Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Donnie Schmit (second from left) led for two laps in the second 125cc moto; Damon Bradshaw (45) won . Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward clinched his fi rst -ever 500cc National Championship title when he crossed the finish li.ne in th ird place in the first moto. AMA National Championship 12S/S00cc MX Series: Final rounds Bayle, Bradshaw win at Unadilla; Ward, -Kiedrowski champs By Kit Palmer NE W BER LIN , NY, OCT. 15 It took him II years to do It, but Team Kawasaki's Jeff Ward finally made his dream come true by becoming the first rider in history to capture titles in all. four major 6 AMA MX catego ries - d i e 125 250 a n d 5 0 0cc MX and 250c~ , W d S u p er c r ~ s s c 1asse s . ar a c c omplI sh ed th e f e a t b y cli n c h ing hi s fi rst-ever 500c c Na ti onal C ha mp io ns hip with a th ird-pl ace finish in th e first 500cc mo ta a t the fin al ro u nd o f th e 125 and 500cc ser ies a t th e Unadi lla Valley Spo rts Center. , Between mot os, Ward spoke of h is acco mplish me nt . " I . rea lly feel reli eved ," he sa id. " Win n ing all fo ur cha m pio ns hips has been hauntin g me for a long time an d I'm rea lly ha p p y to have fin all y done it. It ~ igh t've taken me I ~ years to It, but I 11 a lways be th e first to ha ve done it." Not o nly is Ward the first rider in hi stor y to have wo n a ll four Cha mpio ns h ips, but at the ag e of 28, he is also the o ldest rider ever to win a National Cha m pio ns hip MX title. " Hopefully, I'll still be winn ing cha m pio ns hi ps wh en I' m 30," he sa id. " I have no pla ns o f sto p ping now." Ward wrapped up the titl e with 27 1 p oints, wh il e H onda ' s J eff Sta nton fin ish ed seco nd wit h 250. But spotl igh ting toda y's 500cc class was the 1989 250cc World C ha mpion , Fren chman Jean-Michel Bay le. T he H ond a rid er eas i ly to p ped the firs t mot o, a nd th en too k second in mot o two, which was more tha n eno ugh for Bayle to cla im the da y's 500cc .class overall vic to ry. Second went to teammate Sta nton , who wen t 4- 1, while Ward too k third overall wit h a 3-3 sco re. An other cha mpions hi p titl e was o n the lin e at U na di lla, as the 125cc class ba ttled fo r th e last time thi s vear. T he ti tle ca me down to the final mo ro betwee n fir st-m o ta wi n ner. Damon Brad shaw a nd poi nts leader Mik e Kiedrowski. Goi ng in to the fina l a nd decidi ng seco nd mo to , Ho nd a 's Kiedrowski held a slim, sixpo int a d va n ta ge over Yamaha 's Brad sh aw , who ended up wi n ning the fin a l mo to . Bu t Kied rows ki finish ed second , whi ch was just eno ug h for the 20-year-old H onda rid er to wra p u p th e cha m p io ns hip by three po ints over Bradsha w, 479476. . For th e day, Bradsh aw went I-I , while Kiedrowsk i too k seco nd overa ll via a 3-2 score . T hi rd ove ra ll with a 2-8 ta lly went to Yam aha' s Mik e La Rocco. " I'm reall y hap p y," said Kiedrowski. " I just did wh at I had to do and didn 't mak e a ny mistakes. It ca me down to the final mot o , jus t like everybo dy sa id it would, bu t I do n 't thi n k any body thought a t th e beginn in g of the series that I would be in volved in it. But a fter the first ro und a t Gainesvill e, (Florida), I rea lly thought I had a cha nce." Team H onda' s Guy Cooper was a lso in contention for the 125cc titl e go ing into Unad illa; he wa s in second p lace, j ust six points behind Kied rowski. Bu t Coo per fell three times in th e first mo to, kn ocking him self ou t of contentio n. Cooper went 12-16 for 16th overa ll , but he sti ll sa lva ge d third in the fin al sta n d i ngs, en d i ng up with 44 5 points. H eavy rains Sa tu rday night sa tu ra ted the course by Sunday morning, bu t th e su n eventua lly broke through the dense fog and the tra ck dr ied ou t, ma king for ideal racing conditio ns by the first 125cc moto, which go t underw a y abo u t 1:30 p.rn. It was the first time ever that a n AMA National motocros s was held a t Una dilla, and it attracted a moreth an -u su al turnout o f riders. A tot al of 97 125cc a nd 87 500cc signed up to do ba ttl e, but onl y 40 riders cou ld be acce p ted in eac h class. A to tal of . n in e qualifiers were used to thin o u t ' the field. Specta tor atten da nce , h owever, was down a little from Jul y's 15,000strong 250cc U.S. GP cro wd, a t an esti ma ted 7000. 