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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/143879
(~Iockwise from above) Ron Lechein 's '83 YZ125 and a little luck earned him c~ass.hon~rs.T~ammateBroc Glover took another '83 YZ to victory. A error In Jim Gibson s last lap charge cost him the 125 overall win. again in mo to two and, smiling all th e way , ne ver relinquished th e p osition. As John n y DNF moto one, th ough, th e real race this ti me was between Gi bson and Lech ein , who was stuc k beh ind Burnwort h for two lap s before Burn wort h DN F. W ith Bu rnwort h out o f th e way, Lechein reeled in Gibson a n d began loo ki n g for the light. Meyersco ugh, who had gotten another poor start, . was on the move again a n d wo rked up past Anderso n, Smith a n d Larson to settle into fourth on the fifth lap. Beier was al so on the move and went from lOth to sixth by the en d o f th e eigh t lap contest. On the seventh lap, Gibson trailed teammate O 'Ma ra by nine seconds an d was leadin g Lechein by seven . On the last lap, G ibson go t on the ga s an d wh itt led johnny's lead to five secon ds, open ing up 15 seconds over Lechein. It looked as if Gibso n had the overall in the bag, but a slide-ou t and stalled engin e gave Lech ein some time. Gibson was unable to restart before Lechein h ad passed 'a n d h ad to follow O'Mara and Lechein p ast the checkers. Lechein won the overall over Gibson, who actua ll y lea ds .the series point standings now beca use o f permoto point aw ards. Meyerscough 's consistant ch arging earned him third overall with Sm ith fou rt h and Larson's improved second rnoto finish netting him th e last spot in the top five. 250cc Pro The steady roar and the resulting snap of the ga te were the only ind ications spectators had of the start of th e 37-r ider 250cc Pro moto one. David Bail ey was the first to be seen past th e snack bar, with the im ages of Ken ny Keylon and Danny Chandler fading in a n d ou t next. At th e end of lap one, Bailey was still leading Keylon , but th is time Factory Honda-rider Chandler was missing. Broc Glover, Mark Barnett and Scott Manning comp leted the top five at the end of lap one with Chandler riding past very late in th e number 17 slot. R eports a short while later indicated th a t Chandler had broken his nose on his handlebar crossbar while j umpin g the doubles in the back sectio n. C han dler pulled off the track, ga ve h is bike to hi s mechanics a nd ca lled it a day. Two races bega n to develop as Bai ley and Keyl on did battle and Ba rn ett passed Glover on lap two, but couldn't pull away. R icky J oh nson and Mike Holmes were also d icing as the attritio n rate cli m bed a nd put them within striki ng range of th e top 10. This pair passed Warren Reid on lap two befo re Johnson divo rced himself fro m H ol mes on lap three and set h is sights on the top five. Keylon was stayi ng with Bail ey and came into view in the number one spo t on lap fou r. Joh n son was in seventh o n this lap a nd seemed to be moving up fast. Two laps later Bailey settled thin gs for th e moto with Keylo n second, and Glover did likewise, passin g Barnett for th ird . The crowd was fortunate this time as they co ul d actu ally see the pass. In the muck a n d mire, Glover said later , "he was going a little bi t outside and I got a line on him, just had a good drive." Johnson passed Brett Cahors on th is lap and caught Manning on the las t lap for fifth . Man ning; Jim Tarantino, Reid, Cahors and H olmes rounded o u t th e top 10. Bailey was first again in mo to two, but ran into trouble on lap one and finshed th a t lap in fourth. Glover took over the lead a nd claimed th e checkers ove r Barnett, who had th e run ner-up spot j ust as long. Bailey got back by Keylon on lap two, but neve r caught th e leaders and finished second overall beh ind Glover a n d ahead of Ba rn ett . Keylon and Tarantino matched skills for a number of la ps, swapping positions until Keylon regained fourth by the flag and took that position overall. Johnson did it th e hard way again to earn fifth overall, while Tarantino's fifth finish in th e seco nd moto landed him sixth overall. Open Pro The first Open Pro moto was the last moto to be run in th e dense fog . Wein ert holeshot, but Martin materialized by the sn ack bar first with Weinert, Jeff H icks, Fresno's J im Ellis and Mike Tripes in tow. Tripes took over third on lap two, but rounded lap five in 10th . The breif glimpse th e specta tors go t each lap showed that Martin wa s holding the lead with th e J ammer h ol d ing the runnerup. The real excitement in this moto, .though, was th e adva nces of Phil Larson and Mike Bell , both of whom had started poorly. Each lap, these riders would appear, diasappear in the mist, and reappear in front of another couple of riders. Larson's performance was the most spectacular as he started out of the top 10 and passed Martin on the final lap for the win. Bell also started out of the topIf and took fourth place moto points for his efforts. Martin followed Larson across the line for second with Weinert third, Bell fourth and Connecticut's Jim Ellis, who finished lap one in position 17, finishing fifth. Weinert holesho t rnoto two, which in many ways, was a near repeat of moto on e. Ma rt in passed Weinert righ t away again, but Bell a n d Ellis h ad both gotte n be tter starts this ti me. Larson was in th ird until h e stu ck his tire in the mud off to th e side of a large whoop. Larson got free in last place and started p laying ca tch up again. Wi th fewer riders to pass, Bell and Ellis worked up to the front in rela tively short order. Bell took over the lead on lap five arid pulled away, while Ellis settled in for third beh in d Martin. ClintHardick pulled in front of the Jammer for a wh ile, but th e Jammer repassed for fourth at the checkers. What about the missing hero? Larson poured on the steam and finished a respectable sixth, after his visit to the back of the pack. Martin 's pair of seconds earned him the overall title for the class with Bell 's 4-1 tall enough for second. Weinert's 3-4 took th ird overall and, for all the catching up that the Honda pair accomplished, Larson nudged teammate Ellis for fourth overall. After the race , Martin was definitely pumped about his overall win, though he would have liked to have won both motos. " I was being too cautious," said Martin, " I was using different grips and I couldn't hang on. " Probably the most pumped rider after the day was through was the Jammer himself. He was all smiles and happy to talk about it. " I want everyone to know I wear Jammin ' USA equipment from head to toe," he said about his own line of apparel. Then he talked about the new Kawasaki, " We didn't think it was really as good as we wanted righ t now, but obviously the bik e is great. Maybe with one of th ese young kids on it ... " Results • 125 PRO: 1. Ron Lache in (Yam); 2. J im Gibson (Han); 3. Brian Myerscough (Han); 4. Rodney Smith (Yam); 5. Mike Larson (Han); 6. J im Anderso n (Yam); 7. M ike Beier (Yam); 8. Chris Heisser (Suz); 9. Troy 81ake (Yam); 10. Rick Ryan (Suz). 250 PRO: 1. Brae Glover (Yam); 2. David Bailey (Han); 3 . Mark Barnett (Suz); 4. Kenny Keylon (Han); 5. Ricky Johnson (Yam); 6. Jim Tarantino (Han); 7. Scott Manning (Yam); 8. Jo hn W helc hel (Yam); 9. Mike Holmes (Suz); 10. Wa rren Reid (Suzl. OPEN PRO: 1. Steve M art in (Han ); 2. Mike Bell (Yam); 3. J immy We ine rt (Kaw); 4 . Phil Larso n (Han); 5. J im Ellis (Han); 6. Clint Hardick (Suz); 7. Jeff Hicks (Yam); 8. Tim Locey (Yam); 9. Eric McKenna (Yar:n); 10. Kevin Davis (KTMI. 9