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/127144
Hannah (far right) tries to figure out if Johnson (center) is human while Dymond is interviewed by Larry Maiers on the victory rostrum , Van den Berk was the f irst European at fourth overall. but more importantly he moved out to a 50-point lead in the title chase. American title contender Rodney Smith (31 ) failed to score any points at Unadilla and dropped to third in the standings behind Jeremy Whatley. 8 Ryan was fifth ahead of Van den Berk , Morten sen , van Doom, Wh a tl ey a nd Fr en ch ride r Ya nni g Kervell a. " Pekka and Ryan were rid ing fast, but I didn 't think th ey could carry the pa ce," sa id J oh nso n. " My goggl es were ge tting muddy so I didn 't want to waste much tim e wi th the m so I got au t front a nd took off. " An yth ing ca n happen on this track so it 's wise not to go berserk and pull a bi g lead because you can tak e yourself o u t in the process; yo u hav e to respect this track. I tried to ride a pace that wo uld keep them at bay. I co uld' ve gone faster but there was no need to , sai d J ohnson." " I never got going for th ree laps," sa id Hannah. " I was bein g to o ca u tio us. It was slip pe ry a nd I was h oping every o ne. else .w o u ld be ca u tio us too , but J ohnson just left. " He's th e best, th at's a ll. I watch ed him here last year a nd there' s no one who ca n beat h im , nobody in .the world. No one's even close, a n I'm no different, It' s going 10 tak e a kid to beat him , no o ld man is go n na do it." Afterw ards a t th e aw ards cere mon y Hannah jokingl y protested John so n 's victory. " I' m reall y the winner becau se he's not h um an, " wa s H ann ah ' s reasoni ng. " Ha n na h a nd J ohnson go t in th ei r pace a nd stayed th ere," Dymon d said. " I was okay for a whi le but I did n 't have i t fo r th e w ho le distance. " Van den Berk was happy with the o u tcome o f the race a nd th e points he gai ned , b u t no t particul arl y pl eased with th e way he rod e. " I started ridin g sa fe a nd th at's not good," he sa id. " I started th e first mot o too stiff, and in the seco nd I foll owed H a n n a h bu t m y fr on t number p late ca me loose and would £I y in m y face. I hope' ca n tak e more points in th e nex t race; I'llride sa fely for the next few races." Vehkonen had trouble ada p ting to the ho t, h umid wea ther and felt he co uld have done better. " It's not normal for me to get so tir ed ," he exp lained. '" cou ldn ' t rid e wide o pe n, I had diffi culty brea thing. Normall y I ride wide open, but I rode slow ly so I wouldn't ge t too tired." 125cc Support Kawasa ki-mou nted Ch ris Co lema n jumped o u t into the lead o f th e first mota followed by Ca rlo Coe n, Suzuki 's Ty Da vis a nd Ku rt McMillen. Cooper got off to a slow start but moved to second by the end of la p o ne, the n took the lead a short . time lat er. Once o u t front Cooper easily moved away as the ba ttl e for seco nd shaped u p bet ween Col em an , Davis a nd McMillen. A little further back the re was a no ther pack co ns isting o f Rob ert Hayes, Mike LaRocco a nd Coe n. . La Rocco was th e rid er o n the move and just a fter th e halfwa y poi nt of th e 20-mi nute-p lus- two- lap mo to had worked into fourth. Co