brian Murphy also placed in the top three in their motos. The final showdown was set. Lichtle put the Suzuki out front to stay in the final moto. Chisholm followed him home in second. Willey had an uneventful moto, finishing 14th. Shaun Skinner looked very strong while beating out Goerke and Murphy for third. Lichtle won a qualifying moto in the 250cc B class, and Chisholm won the other. Skinner looked even stronger on the 250 and placed second in a qualifier, and Zack Lundy did the same. New Hampshire's Chad Charbonneau and Steve Dumond also made the top three. Lichtle took to the front of the final moto, as Skinner kept tabs on the leader, not letting him get too far out front. Lundy found himself in front of Chisholm, and Mike Finnegan rounded out the top five. Adams put the four-stroke Yamaha out in front of the first 125cc A the last lap to take the win. Dumond tussled with Dickson for third. The two riders switched places, but Dumond passed Dickson on the last lap to regain the position. Kirk Layfield rounded out the top five. Some other notable winners included Zachary Bell, who took the 50cc Stock (7-8) and 50cc Open wins; Ian Trettel. winner of the 65cc (10-11) and 65cc Open classes; and Dominic Izzi, who won a qualifier and the final moto in the 85cc (12-13) class. eN &atortlack Cycle Park &ainesville. Florida Results: December 28-29, 2002 (Round 1 of 51 moto. Kentucky's Jacob Saylor looked impressive while taking second. Bryan Johnson was third, Brian Gray took fourth, and Paul Perebijnos rounded out the top five. Moto two was a heated battle, as any of the top four riders could take the win. Adams was the one who did, and Johnson got the best of Saylor. Gray found himself at the back of the freight train in fourth, with Barry Carsten taking fifth. Sunday's action was just as hot. Perebijnos took the first 125cc Pro holeshot, over Adams, Johnson, Gray and Tyson Hadsell. Adams, Johnson and Hadsell all moved to the front before the first lap was over. By lap two, Hadsell had moved around Johnson and was closing on Adams. The two stayed close until after the halfway flag, when Hadsell made the pass. Hadsell slowly started to pull away. Adams and Johnson were second and third. Hadsell won the moto. Gray seesawed back and forth to finish fourth, ahead of Perebijnos. Carsten made it up to sixth. Saylor ran as high as fourth but faded back to seventh. Moto two saw Hadsell out front, ahead of Perebijnos, Adams, Nate Larsen and Johnson. Perebijnos Saturday 50 STK (4·6): I. Adam Cianciarulo (Cob): 2. made a mistake in the back and fell back to sixth. Adams was in second and studying Hadsell's lines, and he made his move on lap four, taking the inside around the announcer's condo and jumping into the lead going into the Gator Pit. Then Hadsell's bike started to act up, and a lap later his day was done. Adams went on to win the moto. Moving up to second was Johnson, with Gray third. Gray kept plugging along and eventually passed Johnson for second. Carsten was gaining on Larsen and Perebijnos after the halfway flag and passed both for fourth. Ashley Epps led the first Over 30 moto. Following the Georgia rider were Gaylon Dickson, Billy Wood, Earl May and Carsten. By lap two, Carsten passed May and was pushing. On lap three, Carsten passed Wood for third and was hunting down Dickson. Carsten made it to second, but time ran out, and Epps took the win. Dickson finished third. May moved around Wood for fourth. Carsten jumped into the lead in moto two. Epps moved by Dumond for second before the first lap was done. Epps chased down Carsten and passed him on lap two. Carsten stayed close and repassed Epps on Dalton Myers (Cob); 3. Jarek Balkovic (KTM): 4. Zach Duchaine (Cob); 5. Hunter Baker (Cob). 50 STK (7-8): 1. Zachary Bell (Cob): 2. Nick Gaines (Cob); 3. Donald Diperna: 4. Will Castleberry (Cob); 5. William Reader (KTM). 