Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Outop of two worlds By Tom Kolnowski It's an impressive collection of championships no matter h ow you measure them eight major titles in just three years. To say that Jeff Ward is one of the hottest talents in motocross is probabl y a n understa te me n t; h e just m ay be th e -, ni a, Ro se Bo wl , th e fires of controversy ~ere fueled . Eve rythi ng :-vas o n th e lin e: Ward and Yama ha s Bro c h ottest. Glover were tied for the poi nt lead \Vard , 23, beg an w i n n ing go ing in , w ith Ron Lechi en o nly two titl es in 1983 a nd hasn ' t shown a ny points o ut. A m is.cue by W~ rd .in hi s sig ns o f slowi ng do wn . " Wardy " fin ds ~ eat race was a ll it ro ok 10 igrute the . fir " F es. . Iurn se If o n top 0 f bo t h m ot ocro ss I 'd I h I h d worlds after bei ng cro w ned t h e I k ro m l 1 .vl eo a pe t a t wa lCh e d' 950 N ' no w l heII my h ea d pretty ar S u p e r c r o ss an d - cc , at ro n a I h I f II " 'd '" , d " d I b I Ch . . 198 II be i w en eu, sal aru, an are y a rnpion in 5. as ,we as , emg a remem ber crash ing or gelling u p _ I mem ber of th e U n ited Sta tes ~eam a lways ma nage to g el to m y bi ke no th at won th e M O lOcr~ss des Nat ions. ma ile r w hat 's wrong. un less I'm o ut In 1983 a nd 1~84, ~ ard w.as also a co ld. I started it , a nd I ha d no cl utc h m emb<;r oflhevlclonous U 111 ted Sta tes _ the lever was brok en off. The bik e teams m .the MOIOCr? SSa nd Trop hee was in gea r; I kick ed it an d it je rked d es Nations, and .m 1984 he .was forward , then I start ed spi n n ing it crowne d 125cc N.allonal Cha m p IOn. back aro u nd. I wen t ma ybe three, Ward , w ho wil l enter the second fou r feet at the mo s t backwa rd on the ye.ar o~ h is cu n:t:nt three·year.contract track befo re I go t tu rn ed aro und in w ith Ka wasak i l~ 1986. has ngh tfully th e r ig h t direction . ea rned a repu tayo n as .one o.f th e Ias" Ken ny C lark (Ya ma ha 's racing test , m ost. co ns is tent rid ers III m o t.o· depart me nt man ager) was righ t the re. c!oss. H e s led a clea n. al mos t 9Ulet and h e felt I shoul d ' ve bee n disq ua lilife, o n a n d o ff th e race tr ack ; N ever fied . I was i n la st p lace a t th e ti m e, o n~ to spea k harshl r a bo u t h.1S co rna nd th ere was nobody co mi ng by." pet1lo~s , a nd ne ver in the m.lddle o f Gloverfi led a p rotest aga ins t Ward , a n~t hll1g that co u ld be d escr ib ed as a cla imi ng Ward shou ld h av e been maj or co ntroversy . di squalified for riding ba ckwards on BUI thin g s cha nge , a nd durin g th e the tr ack. which was denied by the seaso n fina le o f the 1985 AMA S u pe r. referee. Gl over later fil ed an appeal. ~~'Ii'oSri~~l1,dlll4'. iadtlna. lli .filr.." ....·.Tae~t:w;i~a·i II·,.r':lW06 i ik.eothal i.'ioat th e d iscr eti on o f th e referee; he felt i t was n't a big enough d eal to wh ere I shou ld be disq ua li fied. I di d ge t lined $50 0 a nd dock ed a lap, wh ich a lmost p u t me o ut o f th e fin al an yw a y si nce I had to rid e a se mi to qualify (w hich he wo n ). " Th ey hav e to co me up w ith so me sort o f a rule to handl e si tua tions like th a t. W h en yo ur bike is facing backwa rd s o n th e tra ck , it ha s to go for ward a t so me po int 10 ge l tu rned back aro und. u n less yo u spi n it arou n d o n top o f your head. "They ca n ' t j us t go arou nd d isq ua l ify ing peo p le for so meth ing th at ihey ca n' t h el p d oing. Some people say they shou ld s tic k with the rul es; th e AMA se t a preced ent when th ey d isqual i fie d ( Da n n y) Chandl e r a co up le of yea rs ago fo r riding backwa rds on th e track . Broc was d isqual if ied a t the Carlsb ad GP th is year for .rid ing back wards ; h e coa sted d o wn the h ill to pick up speed to s ta rt hi s bike and may be there was traffic co min g . Wh a t' " c he supposed to d o? as J us t si t there fo r th e en ti re race, or maybe try to p us h his bi ke u p the hill? He was i n a pos ition wh ere he co u ld n ' t sta rt h is bike ." Wh en it ca me down to th e fi n a ls a t Pasad en a , Wa rd put th e co ntroversy in th e back o f his m ind a nd co ncentrat ed o n th e ta sk a t hand : puttin g the fi n ish in g touches o n hi s fir st Supercross Cha mpio nship. H e rod e hi s usu al smooth ra ces, and wh en th e tw o 12la p fin al s we re hi story. Ward had ea rn ed fourth o ver a l l o n th e ni ght o n ,' spot a hea d o f Gl ov er - a n d was , t If s 1;1 n p y tw o points, 229 to 227. .