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/126961
George Holland (7) and Jeff Ward (3) had the battle ofthe night in the fourth heat. Holland held Ward back for;ttftl win. The start of the 125cc main event saw Michael Craig (240) take the holeshot ahead of Robert Naughton (54) and Donny Schmit (401 ). AMA Coors Supereross Series: RouncllZ . Team Honda's Micky Dymond returned to supercross and won his heat race after dicing with Johnny O'Mara. Dymond took 15th in the mai!1. where he could only manage a ninth. Naughton dropped to third in points, giving Matson and Surratt the points lead. The two are now tied with 120 points each. Heats Ward edges RJ 'or ~hoeni~ win By Kit Palmer Jeff Ward came one step closer toward nabbing his second Supercross Championship title for .Team Kawasaki by winning his fifth supercross of the 16-race season in Phoenix's Sun Devil Stad. lum. However, Ward had to work hard for his win. 8 Ward's nemesis, Team Honda's Rick "RJ" Johnson, grabbed the holeshot in the 250cc main event and . led [or the first ei ht laps before g.. . . su.ccumbmg to ~ard. Still. n~ng with a broken finger on hiS nght hand" Johnson c~u!dn't hold back Ward s . £lawle~s nding t':llents and aggressIve tactics on the tlg~t, hardpacked race course. O\lce mto the lead, Ward held Jo~nson back and motore~ home for hls.second super- . cross WID m a row, takmg the honors before 30,002 spectators. With a huge 40-point lead over Johnson in the point standings, Ward is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. ''I'd say I'm looking pretty good [or the championship," said Ward, "but I don't want to eat my words. When it's all over, I'll say it feels good, but anything can happen. I'm confid~ll.t with my ri<;ting, and !:m not gOl~g to do anything stupid.. Ward s t~ammate, Ron Lechlen, r~~e ~onsI~ten.tly and .smoothly, hmsh~ng third In the mam ahead o[ Suzuki's George Holland and pnvateer Honda rider Rick Ryan. Suzuki riders once again dominated the racing in the 125c~ Supercross (Western Regional) main event with Suzuki's Donny Schmit and Willie Surratt claiming the top two positions. Third went to Honda rider Kyle Lewis, while Dean Matson and Michael Craig rounded out the top five. Going into the Phoenix event, Honda rider Robert Naughton was leading the-point standings, but a crash during the first lap of the main put him in the back of the pack to A total of 42 riders signed up to do battle in Phoenix, and the first heat race featured Kawasaki's Eddie Warren and Suzuki's Erik Kehoe. When the gate dropped, Kehoe and Warren were battling for the lead during the first lap. Warren nudged ahead of Kehoe through the first turn, and a half lap later, Kehoe tangled with another rider in a tight, deeply-grooved turn and crashed, giving Warren a huge lead. Kehoe regrouped second from last. Honda privateer rider Guy Cooper found himself in second place ahead of Suzuki-mounted Alan King and Yamaha pilot Jeff Mabery. During the second lap, both Cooper and King bailed, giving second place to Mabery. Cooper locked into third ahead of Honda rider Terry Fowler. As the race progressed, . King worked his way mto fifth, then took control of fourth when Fowler dropped back. At the finish, it was Warren, Mabery, Cooper and Kin~. . Heat two marked the return of Team Honda's Micky Dymond, who's been out of'action with a bout of mononucleosis. But when the gate dr:opped, it was Team Suzuki's Johnny O'Mara with the holeshot ahead of Dymond, privateer Yamaha rider Doug Dubach and Jeff Stanton. The highlight of this heat race was a duel between O'Mara and Dymond. For half the race, Dymond pushed the Suzuki pilot in every turn before making his first real bid for the lead. Dymond motored to the outside of O'Mara, but O'Mara dove back to the inside in the following turn and retook the lead. Dymond fought I back, however, and a triple~ jump later, Dymond was out in front for good. Dubach maintained control of 'third throughout the race, while Privateer Honda rider Gordon Ward held back Yamaha's Keith Bowen every lap but the important one the last lap. Bowen stuffed Ward through a turn, stealing the heat's final transfer spot. Dymond, O'Mara and Dubach took the top three positions. Privateer Honda rider Larry Brooks stole the holeshot in the third .heat ahead of Yamaha's Jeff Leisk, Kawasaki rider Tyson Vohland and Lechien. But a half lap later, Brooks got out of shape over a triple jump, setting him sideways heading into the next tum. Brooks said he grabbed too much front brake, sending him onto the ground. Leisk took over the lead, while Lechien forced his way into second. For the next four laps, Leisk and Lechien battled handlebar-tohandlebar. At one. point, Lechien snuck underneath Leisk, but the Australian slipped back by the Kawasaki rider. However, Lechien out-gassed Leisk through a section of whoops for the lead to take the win. Canadian Ross Pederson and his Yamaha cruised the whole moto in third, while Vohland finished fourth. The final heat race was the most exciting of the night, especially for Holland who blasted into the early lead ahead of Johnson, Ward and Kawasaki rider Mike Fisher. Holland developed a somewhat comfortable lead over Johnson, who had his hands full keeping Ward at . bay. Ryan, in the meantime, slipped by Fisher for fourth. Riding with his broken finger untaped, Johnson managed to keep Ward in his wake before stalling his Honda in a tight turn. Ward swept