65 \7-9): I. Justin Starling (SUI); 2. Scott Elderfie d (KTM); 3. Andrew Stocker (KTM); 4. Cameron Reas (KTM); 5. Will CasLieberry (Cob). 65 (10-11): 1. Ian Trettel (SUl); 2. Derek Hall (SUl); 3. Michael McArthur Jr. (KTM): 4. Tyler Moore (KTM): 5. M;tchell Hough (KTM). 85 (7-11): I. Ben Lamay (SUI); 2. Chase Couture (Yam); 3. Colton Bailey (Yam); 4. Derek Hall (SUl); 5. Ian Trettel (Suz). 85 (12-13): I. Dominic lui (Suz); 2. Ricky Renner (Yam); 3. Colten Maynard (SUI); 4. Kyle Keylon (Suz); 5. Lucas Crespi (Suz). 85 (14-15): 1. Kyle Tobin (SUl); 2. Kyle Meeks (Suz); 3. Tyler Tiffany (Yam); 4. Craig Dube (Kaw); 5. Kaven Benoit (Kaw). 125 A: I. Nick Adams (Yam); 2. Bryan Johnson (Kaw): 3. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 4. Brian Gray (Suz); 5. Barry Carsten (Suz). 125 B: I. Josh Lichtle (Suz); 2. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw); 3. Matt Boni (Kaw); 4. Shaun Skinner (Suz); 5. Mall Goerke (Suz). 125 C: 1. Andrew Shacklock (Yam); 2. Cody Patterson (Yam); 3. Miguel Villoldo (Suz); 4. Camden Crul (Kaw): 5. Graham Wright. 250/500 A: I. Bryan Johnson (Kaw): 2. Brian Gray (SUl): 3. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 4. Nick Adams (Yam): 5. Jon Boruff (Han). 250/500 B: I. Josh Lichtle (Suz): 2. Shaun Skinner (SUl); 3. Zack Lundy (Hon); 4. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw); 5. Mike Finnegan (Yam). 250/500 C: I. Manuel Varela (Yam); 2. Dane White (Hon); 3. Cale Flage (Yam): 4. John Shields (Han); 5. Mike Taylor (Yam). Sunday SO OPEN (4-9): I. Zachary Bell (Cob); 2. Donald Diperna; 3. Will Castleberry (Cob); 4. Kody Ketchum (Cob); 5. Adam Cianciarulo (Cob). 65 OPEN: I. Ian Trettel (SUl): 2. Scott Elderfield (KTM); 3. Justin Starling (Suz); 4. Jonathan Parise; 5. Andrew Stocker (Yam). 85 JR MINI (9-13): 1. Ricky Renner (Yam): 2. Colten Maynard (Suz); 3. Lucas Crespi (Suz); 4. Ben Lamay (Suz): 5. Taylor Johnson (Suz). S/MINI 105 (12-15): 1. Kyle Meeks (Suz): 2. Colten Maynard (SUl); 3. Ricky Renner (Yam): 4. Taylor Johnson (Suz); 5. Kyle Keylon (Suz). 125 YTH (12·1 S): 1. Josh Uchtle (Suz): 2. Matt Bani (Kaw): 3. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw): 4. Jonathan Camp (Kaw); 5. Graham Wright. 125 PRO: 1. Nick Adams (Yam); 2. Brian Gray (Suz); 3. Bryan Johnson (Kaw): 4. Barry Carsten (SUl); 5. Paul Perebijnos (Yam). 250/500 PRO: 1. Brian Gray (Suz): 2. Nick Adams (Yam): 3. Bryan Johnson (Kaw): 4. Augie Lieber (SUl); 5. Jon Buroff (Hon). WMN: 1. Jessica Patterson (Kaw); 2. Tarah Gieger (Han): 3. Kirsten Banka (Yam); 4. Cherissa Loire (KTM): 5. Casey Campbell (Kaw). 16-24: 1. Shaun Skinner (Suz); 2. Chad Charbonneau (Hon): 3. lack Lundy (Hon); 4. Daniel Rounding (Hon): 5. Quinton Bigalow (Yam). 25+: 1. Anthony Pocarobba (SUl); 2. Barry Carsten (Suz); 3. Steve Dumond (Suz): 4. Gaylon Dickson (Kaw); 5. Randy Jackson (Yam). 30+: I. Barry Carsten (SUl): 2. Ashley Epps (Han): 3. Gaylon Dickson (Kaw); 4. Steve Dumond (Suz); 5. Gary Allred (Hon). 35+: I. Gaylon Dickson (Kaw): 2. Billy Wood (Yam); 3. Kirk Layfield (Hon): 4. Timothy Eggers (Hon); 5. Rob McCollough (Yam). 40+; 1. Timothy Eggers (Hon); 2. John Lundy (Hon): 3. John Camelio (Hon); 4. John Shields (Hon); 5. Dean Dyess Jr. (Suz). 45+: 1. Bob Collie (Yam); 2. Mark Thomas (Yam): 3. Michael Taylor (Yam); 4. John Coleman (KTM): 5. Jeffrey Hughes (Kaw). 4-STRK: 1. Nick Adams (Yam); 2. Michael Steveson (Hon); 3. Chad Charbonneau (Hon); 4. Quinton Bigalow (Yam); 5. Dane White (Hon). (Left) Bryan Johnson (156) and Brian Gray (38) battle it out in the first 250cc Pro moto. Gray went on to win the 250cc Pro class, while Johnson won the 250cc A class. (Right) Kyle Meeks won the Supermini 105cc (12-15) class and placed second in the 85cc (14-15) class. eye I e n e _ SO • JANUARY 22, 2003 39