~~~ O~~ ~t ~J~~J" jpI~.~~~~ I beat 'e m in the race, and no mailer what, th ey ca n' t lak e that awa y from m e. I kn ow I won th e titl e, Bro c kn o ws I beat him , a nd that 's a fact. It 's alread y been ad vert ised - every bo dy knows it. An d if th ey had taken it a wa y fro m m e a n d I d idn 't get my bonu s fro m Ka wasak i. I'd s t ill kn o w I had wo n it." Ward a nd G lover, w hi le tou gh competitors o n th e tr ack , are "all right as frie nds . I get a lo ng w ith Bro c proba bly better tha n a nyone else. We do thi ngs to g ether , and so meti mes I'll go dow n a n d stay a t hi s house. We ge t a lo ng fine. but d idn 't rea lly hang o u t much together du r in g th e racin g season beca use we were both so b usy; just a bo u t a ll we d id was talk o nce in a w h ile. Once it sta rte d ge ll ing close to th e last su perc ross, we rea lly didn't say much to ea ch o th er, a nd I haven't rea ll y talk ed to him since." Ward wants p eo p le to kn ow he d o esn 't ta g G lover as th e " black sheep" of th e si t uatio n. " Broc reall y d idn ' t ha ve a ny t h ing to do wi th fil in g the pro test; Yamaha push ed him into it. It 's h ard for him to push - so rn eth in g w hen h e rea lly d oesn 't bel ieve in it. T he o ther th in g is th at had I r idden backward o n th e track in th e fi na ls, we ll, then d isqualify m e. But it h a p pen ed in a heat race, and I feel I was p u n is he d eno ugh for it. " T he appea l filed by Glover sta ted that he felt " Wa rd should 've been di squ alifi ed fro m th e event a nd not fin ed ." A n in depende n t three-person app ea l board m et in An aheim, Californi a, o n Sep tem be r 26 a nd ru led " the referee did ha ve th e a u thori ty to fin e Wa rd , and th e p ro lest, as sta ted , is deni ed ." T he bo tto m lin e is th at Wa rd retains h is ch a m p io ns h ip, with Gl over th e runner-up. H ad th e bo ard rul ed in fav or o f G lo ver, Ward wou ld 've been s tri pped o f h is crow n a nd Glover would be th e cha m p . A week a fte r winning the Supercross tit le, Ward went a bo u t th e busin ess of add ing yet a nother cha m pi onship to his co llection. H e had led th e 250cc National point sta ndings from the o ns et , a nd had put a total of five o vera ll wins in th e record books and built a semi-comfortabl e lead o f 20 points o ver both d efending Nation al Champion Ri ck Johnson o f th e Yamaha team a nd H onda 's J ohnn y O 'M ara before h eadin g to t he ser ies fin al e i n W a sh ou gal , Washingt on . " It felt reall y good 10 win th e cha m p io ns h ip . I reall y didn 't hav e to win races in th e last part of-th e yea r, but I had so me th in gs happen toward th e end o f th e seas o n th at co u ld h ave ta ke n th e ti tle a way from m e - having th e transm issi on br eak in Bingh am to n (New York). and ge tti ng kn o ck ed down o n th e sta rt a n d wo rkin g up from d ead last in Mill vill e (Mi nneso ta) . I won th e fi rs t m or o a t Wash ou gal ; it wasn' t lik e I was j us t cr u ising to tak e th e tw o fifth s or si x ths I needed 10 lo ck u p the titl e. " We had to p ut a n ew m ot or in th e bi ke a fter a ll the dUSI in the firs t rn o t o . a nd I woul d 've bee n foo lis h to try a nd win. ris king seizing th e m o to r. I was second beh ind O 'M ar a , th en sta rted slow ing down a nd Lech ien passed m e. " On e of t he reasons I wa n ted to do well at Wash ou gal was because H onda had th eir wh ol e team entered in the class (us ua l 250cc co m petitors Bob H annah a n d O 'M ara , as well as Lech ien a nd Dav id Ba il ey) to p revent m e fro m w in n ing. H onda co u ld' ve co me a wa v with win s in a ll three cl asses th a i d a y.. As it turn ed OUI, th e pl an ba ckfired on them - O 'M ar a won th e cl ass. but I sti ll won th e tirl e (a fter fini shing \ -3 to ea rn second o vera ll o n th e day )." Whi le word never drifted outs ide s " f th e Kawasaki c;a,rrp,. ,W.a.r~ '·a.

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