Cycle News

.... -< ~ 0.. .-. .-. o ~ Honda's Ron Lechien barely worked up a sweat on his way to claim the 125cc class win; however. Suzuki's George Holland still leads in points. However, two laps later. Warren re- leased hi s tigh t grip on Holl and, as the Suzuki pi lot sta rted to creep away. The top four riders: Lechien, Hol - Jeff Ward captured his second consecutive 250cc National win after dominating both motos at Hangtown. Rick Johnson fin ished second . AMA/Skoal Bandits Nationals: RoundZ Lechien lands RangtownMX victory By Kit Palmer SACRAMENTO, CA. MAR. 31 "It was easy!" said Team Honda's Ron Lechien after claiming the l 25cc class' vic- tory atAMA/Skoal Bandi ts' Nationals at the Prairie City ORV Park in Sacramento, Cali- Lech ien was n't the on lv rider rodav fornia,a lso known as th e Hang- town Classi c. Lechien and his Chri s Haines-tuned RCl25 Honda dominat ed both motos by lead in g from sta rt to finish despite nursing a painfull y buised heel th at he suffered a week ago d ur ing a local motocross. " It both ered mea litt le bit ou t th ere." said Lechien , "but I just had 10 turn my head and forget about it. Basically I feel good, and my bike is working real goad now. Hope- full y, I'm not going to break any- more headsta ys (a broken headstay deprived Lechien the I25cc win at th e National MX ope ner in Gainesville, Florida. lour weeks ago)." Also joining Lechien in th e win- ner 's circle were Team Kawasaki's J eff Ward a nd Team Yama ha 's Broc Glover who took th e 250cc and 500cc Pro class wins. Both Ward and Glover won inCainesvi lle: Ward won both 250cc rno tos today, wh ile G lover traded moto wins with curren t 500cc National Champion T eam Honda's David Bailey. "T h is win really helps my confi- 16 den ce," said Ward. " In Gainesville I won both motos , wh ich is good, bu t you never know for sure if you just got lu cky or what. But when you pull two wins off in a row, it rea lly helps." compet ing in pain: " I don't wan t to make anv excuses ," said Gl over. " he (Bailey) Just plainly beat me in the firs t moto, but I'm having a ha rd time riding with a bro ken wri st." Wel l. Gl over di dn'r let a broken wrist (susta ined a few ,weeks ago while practicing)slow himan y in the second mot a ; Glover led from start to finish and held off a late-mot e comebac k by Bailey. 125cc Lechien wasted no time jumping 10 the front of th e pack at the sta rt of th e fir st l25cc moto: he was closel y followed byanothe r Gainesv ille win - ner George Holland ofTeam Suzuki, Kawasa ki rider Edd ie Warren came a ro und in third a hea d of Suzu ki's Mike Healeyand an other Suzuki rid er Drev Dirks, Works Kawasaki rider Mark Barn ett was 13th. By the end of th e fir st lap, Lechi en had alread y opened up a considera ble lead over Holland. who was busy trying to shak e Warren. Holland's teammat e, Erik Kehoe,got involved in the ac tion by passing Healey and Dirks for fourth . Three laps into th e race, Lechien 's .lead had grown 10 eight seco nds. and Holl and and Warren .were sti ll going at it as stro ng.asever. J land, Warren and Kehoe began to spread o u t as Yamaha 's Kei th Bowen mad e his presence known, (after a ninth-pla ce start ) by pressuring Keh oe. Once Bowen started hound- ing Kehoe. the Suzuki pilot pi cked up hi s pace and th e two sta rted ga in- ing on Warren. oon afte r, it was a three-way battle between Warren, , Kehoe a nd Bowen fo r third, but Warren stayed tough bymanaging to keep a few bikelen gths between him- self and Kehoe, As th e race drew 10 a close. theWarren /Kehoe/Bowen dice had carried up 10 Holland. who was 10seco nds beh ind Lech ien . Only five seco nds separated Holland. Warren . Keh oe and Bowen, while Barnett had moved up to sixth but was no th reat to Bowen . Lechien eas ily took th e wi n, while Holland held onto second. Although th e battle was close. no one co uld mak e a pass - Warren rook th