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/127174
1989 Supercross preview sive record, veteran O ' Mara and other ri ders feel J oh nson isn 't invincible. There are a number of riders out there who will do almost anything to dethrone the current master of supercross. So me riders ' careers depend on it, such as O 'Mara who, at 26 years of age, has one year left on a three-year megabuck Suzuki contract and would like nothing better than a Supercross Championsh ip under his be lt whe n contract negotiations roll around next year, since he wants to continue racin!? Team Kawasaki's Ron Lechien .IS floating in the same boat as O'Mara. Lechien has a year-to-year contract. And then there are the new and hungry factory riders who have a lot to prove. One such rider is Michiga n 's Jeff Stanton, who will be starting his first year on the factory H onda team under the direction of race manager Dave Arnold. And then there's Suzuki's Ronnie Tichenor, . and Yamaha's Doug Dubach and Shaun Kalos, all of whom are beginning their first year on their respective teams as factory riders. Team Honda The factory Honda team features some of the biggest hotshoes in the business with Johnson , 125cc National champ George Holland, Guy Cooper and Stanton on the roster. Of course Johnson is the top gun at Honda. Johnson has a burning desire to win races , to defeat those who try to conquer him. Plus he has a goal to set an unbreakable record of championships, and he has yet to ma tch Bob H an na h 's record of three Su percross Championships. Right now he's tied for second with Jeff Ward, with two titles. Johnson feels that Kawasaki's Ward is a likely candidate to dethron e him and will also be watching Stanton. There are other riders who he feels will win races , but Ward and Stanton are the two he feels are the most capable of putting together a championship 'dr ive this year. You can bet Johnson •will do everything to stop them o r any other ri der from winning. "They're going to have to want it worse than I do ," Johnson says. "I don't know if anyone can want something that bad. Are you willing to bleed for it? Because I am. " Although Holland has yet to win a major supercross, he remains a force to be reckoned with nonetheless. H olland made it to the final in Jack Murphy Stadium - San Diego, California. every 1988 supercross and even placed as high as second to Johnson at the Meadowlands Supercross in East Ru th erford , New Jersey. The 1988 125cc National champ ended last year's supercross season fifth , only six points behind Broc Glover. Holland normally gets good starts, and feels his chances of winning a race this year are good - "if I get all the breaks I need." He feels it will take a good start to beat Johnson this year. " J oh nson doesn 't give up until he's in first. " Guy Cooper earned a factory ride with strong performances in 1987, his best be ing the Los Angeles Supercross where he led for most of the race before Johnson passed him with . only a few laps to go. But Cooper missed almost the entire '88 supercross season recovering from a broken leg suffered in a European supercross race following the '87 season. Cooper is fearless when it comes to the jumps, and he often is the first to clear the long doubles. Cooper is back as a factorysupported rider and would like to score at least a couple of wins this season . He would at least like consistent top five finishes. He predicts more people will beat J ohnson this year. " When you 're at the top it 's hard to stay th ere, and the other riders are tired o f him winning all the time. Their attitudes will make it tougher for him." Stanton made his name known over the years on the factory Yamaha team, but has made th e switch to Honda for '89. Stanton should feel right at home on the Honda team for he 's a very good friend of teammate Johnson. Last year Stanton finished l Oth in the Supercross point standings and proved that he can hang with the best by p lacing third in the 500cc outdoor Nationals behind Johnson and Lechien. When the top riders were asked who to watch for, Stanton's name was the most frequently mentioned. If Stanton can improve his riding ability as much as his good friend did by switching teams, 1989 could be a fantastic year for the 20year-old Michigan rider. Team Kawasak i Over in the Kawa;"ki pits, there are two factory riders who just love to give Johnson a bad time - Jeff Ward and Ron Lechien, Ward was undoubtedly Johnson's worst nightmare during the 1988 Supercross season. Ward chased Johnson across the finish line more times than any other rider (six times to be exact), but an ankle injury late in the year ended his hopes of a third Supercross number one plate. . However, heading into the 1989 · season, Ward is injury free and ready to take on Johnson. "I feel really good and healthy now," said Ward. "Last year my ankles held me back. My chances are better than ever to win this year, I'm always ready to go. All it takes is no bad luck." Ward says determination is needed to beat Johnson, and Ward is determined to win in '89. ''I'm tired of being second," he says. Lechien was one of the three riders who were able to beat Johnson during last years' supercross season. Lechien managed to score the victory on the second day of th e Seattle, Washington, Kirigdome double header and finished among the top three seven times in the 10 race series. Some feel Lechien is the most naturally gifted and fastest rider on the track. It's no secret that Lechien isn't into training but he 's p ro ven he can take on the best, and he 's proved it over the years. Lechien is riding on a string .o f post-season successes from last year, and if he can keep his confidence up, Johnson could be in trouble. It's been three long years since Lechien won the l25cc National Championship, and he's hungry for another title, especially the Camel Supercross title. " W in n in g the supercross title would mean a lot to me because that's the whole sal ami right there," said Lechien. " It 's the toughest and th e biggest of them all." Kawasaki has one more factory rider on its team, Jeff Matiasevich. But the 19-year-old from La Habra Heights, California, will defend his title in the Western Regional l25cc Championship Supercross Series. However, at East Coast supercrosses Matiasevich will campaign the 250cc class and is anoth er rid er that everyone says should be watched. Matiasevich has his own theory on how to beat Johnson. " We have to try to knock Johnson off his high," he says. " It gets in you r mind when you know you've won and nothing's going to stop you. We need to knock him back to second or third." . Team Suzuki Team Suzuki will be fielding a three-man team with O'Mara heading their offense. O'Mara is one of th e highest paid riders on th e circu i t, The 1984 Supercross champ is beginning the third and final year on his Suzuki contract, which reportedly amounted to $1 million. Despite receiving fat paychecks , O 'Mara finished In the to p five only once all last year. Many feel his problems stem as far back as to when h is close friend David Bailey was paralyzed in a practice crash in 1987. And recent knee injuries and a bicycling accident a few years ago didn't help matters. O 'Mara's be en strug g lin g, but 1989 seems to be falling into place for the Californian. " This year is a rea l big yea r for me," says O 'Mara. " It's my last year on my contract, and I think at this point I'm 100% healthy and the bike IS excellent. As far as going into this ... 9