500cc Wa rd went into th e fir st mot o with a 24-po int adva ntage over Stanton. "I wa nt to get it over with in th e first mot o, so I have to finish a hea d o f J eff (Stanton) , and th at will do it ," sa id War d befor e the race. Bu t Sta n to n wasn' t Ward 's o nly co ncern , for he kn ew th at Sta nton's team ma te, Ba yle, co uld be a factor . in both motos. Alt ho ug h Bayl e was not in the poi nts chase, the Fren chman said befo re t he race, " I' m going o u t th ere to wi n, no matter wh at . I'm not goi ng to slo w down for a nyone." And th at included his teammate, Sta nton. Ba yle na iled th e hol esh ot in th e first 500cc mota. Stanton foll ow ed in seco nd and Wa rd was third as th e pack rounded th e first cou p le o f tu rns. But Stanton kn ew he had to win the mot o if he had an y chance of taking th e Championship. With that in mind, Stanto n opened u p the throttle a nd bl ew by Bayle before the end of th e fir st lap. Then Ward tu cked in beh ind Bayl e. Entering th e third lap, Stanton gained a few bike lengths on Bayle, as Ward co nt in ued to wa tch in third pla ce. H owev er , Sta n to n 's lead began to shrin k as q uick ly as it had gro w n w he n Bayl e d ecided h e wa nted th e lead back. During the fifth lap, Bayle sq ueezed inside o f Stanton in a tu rn and zap ped his' teammate. T he p ass ca u g h t Sta nto n o ffguard, a nd a lap lat er the 1989 S up ereross a nd 250 cc Natio n a l Champio n crashed in a tu rn, endi ng his hopes for the 500cc titl e. " I hi t a rock a nd endoed a bunch ' of times," sa id Stanton. It took the Honda rider a few mo me nts to ge t back u nderway and he lost two p laces - to Ward an d ' teammat e Rick J ohnson. Sta n ton 's fall ga ve Bayle a huge lead , wh ile Ward su dde nly fou nd himself exac tly wh ere he wanted to be - com fortab ly a hea d of Stanton. About five seco nds behind Ward was J ohnson, who was foll ow ed a t a distan ce by Stanton . Knowing a seco nd- p lace fini sh wou ld clinc h th e cha m pions h ip, Ward was co n tent where he was a nd showed no sig ns of trying to reel in the lea der, Bayle. In stead , Wa rd started co n cen tra tin g o n riding smoothly and not falling. "When Sta nton was ahea d of me, I felt like I was riding bett er than wh en he was behind me," said Ward. " I was a littl e nervous a nd the track was un godly ro ugh. I was all over th e place, so I decided to sett le into a good pace." Little changed among the leaders as the race progr essed, and Bayl e went o n to easily win th e moto. Ward took second, wi th J ohnson th ird and Stanton fourth . ''I'm so happy, but I'm glad it 's over," sai d Ward. " I finally did it!" . Wh en as ked how he felt ab out losing the ch a m p io ns h ip fight, Stanton g r in ned, sh rugged hi s shou lders a nd sim p ly said, "Oh well , you ca n' t win 'em a ll - alt hough you su re would like to. " Stanton came ba ck in th e second mot o with a vengeance. After passing Bayle during the second lap, Stanton dominated th e rest of the moto and slo wly pulled awa y from Bayle, who was co ntent in second. Stanton, who will carry th e number two plate next year, easily won the moto over Bayle a nd Ward, who passed Yamaha 's

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