Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jeff Stanton f lew t o the best American score by w in ning both m ot os in the 250cc class. He even topped all the 500cc riders in the f inal moto. Motocross des Nations Another American romp in Germany By Nate Rauba GAIL DO RF, WEST GE RMANY, SEPT. 10 Perhaps the FIM shou ld consider shortening the annual Motocross des Nations team co m petio n to two motos instead of the threerace format since that's all it took the Am erican team to clinch its ninth consecu tive title a t th e On th e Wacht track in Gaildorf. It was th e seco nd yea r in 6 a row th ey d id it at th e com pletio n o f th e second of three mo tos. At th e end of the seco nd mot o , eac h America n rid er had a class wi n in rhe boo ks. Kaw asaki 's J eff Ward topped the first 12S/ SOOcc mot a for the 500cc class win , whi le teamma te Mik e Kiedro wski pu shed hi s factory Ho nda from the seco nd row of the two -ro w start to ninth overa ll a nd first in the 12Scc class. Honda 's J eff Stanton led the wa y in th e seco nd 2S0/ 12Scc mot o, whil e Kied ro wski aga in passed severa l riders to tak e a no ther ninth and seco nd in th e l2Scc class. Ita ly's Alessandro P uzar starte d in the first ro w and was four places ah ead o f Kiedrowsk i o n the track to tak e the class win. T he Ameri can team had an in vin cible low score o f five go ing into th e fin al ra ce, a 250 / S00 cc go, bu t another win by Stanton in th e 250cc class gave th e team a perfect sco re of four po ints for th e seco nd con- secu tive year. Ward fell twice in th e mot o a nd cruised to the finis h lin e ISth ove ra ll for eigh th in th e SO Occ class. T hree m otos co mb in ing tw o classes together o n th e track with a two- ro w start were co nd uc ted. Each team m ember 's class fin ish wa s recorded, a nd th e two hi gh est scores for eac h team dropped. The low est co m bi ned sco re d et e r m in es th e winner. Fini shing with II p oints a nd second overa ll in th e team com pe tit ion was the Italian team. But it was a no the r Ameri can wh o helped lead th e wa y, as newl y crowned 12Scc World Ch ampion T rampas Parker proved hi s versatility by LOp p ing 500cc Wor ld cha m p David T horpe o f Eng land in th e 500cc cla ss in the thi rd malo. Pa rker's sevent h-p lace in th e first mota was th e highest fin ish for th e team and was th us thrown o ut , bu t Pu za r al so hel ped lead the team to vic to ry with a S-l fini sh in th e 12Scc class. T eammate Mich ele Fanton added cons istency in the 250cc class with 4-S scores. Onl y five points separa ted the third th rough eig h th- p lace teams. Four points behind th e Ital ia ns came the British tea m . Jed by T horpe's pair o f seco nds in the SOOcc class . Teammat e J a m es Do bb added th e remai nder of th e Brit' s points with 6-S finishes in the 12Scc class, whi le 2S0cc class competitor Jeremy Whatley had th e hig h scores of 11-10. American Bill y Liles led the Luxem bo u rg team to fou rth overa ll, one po int behind th e Brits. Lil es, wh o rode the World Ch ampionship SO Occ MX Series with a compet itio n licen se from Luxembourg, went 2-3 in th e 2S0cc class whi ch was co m bined with J acky Marten s' 5-6 tall y in th e SO Occ class. The home team o f Germany was a point behind in fifth, two points a hea d o f Fran ce. Anoth er point down came Austral ia and Sweden in a tie, with Au stralia getting seventh based o n Jeff Leisk 's low er score in th e SOOcc class. Pr ior to th e event there were some wh o thought th at this wou ld be th e year th e Am eri cans were defeat ed. Of th e three riders , Ward was th e on ly o ne with previous experience in th e Motocross des Nations. Ward was a member of the last th ree winning teams, a nd was a part o f the 1985 American tea m that won here. H e was a lso o n th e '83 a nd '84 wi n ni ng teams. Alt hough J eff Stanton had proven hi s ta lent in th e U .S. as 2S0cc Nationa l and Supercross Champ io n, hi s expe rie nce in Europe was lim ited primari ly to po st-season su pe rcro ss races and not th e outdoor tra cks that man y o f hi s European rivals have raced for years. Plus Stanton was in the midst of a slight slump, having admitted to riding poorly at the firs t SOOcc Natio na l in Min neso ta in la te August , and the n taki ng seco nd overall in th e second rou nd in Washing ton a week lat er. And th en there was Mike Kiedrowski , a name nob ody was very fami liar with on the Continent. Kied ro wski made the tea m as a lastminute replacem ent in the 12Scc class. Ri ck J ohnson was originally pi cked to ride but was suffering from damaged cart ilage in hi s rib cage. Not wanting to hinder the U. S. effo rt, he pulled ou t. Alt ernat e Ron Lechien was du e to ta ke J ohnson's place, but Lech ien refusedto ride in th e 12Scc class. Since a 12Scc Honda was alread y prepared to be sh ip ped to Germany a nd with tim e running o u t to find a replacem ent, the AMA decided that i t was lo g isti call y best to se nd anoth er Honda tea mster. George Holland, th e 12Scc National Champi on , was o ffered the spot, but he too had to decline because of a recurring shou lder injury. That left Kiedrowski, th e rookie Honda rider who had never even been to Europe. H e has proven him self in America by going to the wire in the 12Scc Easte rn Region Supercross Ser ies a nd missing the title by one point. H e bou nced back a nd won the $10,000 12Scc Ca me l Shoo tou t at th e fina l supercross ro und, and has been in conten tio n for the 12Scc National tit le since winning th e ope ning race in Florida. Before leaving th e States he added th e Washougal National to his win

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