yesterday at Coney Island, while Aaron Pace was denied similiar success in the 125 B class when Robbie Smith gained top points for the day.

Pace looked set to capitalise on the absence of main conpetitor Buddy Joell after winning the first moto as Smith finished second.

However, Smith was a thorn in Pace's side the rest of the afternoon as he came charging back to take two firsts while Pace had to settle for two seconds.

Pace's 39 points for the day opened his lead at the top of the class to 55 points over Joell going into the busy Christmas and New Year's programme.

Despite Pace's first moto win, he did not have things his own way the rest of the day as twice Smith slowed up his progress. In the second moto Smith had a nine-second lead over Pace and Ras Mykkal after just three laps, though Pace had cut the lead somewhat by the fifth lap.

However, Smith, riding aggressively, restored a 10-second lead over Pace by the 10th lap and then rode consistently the rest of the way to a deserved victory for the second straight time this season. In his last outing, Smith won the 125 B class with a third, second and first.

He and Pace were level going into yesterday's final race, both having a win and a second place, and the stage was set for a thrilling finish when Smith moved into the lead by the second lap with Mykkal pushing him hard while Pace tried to recover from a bad start.

Before too long, the class leader had moved up to third but the confident Smith was showing no signs of relinquishing the lead. He knew it would mean victory for the day as long as he maintained his pace.

Smith had a 12-second lead over Pace on the sixth lap and increased it to 15 seconds a lap later with Mykkal pushing Pace for second place. It finished in that order as Smith collected 42 points for the day with Pace second overall and Mykkal third with three thirds.

Kemo Simons had things his own way in the 80cc class, which he now leads by 42 points. On all three occasions, Simons took the chequered flag with Jamel Hassell finishing with three seconds.

Hassell did hold the lead early in the first moto but Simons never looked back after taking over first place on the fourth lap. He then opened a lead of about 50 yards on the fifth lap and increased it to 13 seconds soon after.

In the second moto, Simons had a 12-second lead over Howard Paynter, which he increased to 20 seconds over Paynter and Hassell. He was so far in front that a fall only managed to reduce his lead to about six seconds. But he quickly recovered and managed to hold onto his lead.

Simons quickly put some distance between himself and the riders behind him, leaving Hassell, Shaki Easton, Paynter, Craig Panchaud and Jason DeSilva to battle for second, which eventually went to Hassell with Easton third.

Hassell, bidding to spoil Simons' clean sweep, led him in the first three laps of the final moto as he rode aggressively and with plenty of determination.

However, his challenge faded after Simons took over the lead on the fourth lap and then opened a six-second gap by lap number six. Spencer Butterfield had a crash early in the final moto and had to receive treatment from St. John's Ambulance volunteers before getting up and walking back to the pit.

In the 125C class, Leroy Maxwell upstaged his brother Chris to win first place overall. Chris, the class leader by 54 points going into yesterday's racing, won the first race with Leroy second and Kyle Constable third.

Leroy finished first in the next two races for 42 points as Chris had a fourth and a second for 33 points. Michael Burgess (fourth, second, third) was third for the day on 30 points.

Duprey Joell was the lone 250 class rider.

KEMO SIMONS -- Has 42-point lead.