ird ahea d of Keh oe, Bowen, Barnett (abo ut 10 seco nds behind), Tyson Vohland. GuyCooper , Hea ley, Dirks, Rick Ryan and Larry Brook s. Brooks and hi s Honda stole th e second moto holeshot ahead ofKehoe, Holland. Bill y Frank and Lechien, A few turns lat er . on th e two-an d-a-half mile track. Keh oe slipped in to th e lead but got out of shape coming o ut of a turn a t th e bottom of an uphill letting Lech ien shoot by. By the end of the first lap. it was Lech ien , Keh oe, Brooks, Holland, Bowen , Fra n k. Warren , Vohland a nd Heal ev, Bar- nett was 10th . . Kehoe managed to stay close 10 Lechien for abo ut a lap befor e the I-Ionda r ide r sta rted 10 p ull away noticeably. Keh oe held a slim lead over Brooks. Holland and Bowen, who were dicing Iiercly. Bowen started breathing heavily down Holland 's back and even tua lly dove in sid e of th e Suzuki rid er in a turn for th e pa ss. Then Bowen cru ised by Brook s and held control of third pl ace. After Bowen, a gang fight over fourth place took sha pe between Ho lland, Brooks, Warren , Heal ey and Barnett. Barnett was th e one to wat ch , though as he bu ll ied his way through th e battle. But it was Hea ley who made th e firs t move by passing Warren through a whoop-de-don section ; Brook s fell back 10 sixth. Barnett found h is wav around Warren. th en double-jumped by Brooks and set after Healey. Healey held his ground for a while, th en . when exiting a turn, he sudden ly slowed and grabbed a.t hj s baqk in pain leujng B~rnf!t,by: Heal ey came 10 a stop and fell off hi s bi ke. He was lat er carr ied off the track and taken to the hospital for examina- tion. At this poiIII (six laps from th e fin- ish ) Lechien had a nin e second lead over Kehoe wh o was fo llowed bv Bowen. Holiand. Barnett. Brooks and Warren . Barnett reeled-in and passed Holland th en set afte r Bowen. Up until two laps from th e fin ish. Bar- nett, Bowen and Holland were within bikelengths of eac h other . battling for third . But on th e fin al lap. Bowen crashed letting Holland by. At the finish . it was Lech ien in IOtal com- mand ahead of Kehoe. Barnett , Hol- la nd. Bowen. Warren . Vohland a nd Brooks. " I j ust co uldn't get going today," sa id class poin ts lead er Holland. " I did get going a little bit tow ard s th e end of th e race. but it was too late. In th e second mot o, I got a bad start and got stuck beh ind th is guy - he was CUll ing me off th e whole race . and by the time I got by him, I was just all screwed up - timing, i t messed up my 250 cc At the sta rt of th e firs t 250cc moro. it was th e hol esh ot mast er a t work again - SCOll Burnworth and his Iactorv Suzuki nailed th e holesh ot just ~ head of Hond a ' s J ohnny O ';\[ a ra . Ward , Kawasaki 's Goat Breker, r urrenI 250cc Nati onal Cha m- p ion Rick Johnson and factory Hus- qvarna rider Micky Dymond. During the first lap. Breker went around Johnson a t the top of th e uphill, but the Team Yamah a rider , Johnson. reta lia ted two tu rns lat er .T he n Ward made his firs t move by di ving pas t O'Mara , then he sta rted 10 reel in Burnworth. ' During th e seco nd lap. Burnworth a nd Ward head ed into a sha rp right off-ca mber turn where th e Suzuki rider went 100 wide giving Ward a clear sh ot at th e lead. Begi nning the third lap. it was Ward, Burnworth. O'l\lara . J ohnson. Br e ker a n d Dymond, For the next two laps, Burn- worth kept steady ta bs on Ward then started to drop back a bit. while Johnson slipped by O'Mara. Mean wh ile, Honda 's Bob Hannah was working up to eighth. By th e fifth la p , Suzuki-mounred Br ia n Mvers cough had worked his way up 10 the seventh spot. Johnso n started pushing Burn - worth very hard a t this point and passed th e Suzuki pilot when Burn- worth washed out in an off camber right turn. Burnworth recovered in thirdbut with O:~~~ra in c1p§e P}I! ;

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