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/128232
GFI Racing Fall N a t io n al S e r ie s S outh R o u n d 1 : P e rr is R a ceway K evin Hunter (3 61 and Aaron Gw i n (1171 were this close f or most of the seco n d 125cc Intennediate mota at the GFI Ra cing Fa ll National Series South opener in Pe rri s, Ca lif o rnia. Gw in got by on the last lap to take the win. tion a short time lat er. The rema inder of the m oto was a ba ttle over the lead between Hunter an d G w in ; H u nter overshot a c o rn er on t he wh ite -flag lap and hand ed Gwi n the secon d m o t o win a nd th e o ve r all vi c t ory. Hunter ' s m is cu e allow ed Harden t o fini sh in second fo r fourth overall , behind the 2 -3 t ally of Hunter and th e 1-5 effort s of Guzman. Abo a r d h is J oh n Burr C y cl e s ba cked CRF450R, S ean O 'Conn or was untouch abl e during th e o ne -shot , 20 -minute 250 cc Pro co nte st. O' Co n - S TO RY A N D P HOTOS BY G REG R O B ERT SO N PERRIS, CA, AUG. 17 D e r r i s Racew a y p layed host t o II' the opening round of the GFI Rac ing / Go at Ey ewea r/Fantasy Muffl er/ Maxima/FMF / Axo -sponsored Fall National S eri es South , and A aron Gw in s p li t moto wins w ith f ell ow Kawasa k i pilot Andrew Guzman to top th e I 25 cc Int ermediate class. A great rea ction time at th e gat e ea rn ed Rick y Jam es th e first-mote hol esh ot , o ve r Gw in, Kev in Frisbie , Kevin Hunter and the rest of th e field . Gw in went down o n the op ening lap and found himsel f back around 15th p la c e b efo r e re-joi ni n g t he r a c e . James c o ntrolled th e pa ce ou t front for the fi rst nine la ps of w hat would eventu ally be a 12-lap moto before Guzm an was able to track him down. Guzman pu lled away during the final cou ple of laps for the win. and Hunter also sli pped past James for second. G w in cli m bed all the w ay back up to a. close fourth-place fi nish, ahead of B rock Harden, Fris b ie and Ryan Penha ll. KTM -mou nt e d H ar den w o n the d rag ra ce to th e fi rst turn in m ot o tw o but quickly c ame under fi re fro m both Hu nte r an d Gwin . Hunter ou tj um ped Harde n for th e top spot on lap two , and Gw in dro pped him another posi- Matt McCrum men [4411, Mich ael Sandoval [8361. Brandon M ilstead (1 481 and eventual w inner Sean O'Connor (21 2 1 l e ave the line in the 250cc Pro rac e at Perris Raceway . McCrummen returned to t o p the 125cc Pro class. 48 S EPTEM BER 17,2003' eye I e n e vv s n o r es c ap ed with t he holeshot a nd increa sed hi s lead w ith eac h passin g lap . M att M cCrummen battl ed w ith M ich ael Sandoval and then Br an do n Mil st ead before m aking his way into sec ond plac e on lap nin e , wh er e he wou ld fi ni sh . McCrummen would return aboa rd his Oakley Sport/TCR /IRS -ba ck ed RM 125 to pick up a win of his own in th e 125cc Pro cla ss. McCrumm en turned hi s ho leshot into a fiv e-second advantage ove r Milstead at th e con clusion of the sing le 20 ·minute ra ce. Ulysses Po ll a rd crossed th e line in t hi rd , ah ead of Richard Albac h and Cod y Kn aus s. Fresh from capturing titles at both Lor etta Ly nn 's and Pon ca City, M ik e Al essi returned to Southern Cal ifo rni a t o beat up o n th e Perr is regul ar s. A l e ss i p il ot ed h i s Varn er /Alloy / Bell/FMF-bac k ed Hondas to c onvincing wi ns in th e 80 cc Open, Super~in i and Sc hoolboy c l a s se s . Mike ' s y ounger broth er J eff made it ~ n Al essi sweep of the top tw o po sit ion s in all three classes. .,