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/127213
.... V ..0 o ..... u o Honda 's Guy Cooper was lead ing the f irst 1 2 5 cc moto but was passed by teammate Mike Ki edrow ski on the last lap. Cooper w en t 2-2 f or second . quickly and did so halfway through the lap . But Bayle retaliated immed iately a nd powered by Ward exiting a turn. The Honda rid er was still out in front after th e com p letio n of th e first lap, but a few turns later, Ward co un ter-a ttacked with a no th er pass. This tim e th e move stuck. Before th e second lap was compl eted , though, BayIe slid out a nd fell and that was all th at Ward needed to ch arge even farth er ou t in front and take the moto and overall wins. Bayle quickly pi cked up h is mount to retain his second p lace, but he lost sight of Ward for the rem ainder of the rnoto. . Wat ching the Ward/Bayle duel from behind was Honda privateer Kurt McMillen, Lamson, Honda mounted Tom Carson , Fish er, Stanton, Dymond and Dubach . O'N eall Ara i/Scott -sponsored McMillen from Wappingers Falls, New York, held on to the number three position for two la ps before giving way to Lamson and th en Stanton, and Stanton was on the gas. By th e fourth lap, th e 250cc National Champion was runn ing a stro ng third and had set his sights o n Bayl e, who wa s st ill losing ground on Ward . Lap aft er lap, Stanton was gaining on Bayle until he wa s inches beh ind th e Fren chman. Bayle, knowing he wasn't in the title chase, pulled over and let Stanton by. But by that point, Ward was long gone a nd Stanton had no cha nce of ca tching th e Kaw asaki rider. Back in fourth , Lamson was holding his own, but Dym ond was slowly ca tch ing him. Near the halfway point, though, Dymond began exper iencing further: clutch problems, which slowed his drive on Lamson. Dymond moved to 'with in a few seconds of Lamson, bu t by th e end of the race, Dym ond's clutch was slipping so badly he just could n 't reel in La mson before th e ch eckered flag dropped. Rece nt ly crowned 1 25cc M X W orld Cha m pio n Tra mpas Parker (10 0) went 5-DNF in the 125cc cl ass. Dubach, o n th e o ther hand, had problem s of hi s own. While trying to ca tch Dym ond, Du bach 's Yamaha became stuck in fourth gear. H aving to slip th e clutch in every tu rn , Dubach fell off Dymond 's pa ce but had enough insurance over six th p lace McMillen to claim fifth by rnoto's end. McMill en finished a secure six th a head of Carson, T ea m Green's Keith J oh nson and ATK-mounted and self-sponsored Michael Young. Ri ck Johnson was running mid pack in th e open ing stages of the mo to bu t pull ed off the track a nd rode back to th e pits before it was a ll o ve r. . According to Honda mech anic Brian Lunniss, J ohnson wa s just too sore to continue from his ea rly-morn ing prac tice crash. 12 5cc KTM 's T ra mpas Parker made hi s debu t appearance in th e U.S . since ca p tu r i n g th e 125cc MX World Championship last August. The L ouisiana ri der com peted on wh a t he sai d was a " bo x-stock" KTM, excep t for th e suspension, whi ch he brought with him fro m Europe. T eam Honda' s George H olland was absent from toda y' s event. H olland inj ur ed a n alread y-tender shoulder last week at Steel City and will most likely skip next week's final at Unadilla, as well. The first 125cc National moto featured a race-long three-wa y dice 5