Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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10.000 spectators lined the fences at Unadilla Valley Sports Center. locat ed amid the many farms of upstate New York. World Championship 2S0cc MX Series: Round 9 Johnson out of this world at Unadilla By Nate Rauba Photos by Kinney Jones and Rauba NEW BERLIN, NY; JULY 24 T ea m Honda ' s Ri ck Johnson was, as runner-up Bob H an n ah put it, out of th e this world as he handily bea t the world's best ri ders at the United States 250cc MX GP at the Unadilla Valley Spor t s Cen t er. " We're mortal, and that sonof-a-bitch is an alien ," said 6 Hannah foll owing th e second moto. J ohnson was 'nea rly perfect in winning both intern ati onal motos by large margins o ver Suzuki teamster H annah. J ohnson had to work hi s way th rough severa l riders befor e taking the lead early in th e fir st 40minute-plus-two- lap rnot o and stayin g o u t front to th e fini sh. In the seco nd ro und Johnson had onl y two rid ers to ge t aro und, and o nce he di splaced Ameri can GP contender Rick Ryan for first , J ohnson was go ne. " It feels good to win the GP here at Unadilla, I've come short a cou ple of tim es," Johnson said followi ng the even t. "T his. is one thing I'v e always wanted to accomplish; it's' ano the r stepping stone in my career. Now I ca n say I won a Unadilla GP." The victory was Johnson 's second consecu tive 250cc U.S . GP win, last year's having come at Hollister Hills,' California. Johnson also led the Amer~Gln team to. victory here at Unadilla last year In the Motocross des Nations Equall y impressive to J ohnson's win was the rid e put in by 31-yearo ld Hannah. In th e fir st moto, T eam Suzuki 's Hannah charged from back near 10th to take second lat e in th e rnoto, th en backed th at performan ce up wi th another co me-fro m-behind ride, th is tim e from eigh th , to tak e second once aga in with just four laps remaining in the second mot o. . In both motos T eam Yamaha 's Micky Dymond was Hannah 's last victim, a nd his pair of thirds earn ed him th e last spot on the victory rostrum. Dymond, wh o hasn 't competed on th e National level since the L.A. Supercross . June 18 because Yamaha doesn't contest the 500cc Nationa ls, was less than pleased with his finish. "If we would've run ha lf the time I would 've done better," Dymond said. Holland's John Van den Berk was the top European finisher at fourth overall with. a 5-6 score. Yam aha 's John Van den Berk and fellow co u ntry ma n Gert-Jan van Doorn tied on points for th e da y, but Van den Berk 's better score in the second mota put van Doorn at fifth overall. More importantly for Van den Berk , he stretch ed his point lead to 50 with three rounds remaining in th e seri es. Of th e top three ti tie contenders, Van den Berk was the only co n sisten t points-scorer at Unad illa, as his closest rivals, American Rod ney Smith and Brit Jeremy Whatley, fai led to score many points. For Chesterfield/Team Mic hele Rinaldi-backed Smith the U.S. GP was particularly disappointing as he was unable to finish either moto and scored no points, dropping to third in the series. Smith entered the race 33 points behind Van den Berk and five ahead of Whatley in the titl e cha se. Illness forced him out of the first rnoto, then a crash at th e start of moto two. . put him out early in mota two. H eron Suzuki 's Whatley was able to overtake Smith for second in the point standings by picking up a total of nine points for hi s 14-9 finishes , but he remains 50 points behind Van den Berk and only four ahead of Smith . Factory Cagiva rid er, Pekka Vehkonen , ga ined som e points with a so lid fourth-place finish in the second moto, and is now four points sh y of Smith in the st andings. Crash es in th e first round kept th e Finn from gaining even more points. Although Honda's factory presence a t Unad illa was low , it was stro ng as factory rider Guy Cooper made qu ick work of the 125cc Support class . Cooper led the first moto from th e second lap to the end, then ca me back and led fro m start to finish in the fina l race, despite falling just before getting the one-lap sign. It was feared that Unadilla would once aga in be turned into a mud bog, like last year 's Motocross des Nations event, when a rain storm moved into the area on the eve of the race. But the rain was just enough to ma ke condition s on the hill y, grasscovered cour se ideal at the beginning of practice. More rain fell just before the start of the second 250cc moto, making the track slippery at first but nearly-ideal aft er, a few laps. The weather didn't dampen the enthusiam of the estima ted 10,000fans who cheered Johnson on to victory. With each moto paying $700 for first, $590 for second and $510 for third, Johnson went home with $1400, p lus contingencies, whi le Hannah earned $1180 and Dymond $1020. Cooper pocketed $1160, plus contingencies. ~ 250cc GP Cagiva's van Doorn led the pack through the first turn to start moto'' one, but Vehkonen quickly passed his teammate in the following twisty section and England's Rob Herring followed. Vehkonen crashed halfway through th e first lap, while Dymond moved into second behind Herring. " T h e rear tire slipped and I crashed," said Vehkonen. " Sa n d _went in my goggles and I had to take them off. On the second lap I crashed again, th en had problems with m y eyes." On the second lap Herring put a few seconds on Dymond and van Doorn. Suzuki's Erik Kehoe had moved up to fourth , but Johnson, who couldn 't make the best of his prime pick on the gate for the fastest , qualifying time, came up and passed. When making the pass the two riders' lines crossed , and Kehoe went down while J ohn son stayed upright. " H is line was in the middle of th e track and mine was outside," said Kehoe. "Our lines connected, we h it and I went down ha rd." Kehoe finished the moto, but elected not to ride the second round to save himself for the 125cc Nationals. "1 took him out bad," admitted J o hnso n. " I had momentum and couldn't slow down and we hit. I didn't mean to do it," Johnson quickly closed in on va n