Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ma rk Barnett (2) and Scott Burnworth (1 6) lead it o ut of t he f irst corner in heat two . Barnett went on to place third and keep the point le a d. AMA/Wrangler Super Series: Round 15 Bailey -monumental in D.C. By Tom Kolnowski WAS HI NGT O N, D.C. , MAY 14 Team H onda 's Da vid Ba iley was victorious in the Washington Miller High Life Super- cross, waging a successful campaign over Honda teammate Bo b Hannah in an intense 6 fi na l event. " I' rn sure th at I w ill re mem be r thi s win fo r a lon g tim e !" Bailey sa id. " It wa s o ne of the most exciting events I h av e ever been in ." The fin al wa s unusual in Super- cross, si nce four different rider s to ok th eir turn a t holding th e lead. T eam H onda ' s J ohnn y O 'Mara , T eam Kawa saki 's Jeff Ward, H a n n a h , a n d finall y Bailey, shared th e lim elig h t during th e 20-lap ma in even t. T em- p eratures in th e 80's, combined with high humidity a n d bright sun, p layed a ro le in determining the winner. R obert F. Kennedy Stadium played h ost to the first Supercross event h eld in th e n ation's ca p ito l. A 3:00 p .m . start m ad e the outdoor stadi urn event unique. second on ly to th e Daytona Super cross which is also h eld under da ylight conditions. Construction of the track was a lso unusua l, with the course laid out a lo ng th e o u ter p eri m et er s o f th e sta - d iurn.Jea vin g th e fo ot ball fie ld in th e center intact. P romoter Mike G ood- win a p pea red to be p leased w ith the p aid att endance fig ure o f 22,000. The points battl e for th e Wran gl er S u pe r Series titl e became a bit tighter. A third place finish in th e fin al left T eam Suzuki 's Mark Barn ett a lo ne o u t front with a 20-p oint m arg in o ver Hannah . With hi s win , Bailey h a s mov ed to within 23 points o f second pl a ce Hannah a s h e h olds down third, Heats " I think that it will be a su rviva l battl e toda y, with the weather like it is, " Bai ley sa id before the he at ra cing began . "It will be important to co n - serve as much energy as possible. " Hannah was in better physi cal con- dition than he h as been since contract- ing a virus several weeks ago . " I am feel in g mu ch m o re l ik e n ormal ," said H annah. " Th ings are just very slow, in gett ing back to whe re I wa s before getting s ick ." H annah got do wn to bu s in ess in th e firs t h ea t, besting T ea m S u zu ki's Ala n Kin g a n d Team H onda 's St eve Mart in into the bank ed swee pe r a t th e en d o f the sta rting ch u te . By th e en d o f th e fir st lap , H annah h ad o pen ed u p a co m ma n d i ng lead o ver King . Tea m Yam ah a pil ot Br o c Gl ov er sta rted in fifth , a n d wo rk ed around King a n d Martin by th e n ext lap. Hannah h eld a seven-second lead over Gl over , but Martin made a suc cessfu l co rn er pass around Glover to nab seco n d . Hannah co n ti n ued to pound o u t a lengthy lead until the end, topping Martin, G lover and King. , Team Suzuki 's Scott Burnworth , aboard a low-tank edition factory bike, narrowly edged Suzuki team- mate Mar k Barnett a n d Team Kawa - saki 's Billy Liles at the beginning of the n ext heat. Barnett wai ted until the following la p to mak e his move to the front, as Burnworth and Liles held the next two spots. Team Hon- da 's Johnny O'Mara was quickly moving up after a fourth place start, and moved into third as Liles got out of shape in th e wh oops . O'Mara took a fl ight around Bu rn wo rt h two la p s later, a n d began to clo se o n Ba rn ett. As th e last la p be gan , O 'M ara con - tinued hi s charge, b u t fell short a t th e flag. Burnworth remained in third , w i th H onda S u p port rid er Br ia n M yersco u gh making his wa y into fourth . T eam Yamah a 's Ron Le chien took co m ma n d o f th e n ext h eat, wi th Ba i- ley, Team Yamaha 's Mike Bell , and T eam Honda 's Phil Larson scrapping for th e n ext three positions. Le chien managed to hold on fo r half a lap, when Bailey and Bell decided i t was time to go a ro u n d . Bailey began to pu ll away from Bell , but Bell started to close the g ap a few laps la ter. Lechien had fallen off the pace, but was hangi ng onto thi rd . In the final few la p s, Bell came even close r to Bailey, moving to w ithin two bikeleng ths . Ba il ey began la p- ", ping riders on th e last lap, giving Bell time to move in as th ey ca rved thro ugh tra ffi c. Ba il ey resisted, and h el d on to win his first event of th e afternoon . Be ll was followed by Lechien an d Larson at the finish. R ick Johnson put his Team Yama- h a factory bike out front in the last heat, as Team Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward

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