lema n was getti ng p ressu re from Davis, and as La Rocco moved in la te in th e race it became a three-w ay batt le for seco nd. On th e last la p La Rocco cha rged up to tak e seco nd beh ind Co oper, whi le Davi s got by a nd held .off th e charges of Coleman. McMillen, who dropped off th e pa ce a t rnid-rnoto, was fifth. Cooper grabbed the ho leshot in mot a two over Suzuki rid ers Jimm y Gaddis a nd Todd DeH oop , th en quickl y sco o ted a wa y. McMillen moved up to third when Gaddis d ropped back, whi le La Rocco was charging once again a fter a no the r poor start. La kocco worked his way to fifth , on ly 10 fall a nd d rop to ninth. " I got a bad start a nd was go ing for fifth whe n so meo ne too k me O Ul," La Rocco sa id. But he d idn' t gi ve up, cha rged back a nd passed McMillen o n th e last lap to tak e third. Co oper h ad built up a no ther com forta ble lead and had eno ug h o f a margin so th at even wh en he fell approaching the o ne- la p board, he was able to retai n th e lead a nd take th e wi n b y a few sec o n ds o ve r DeH oop. " I got a good start, and I saw DeHoop behind me," said Cooper. " I had a good cus h io n but he d idn 't slack o f£. At the end some lapped riders took my nor mal lin e, a nd that's o ne thi ng tr icky abou t this tra ck, if you ta ke a new line there's' no telling wh at's going to be th ere. I h it a big hol e and it swa p ped me sideways . I bounced a co u ple o f times then went down." Da vis was in th e fra y a t times, but dropped back a nd finish ed sixth after he was unabl e to pass fifth-place finis her Co lema n. " I rod e like a Wall y," said Davis. " I was a lmos t ge tti ng sp it off, my suspension was too soft, and I j ust cou ld n't ride the stink in' bik e." • ·Result s 250 GP: 1. Rick Johnson (Hon) 1-1; 2. Bob Hanna h (SUI) : 3. M icky Dymond (Yam) 3 ·3; 4. John Van de n Berk (Yam) 5-6; 5. Gen Jan van Doorn (CagI4·B: 6. Soren Mort ensen (Kaw) 9-7; 7. Doug Dubach (Yam) 6·12; B. Pekka Vehkonen (Cag) 17 4; 9. Donny Schmit (SuI17-13 ; 10. Yannig Kervella (Hon) 11- 10; 11. J eremy W hatl ey (SUI ) 14· 9: 12. Peter Joha nsson (Yam) B·2 6; 13. Roland Diepold II 10 ·32; 14 . Ronn ie Tichenor (SuII ta-rt. 15. Den nis Hawthorne (Kaw ) 12 ·16: 16 . Johnny O' M ara (SUI ) 13·2 8: 17. Larry Brooks (Kaw ) 34 . 14; 18. Jorgen Nilsson (Hon) 16·15 ; 19. Fred Andrews (Hon) 15 ·25: 20 . Rick Ryan (Hon) · 5. 125: 1. Guy Cooper (Hon) 1· 1: 2. M ike laRocco (Yaml 2·3 : 3. Todd DeHoop (SuII 7·2; 4 . Ty Davis (SUI) 3·6 : 5. Kurt M cM illen (Hon) 5·4 ; 6. Chris Coleman (Kaw) 4 · 5; 7. An dy Stacy (Honl 9·7 ; B. Wemyss Scott (Yam) 6·1 0: 9. Jim my Gaddis (SUI ) 12·8 : 10 . Dale Spangler (Kaw) 14 ·9: 11. Robert Hayes (SUI) 11· " ; 12: 8arr y Carsten (Yam) 10· 15: 13. Robert McCull ough (Hon) 13·13; 14. Carlo Coen (SUI) 8·37: 15: Rodney Phillip s (Yam) 16 · 14 ; 16 . Brian Au stin (Suz) 15- 16; 17. Bruce Str att on 35·12; 18. Paul Corn ell (SUI) 18·1 7; 19 . David Hand (Hon) 17·19; 20. Patr ick Barton (Hon l 19·1 e. WORLD CHA M PIONSHI P 25 0 M X POINT STANDINGS : 1. Van den Berk (244 ); 2. Wh atl ey (194); 3. Rodn ey Sm ith (190); 4. Vehkonen I1B6)· 5. Diepold (15 1); 6. van Doorn (142 ); 7. Mortense~ ( llB ~ 8. M ichele Fanto n (117); 9. Peter Dirkx (109): 10. Jo hansson 11 081.