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/126829
Ross Pederson (1) soared to the win in the Toronto Supercross and took over the series points lead. American Darryl Schultz looked strong in the final. but a crash knocked him down to a fourth-place finish. Doug Hoover diced with Allyn Dyck and Schultz for much of the final and finished second to Pederson. Pederson wins Toronto Supercross By larry Tate TO RO NTO. O NT , CANA DA, J U N E 14 Ross Pederson led a Canadian 1-2-3 sweep of the third round of the Canadian Supercross Series, winning the Toronto Supercross in convincing style to confirm his position as 10 Canada's premier m o to cross rider. T he American presence . . . In Toronto was lim it ed , bu t two riders from so u th o f the border did make it into the lap five; lat e entries Darryl Schultz and .Andy ~tacy made the loca ls wo rk fo r It, bu t th e end they cou ld only ma nage. fou rth and fifth. T he wea ther was a lactor, perhaps helping as much as hinder ing th e In racers . T he soi l used 10 co nstruct th e track was fresh from a co ns tructio n excava tio n. a nd was nea rl y so lid clay. wi th numerous roc ks a nd granite-ha rd d irt clods mixed in . The ra in , which sta rte d befo re the fir st heal a nd lasted a ll ni ght, varying fro m delu ge to ge n tle shower, made th e clay ex treme ly slick. It also mad e it pack down better , w hich 10 so me degree of fset th e slickness , and a lso m in imized th e flyin g rocks. Defendi n g Ca na dia n cha mp Ped erso n was th e fav orite co mi ng in to th e race . despite hi s fa ilure 10 have wo n in Toro nto in th e race's six-year h isto ry. H e was hot from a win in Mo ntrea l two weeks earlier. and perha ps eq u a lly hal lrom th e mem ory o f how fall ing had robbed him of a cha nce 10 win th e series opener in Va nco uver prior 10 th at. Other riders tipped as p ossibl e vicla rs were Doug H oover , Yamaha Motor Ca nada's risi ng star, a nd J eff Hicks fro m Atwat er, Oh io. Hi ck s won th e firs t series race in Vancou ver, and looked fast in practice in Toron to. Dar ryl Sch ultz, previous wi n ner 01 th e U.S. 500cc National MX title, eas ily won h is h eat race from fell ow Yank Tom Carson of H opedal e, Oh io, both o n H ondas. Sch u ltz was considered the o u tside threat because of hi s past experience a n d kn own a bi lity 10 p ull a n aggressive performance O U I o f th e bag shou ld he be in the mood. Eyes were a lso o n two yo u nger riders. Mig uel Duhamel . so n o f th e lamous Q ueb ecois road racer Yvon, was th ere with a H onda p repped by hi s dad. Miguel is fast , but no t yet used 10 travelling in th e top ra n k. Also bearin g close scruti ny was 17year-old Kevin Moore from Sarnia, Ontar io . Alr ead y ridin g a bike p rovided by H onda Ca nada, Moore was a surprise top five fin ish er in Montrea l, a nd was exudi ng co nfi de nce before th e race . " We ll. yeah . it 's ra ining a nd it's slippe ry, but it's th e sa me lor all o f us, in cludin g Ross an d th e o ther fas t g uys . I'll j us t give it m y best. " With a fina l sixth overa ll in onl y hi s seco nd su pe rcross , th e you ng man from western On ta rio served no tice tha t he' II bear wa tch ing in t hc future. Once th e ra cing sta rte d, . things began to unfold as expected . with the . top rid ers regularl y pi ck ing o ff their heats a nd co n seq ue nt finals positi on s. The rider who worked the hardest 10 get to the final wa s proba bly New York's Stacy, who m issed his heat tran sfer by on e position, then ' crashed OU I in hi s semi and fin ally sq uea ked th rough with a win in th e Last C ha nce Qualifier. Hi s su bse-. quent fifth overall and prize of $1000 no doubt ease d th e pa in, even if th e th ousa nd is o n ly wo rt h about $725 back home in Buffal o. Schultz an d Carson had n o problem domina ting th eir h eat; in the seco n d J eff Hicks co n ti n ue d the Am erican dom in ance but was cl osely chased by h ard-caarg in g All yn Dyck on hi s G.A. Checkpoint-sp onsored H onda . H eat th ree saw J eff Surwall - a tran sp la nted Am eri can n ow res idi ng in Canad a - th e winner, closely pursu ed by Yamaha Canada h ot-shot Doug H oover. Stacy and Moore narrowly m issed transfers in this. th e closes t of th e quali fiers, a n d perhaps th e best racing of the n ight . In hea t fou r, Pederson served notice o n th e rest o f th e field as h e took hi s Suzuki Ca na da -sponsored bik e 10 a n im me dia te lead , which h e stre tched a t will th roughout th e eight -lap heat. Tota lly in co ntrol and not iceably smoother th an th e othe r riders , he mad e m ore than o ne o bserver co m m en t th at hi s lin es look ed lik e road racin g li nes, wh ile man y ot he rs wer e u sin g th e sq ua re -o ff-a n d -po int-i t meth od 10 ge t around the course. In th e two semis, th e young Canadi ans mad e th eir ma rk, as bo th Miguel Duh am el and Kevin Moore ca me out o n to p o f tou gh push-and-sh ov e ma tch es with th eir elders. Also getting in via th e sem is wer e Mark Mc Laren from Mi chigan , o n hi s selfspon so red Kaw asaki, Denn is James of Ontario, o n the KTM Canada entry a n d J eff Sutherl and of Onta rio, a nalher Yamaha rider. The fin a l was al mos t a n anticlimax. Pederson was handicapped a t th e sta rt - or so it a p pea red - by a bad spo t o n th e sta rti ng lin e. far 10 th e in sid e lin e for th e first corner. wh ich had a big bump right in it s m iddl e. H e seem ed to fluff h is sta rt a n d was in th e middl e of th e pack enteri ng th e co rner; so me ho w he jammed hi s wa y throu gh 10 fifth before th e exi t, th en took the lead a t th e en d o f the first fairly strai ght flat. The crowd freak ed . ser ies leader H oover groa ne d , an d it was a ll ov er but th e wail for th e flag. The Suzuki ace ende d u p cr u is ing 10 a 12-second lead over H oover. wh o had th e series lead up till th is race. Now h e trail s by fo ur. H oov er, Dyck a nd Schultz put o n the closest racing in th e fin al . bangin g and push in g al mos t everyw he re . Schu ltz fin all y go t by Dyck bu t fell a s he tried to ca tch th e Yamaha Ca nada ride r, a nd H oo ver wa s left in peace 10 h ope th at so me th ing would slo w Ped erson. Nothing did. how ever. Ped erson was ecsta tic: " It feels just grea t to finall y overcome m y bad lu ck h ere. A lot of peopl e said I co u ldn' t win here. but tonight everyth ing just clicked! " A disa ppo inted H oover o ffered n o excuses . " Ross rode reall y well ton ight. I ca n ' t tak e a ny th ing away from h im . H is biggest adva ntage over m e now is hi s expe rience." With Ped erson on ly four points a hea d o f H oover goi ng into the nex t race in Ed mo nton Jul y 13, and with H oov er ga in ing . experience ever y weekend, it p romises 10 be an interesting seri es. -