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/127199
Jean-Michel Bayle (111) leads Rick Johnson (1 6) , John ny O' Mara (46), John van den Berk (1 ), Pekka Vehkonen (2 ), Jeremy Whatley (5) and Doug Dubach (2 5) to the second comer at the start of the f irst moto . J ohnson took hi s second straight Unadilla victory wh ile Bayle was the runner-up. Bob Han nah ended his racing career -with charges throug h the pack in both motos. Even with a 9 -12 score he captured most of the attention. World Championship 2S0cc MX Series: Round 7 Johnson wins, shares spotlight with Hannah at Unadilla By Nate Rauba Photos by Kinney Jones and Rauba N EW BERLIN , NY, J U L Y 9 Team Honda's race team consultant Roger DeCoster said it best when Rick Johnson returned to the pits after winning the first moto of the 250cc U.S. Grand Prix at U nadilla Valley Sports Center. " The bos s is back ," DeCos-ter said to J oh nson, who was com pe ti ng in his seco nd major 6 race si nce reco veri ng from a serious wrist injury su ffered in ea rly March . H is first m ajor race was one week earlier whe n j ohnson ret u rned to National actio n and fin ish ed thi rd overall. And j ohnson backed DeCoster 's words wi th a nother victory in mot o two -fo r h is fourth straigh t U.S . GP m oto wi n and seco nd co nsec u tive overall triumph. '" proved a point," j ohnson had sai d fo llowing hi s Iirs t-rnoto tr iumph, " I' m no t dead yet." He lat er added, " I' m sore a nd tired, so th e win hasn 't su n k in yet." Bu t it wa sn ' t a ll j ohnson 's day , for much o f the g lo ry a lso went to Suzuki's Bob H annah wh o retired followi ng th e event a fter a IS-yea r professiona l racing career. Alt hou gh Hannah had to struggle fro m the back o f the pack in eac h moto to 912 finishes a nd n inth overa ll, h e was by fa r th e crowd favorite. In pre-ra ce openi ng ceremonies H an n ah received th e loudest ap p la use, and a t th e en d of th e ra ce very few o f th e 15,000 fans had left th e facil it y a nd th ey cheered as th ey wa tched Hannah ta ke a lap o f h onor a ro u n d U na di lla. H annah h ad to cut th e co u rse because m obs of people blocked hi s passage. H e was mobbed a t th e finish line, a nd lat er in th e pi ts. Ha nna h vow ed to stay until th e last fan left a nd was still at the tra ck well a fter darkness had set in . In a tearful farewell u pon co rnp let.in g h is lap, Han nah sa id , " You guys have treat ed m e gr eat . You 're not losing a ki ng since a new one has step ped in - R ick j oh nson." j ohnson p roved he was worthy of the crown with two rides tha t al so had the fa ns cheeri ng n earl y as loudly as they did for H annah. In the first mot o , j ohnson spe nt ha lf th e race ch asi ng j ean -Michel Bayle