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/143897
Left to right: Class champions Ronnie Tichenor. Larry Ward. Chad Winner. Junior Jackson and Brian Stanley. 11th Annual Florida Winter National Mlnlcycle Olym.plcs Jackson, Stanley, Ward and Tichenor reap gold By Mike 8t Anne Adair HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, FL, NOV. 25-28 Kawasaki teammates Junior Jackson and Larry Ward shared gold medal laurels with Yamaha's Ronnie Tichenor and Brian Stanley in the Yamaha sponsored,' Super Sports Promotion13 promoted Florida Winte'r Mini Olympics. A record 1,200-plus entries from 27 states and Canada battled for 6 four days under warm Florida sun in short track, TT, hare scrambles and motocross events to earn age division Olympic honors, L W d h h'l f h , arry ·ar., w 0 al s rom t e state of Washington, ~on t~e 85c~ (7 to ll-year-old) champlOnshlponJus~ one motorcycle, a stock Kawasaki KX80 deliv~red to him at trackside by Team Green's David Jordan. "What really helped me," said Ward, "was riding three weeks of indoor short track before coming to Florida." Ward also won the prestigious Transworld Bronze Boot Award which goes to the' • • ~ rider accumulating the most points in the Olympics. Ronnie Tichenor,_ who rides out of his dad's shop - Cycle Springs Yamaha i.n Palm Harbor, F!orida, had won ,the Bronz.e B?ot t.w lce and was lookll~g t? r~tlre ~t this year, bu~ a DNF In ~IS fInal"m,oto stopped hl~ short of his goal. It s really too bad, said Tichenor. "I blew over a berm, ,broke the .clutch lever and then burned out the clutch trying to get '" gOing. _ Amateur class competitor Brian Stanley collected his fourth Olympic division championship. "Two on Kawasakis and two on Yamahas," said Stanley. ~'I had a bad start in short track and TT but I hung in j,., '# # ,.... iIi -I. • there and did my best. It paid off." Illinois' Junior Jackson claimed the 65cc (7 to II) championship in his second try at the Olympics, "I had a close call," said Jackson. "In the first Stock moto the engine tried to seize. It held up and I picked up those points." North Carolina's Chad Winner showed the greatest courage when he mounted his Yamaha YZinger and' competed in the final moto of his division despite having a broken foot. The Pee Wee.champion said, "We were playing after the first moto and jumping off a hill. My foot snapped and it really hurts." The event attracted "factory" mini rider~ from Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha and the manufacturers supported riders at the event with technical assistance. . Short Track Louisiana's Nickie Fontana used a pair of WKR prepped GN Gonzalos Hondas to score the only perfect record in the short track program as he topped the 250cc class. Other class champions were Team Green's Hank Moree and Larry Ward, and Team Honda's Mark Crozier. Fontana stunned the crowd when he avoided the rewards offered by pretty trophy girls, Christy Hanson and Kim Tichenor. Announcer Larry Maiers quipped, "I guess Nickie doesn't kiss girls while he's chewing tobacco." Ocala's 3/8 mile oval was smoother and safer than ever. "We removed the steel guard rail and built a barricade of truck tires," explained the track owner. Kentuckian Joel Barrow put his Beauty Shack/Henderson M/C Sales sponsored, Ron Barrow tuned Yamaha in winner's circle at the end of the . '. ., ~ . ~ . J tJ ~\' ~ ~ b oJ f ! ~. ~ . l. j I . I :) • Pee Wee class final, topping Chad Winner and Brock Bullard. Moree and Virginian Larry Pegram split wins in the 65ccdivision. Moree and his Earl James prepped Kawasaki KX80 took the Stock win after leader Damon Bradshaw seized. Pegram's Butch Wilson wrenched, Cycleland Suzuki ruled the Modified class from start to finish. "I hope to get an '83 Suzuki for Christmas," said Pegram. Seattle, Washington's Larry Ward rode a Harry Thornton tuned Team Green machine to victory in the 85cc Stock class, then finished second to Pegram in the Modified class to take overcill honors in the 7 to II division. Yamaha's 1981 Olympicchampio~ in the 7 to II division, Ronnie Tichenor moved up a class this year and led Georgia's Mark Crozier for awhile before the Team Honda rider took the lead and the win in the 85cc Stock class. Crozier and South Carolina's Cone Manuel waged the best duel of the day in the 85cc Modified class. Crozier's Reed Goodman prepped CR80 led before Manuel's Barr Competition prepared, Support program Yamaha jammed inside on turn three. "My bike had the power," said Manuel, "but he was riding the turns better." Manuel took to the outside in turn four and scored a photo finish win. "He surprised me on the outside," said Crozier, "but I thought I had won until they handed' him the checkered flag. , Fontana had to move through traffic to catch and then pass Jerry Koris and Fred Andrews for his IOOcc Schoolboy win. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, speedster exploded into an early and eventually winning lead in the 250cc class after his main com,:11 IJllt 1)))1