Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Clockw ise from abo ve ) George Holland sailed to his fir st major series win. Broc G lover was t he only rider to win a class on a production bike . Alan King, took th e Ope n class. giv ing Suzuki two for the day. made up the lost ground to Johnson. Both riders started to close on G lover, making the moto a Yamaha sweep, but positi ons remained the same. Tara ntino h eld on for fourth, to p privateer, a head of Bailey, Keylon, Wa rren Reid, Brya n Maloney, Joh n Whelche l and Tom Brown. G lover won the drag race to the fir st turn in the second moto aga in .jh e race was with Keylon, but he finished the first lap in 13th place. Gl over was go ne with the lead al most im m ed ia tely. T a ra ntin o , LaPorte, Bailey a nd Mik e Sh oemak er filed in beh in d . Two riders got on the move: Bailey and Johnson . Joh nso n had the most moving to do. He was in 19th after one lap. He started his wa y th ro ugh the pack, passing at least o ne rider a lap and many times several. By th e time h e broke ou t in six th p lace, th e to p five were too far gone . He was in six th for five laps before th e flag. Bailey took only three la ps to move into second . Even so, Glover was so far ahead th a t Bailey had to charge for the rest o f the mo to to close up the gap while Glover was in traffic. La Port e stayed in third, save one lap, for th e entire moto. Reid wa s fourth , up fro m eigh th , and was foll owed in by Taran tino , Johnson, Keylon and Maloney. 5 0 0 cc Pros Jimmy Ell is proved to be the master starte r in the first 500cc round as he rounded the first turn in first a nd third place. Honda support team nder J im " Captain Cobalt" Ell is was leadin g the charge, but Jim "Fresno Privateer" Ell is was in third, sa n dwiching Steve Martin. Wit h the top three riders on Hondas, Alan King wa s th e first bit of yell ow; h is factory Suzuki was in fourth on the initial lap, but he fell in the tight esses before the scor in g area. Larry Wo sick passed Fres n o Ellis and p ick ed u p third wi th Ell is fourth ahead of Mike Bell 's YZ490 and Tim Locey on a bike li ke Bell 's, th en Kin g . " Ca p tain Cobalt " Ell is was loo king like his old self, only sm ooth er, holdi ng a la rge lead over Martin. Bell , Wosick and King hooked up together and started moving toward the front together. Bell and King were starting a p ush when Cobalt Ellis blew off the track into the trees just after the m echanics' area. He was back on in second place behind Wosick, but Bell stuffed inside of him into the next turn. Kin g followed Bell around Ell is on the same lap and Bell took the lead in a tigh t, tree lined section on the hil l. Wosick stayed a head of King for one la p befo re dropping to third. Ell is was in fo urth with Jim my H olley mov in g into fifth a head of Locey, P h il Larso n and Juan Bena vid ez. King began pushing Bell and tr ied for a lunar orbit over th e spectator jum p to pa ss Bell. Bell repassed , but King came o u t of the back section in th e lead for th e win. Locey made a la st lap effort a n d took fourth a t th e flag. Ellis finished fifth , H o lley sixth, Benavidez seventh and Larson eig hth . King led the second start with Wo sick and Bell right behind, but ahead of Larson and Ellis. Bell tangled with so me one a n d swa p p ed down. H e jum ped u p and dodged bikes befor e try ing to j u mp behind h is bik e for cover. The p la n didn 't work and he was run down. Fortuna tely, he was only bruised. His rig ht eye was swollen shut, wh ich affected his depth perception and 'made it difficult for him to make up a three quarter lap deficit. Wo sick had led the first circuit ahead of Larson, Ell is, King, Locey, Benavidez, Martin a nd H olley. However, Wosick began to fade and sounded like he was having some difficulty shifting. King took three laps to move into second where he sta yed. Ellis hung right in third till lap nine when he broke a rear shock. Because the new point system pays a fairly good bon us for fin ishi ng , Ellis fin ished with the tire rubbing the fender. Locey, Holley and Ben avidez got together for a goo d battle on three Ya maha 490s. Locey was on a 1983pre-prod uction model a nd Holley and Ben a vid ez on '82s that were sli ghtly tattered from a year on th e Nationals. Locey came out on top a nd rode all th e way into third. Holley pi cked up fourth, but Ben a videz dropped to seven th beh ind Martin a nd Suzuki 's Clint Hardick. Mike Tripes put an '83 Husky 500 in as first Euro pean bike a t eigh th overall. Larson took th e mo to, but King 's seco nd was good enough for the win. Locey took th ird a n d third overall. The same he ld for H olley in fourth. Results • MI NI EX: 1. Paul De nis (Kaw ); 2. Willy Surratt (Kaw ); 3. Larry Brooks (Suz); 4. M ike Healey (Hon); 5. Tyson Vohl an d (Hon ); 6. Eddie Hicks (Yam); 7. Tony Flores (Yam); B. Billy Frank (Yam ); 9. Kyle Lewis (Kaw) ; 10 . Bobby Moore (Yam). 125cc MAIN: 1. George Ho lland (Suz); 2. Johnny O'Mara (Hon ); 3. J im Gibson (Hon ); 4 . Brian Myerscough (Hon); 5. Scott Burnworth (Yam); 6. Rick Ryan (Suz); 7. Scott Burn worth (y am); B. Rodney Sm it h (Yam); 9. Russ W agem an (Suz); 10. Roger Hensley (Suz); 11. Todd Campbe ll (Kaw); 12. M ike Fisher (Hon); 13 . Troy Blak e (Yam); 14. Ron Lechien (Yam); 15. M ichael Whalen (Yam); 16. Gary Bowman (Suz); 17 . Bret Stevens (Yam); 18. Mike Larson (Hon ); 19 . Russell Reynolds (Kaw); 20 . Scott Kelle r (Hon). 250cc MAIN: 1. Broc Glove r (Yam); 2. Danny laPort e (Yam); 3. David Bail ey (Hon); 4 . Rick Jo hnson (Yam); 5. J im Tara nt ino (Hon); 6. W arr en Reid (Suz); 7. Kenny Keylon (Hon); 8 . Bry an Ma loney (Hon); 9. Vin ce McMa ho n (Yam); 10. J oh n Wh elch el (Yam); 11 . Dean Cate s (Hon ); 12. Fritz Schlegal (Suz); 13 . M ike Shoe ma ker (Hon); 14 . Tom Brown (Kaw) ; 15. J im Coffey (Yam); 16 . Kyle Landrum (Kaw); 17. Darren Oliver (Suz); 18. Doug McRae (Ya m); , 9. J im Brod ie (Hon); 20 . Davi d Wood (Yam). 500cc MAIN: 1. Ala n King (Suz); 2. Phil Larson (Hon); 3. Tim Locey (Yam); 4 . J immy Holl ey (Yam); 5. Lar ry Wosick (Hon); 6. M ike Bell (Yam); 7. Steve Martin (Hon); 8. Jua n Benavidez (Yam); 9. Mike Tripes (Hus); 10 . Clin t Hardick (Suz); 11 . Mark Murphy(Yam); 12 . Willy Simons(Hon); 13 .Jim Ellis (Hon); 14 . Jim Ellis (Cobalt ) (Hon); 15 . Dave Coupe (Mai); 16 . Bob Buffaloe (Hon ); 17 . Clark Jones (Hon) ; 18 . Scott Johnson (M ai); 19. Greg Zitterkopf (y am); 20 . Jeff Hicks (Yam). 9

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