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/142444
Bro c G lover finished 1-2 'a hea of Honda's David Bailev, whose first visit to the Coliseum' produced his best Supercross finish to date. And Supercross Series point leader Donnie Hansen, who needed only to finish in front of defending race and series champ Barnett to lock up th e series crown, found himself with more Honda bonus money in his 'poc kets after first lap leader Barnett went down, restarted last and could "only" work his way back up toeighth. That was two spots back of Hansen, wh o . got a poor start and also had to fight up through the ranks. It marked th e secorid title of the year for Hansen and tuner Brian Lunniss, who teamed up earlier for the 250cc National MX crown. . Hansen, whoobviouslywanted to win the race outright in order to wrest the title from Barn ett . was quiet , and subdued afterwards for a new series champ. After a bad start, "I still wanted to catch up; 1'wa n ted to do ' be tter than where 1 was, but it was just too hard to pass. Everyone was ' going pretty good up front so it made it difficult, " said Hansen. 'T h e race marked the end of an era. Track and playing field .im p ro ve- .. ments for the 1984 Olympics will . precl ude any more Supercross rac es in the stadium where Mike Goodwin started it all 10 years ago. Preliminaries Winless ind oors for nearly tw«;» years. Mike Bell won the Last Superbowl, site of his first siJpercross win. AMA/Wrangler Supercross Series: Round 'll Bell breaks dro ghtwith win· t e LastSuperbowl; anse a ds title two By Mark Kariya Photos by Karel Kramer LOS ANGELES, CA: JULY 17 " Don't go settin g any n ew records for three (wins), " Mike Bell h a lf jokingly warned twotime win ner Mark Barnett.as they waited for 10 the main event iri the Miller H igh Life Last Super- Superbowl of Motocross, "I want to join the two club." Barnett laughed it off, but 20 laps later, Bell had the biggest sm ile a fter taking th e win on his Ron H eben-tuned works Yamaha in th e Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The 11th ed itio n of the ra ce drew its seco nd largest crowd - 65;684 - as factory Yamaha teammates Bell and The heat races provided the best racing of the evening, and the top contenders all advanced into thefinal. Heat one saw Kawasaki's jeff Ward jet into the first turn the leader, Donnie .Hansen and Team Green's Bill y Liles right behind. Mike Bell moved up q uickl y from a mediocre start and took over third on lap two when Liles dropped back. Hansen stayed wi thin a few bikelengths of Ward unti l lapseven w hen Ward got out of shape and went over the bars in the whoops before the finish straightaway. Bell also scooted past before Ward picked himself up and got going. Liles sl-ashed his way back through the pack for fourth, th e last direct transfer to the firial. Kawasaki 's Goat Breker got his best Supercross start in the second heat by getting the holshot ahead of Broc Glover, Hi-Point Honda rider Phil Larson and Suzuki 's Denn y Bentley. When Breker almost looped it at the mechanics ' area on lap two, though , Glover got both wheels on the ground and powered past for the lead, holding it to the finish. Mark Barnett came around third on the first lap, got mit of shape and was fifth the next time around. He took third back before half of the 10' la p race was complete. then made up ground on second p lace Breker, finally surging past as they headed up the peristyle for the last time. ' Bentley went around Larson for fou rth two laps from the finish while Yamaha Pro Support rider R ick "No Respect " johnson came from the very back to finish a closing fifth. Heat three could definitely be called the Honda heat as the first six finishers rode the red machines. Yamaha's Scott Burnworth grabbed the initial' lead, but Honda's Dann y " Ma g o o " Chandler and johnn y -O'Mara both rode past before a lap was done. Burnworth started slowing a couple of laps later due to a blown head gasket, and dropped out altogether when .rh e steam blowing out melted an ignition wire. Chandler and O 'Mara proceeded to put on one of the closest races of the night , and the cro wd loved it. Magoo managed to fend off every attack from the "Valley Boy " , who triedseeminglv every ,move he knew, short of ramming him off the track . Honda support rider Steve Martin • •••