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/127216
~ 00 .... (I,) ..0 S (I,) ;> o Z Jeff Ward (5) fell in the first turn in the first 500cc Pro rnoto, then fell again and took 10th. Ward won moto two. but Chris Coleman (5 5 4 ) scored the overall victory with a consistent 3-2 score. Guy Cooper (10) led the 125cc P ro class final from start to finish. then battled with Co leman to secure the 250cc Pro class win as wel l. 13th Annual Kawasaki Race Of Champions Cooper, Coleman shine at Raceway Park MX By Eric Putter ENGLISHTOW N, Nj, ocr. 21-22 Team Honda ace Guy Cooper stole the spotlight from the T eam Kawasaki on slaught at th e 13th Annual Kawasaki Race of Champions a t Raceway Par k. Ch ris Co leman gave Kaw asaki one victory in th e Pro classes wi th h is overal~ win in the 500cc Pro class, while Cooper ra n away 10 with every moto in the 125 a nd 250cc Pro classes. T he year ly even t wraps up the R aceway Park seaso n and was sponsor ed by Kawasaki as well as 43 dea lers from New jersey a nd four n eighboring s ta te s. Kawa saki brought their factory race team to race and meet th e fans . It is also an opportu ni ty for o ther top racers to test new bikes, make a good showing to pad co nt ract negotia tions, and enjoy a relax ed weekend of eas ternstyle racing on the tough, techn ical , loamy sand of the Raceway Par k course. T eam Green was o ut in force, but still missing the tale nts of last year's Open Pro class wi nner Ron Lechi en who is o ut of actio n with a brok en fe.mm. j eff ~ar.d was ho t off ~rappmg ul? his .fIrSt 500cc N.a non,!,1 ~~~:f~~~~~:r;ti~~;lst~sh~~~e~~; had a good day in the j ersey sa nd. j eff Ma tias evich was also on hand a fter fini shing out th e 125cc Nationals with som e good sho wings. Another Team Kawasaki hopefu l on the ros ter was National Wom en's Champion Mercedes Go nzalez. She wou ld spea rhead the very first w ornen 's race to be held at Raceway Park. Cooper's Nati onal season ca me to a horrib le close as he cras hed hi s way out of content io n for th e 125cc cro wn a t the fina l round , but he dernoral ized everyone in th e 125 and 250cc Pro clas ses a t Raceway Park. Keith Bowen scored th e runner-up spo t in the 125cc class , whi le Mati asevich could on ly ma nage fourth o vera ll after getti ng knocked down in th e beginning of the firs t mo to. Ward was also knoc ked down in the tigh t first corner in the o pe ning 500cc P ro rn oto, m aki ng it fi ve kn ock ou ts in si x a ttem p ts . H e charged th rough th e pack like he did in previous years, on ly to get hung u p a nd cras h aga in. H e easi ly holesho t the seco nd moto a nd p romptly' ra n a way. Meanwhil e, Col em an so ld iered o n with co nsis ten t 3-2 finishes to score the overa ll victo ry. T he even t a ttrac ted 530 racers and over 3000 spectators, accord ing ' to race promoters j ay Irw in and Ken L and erma n. Bea ut i fu l ยท a u t u m n weather greeted everyone, a nd despite torrential rains d uri ng the week, th e tra ck was in pristin e cond ition by the time the first ga te dropped o n Saturday. . A normal two-mote for mat was held for th e Pro s o n Sunday, while Sat ur day was fill ed with a slew of am a teur riders raci ng a dual-m o to form a t in order to qualify for a spo t in the Su nday p rogram. T he com - , bined scores in these races were trea ted as the first mo ta , wh ile th e Sunda y race was co u nted as th e second and final mota . Before the main -event action even started, Cooper was relax ed. "I'm just o ut here for fun," sa id th e Ok lahoma na tive. " I' d li ke to wi n , but I'm no t go ing to take any b ig c h a n ce s. M y co n trac t with Honda is u p a t th e end of thi s mon th a nd I ha ven 't signed a ny th ing fo r next season , so I've just gotta stay healthy and enjoy myself; th at's why ' we're all here. T he hardest part of the track for me is all those long, deep ruts coming o u t of the corners, but I rea lly lik e th e track." , Cooper q uickly mad e his p resence' known with th e first of hi s four holesho ts in th e o pen ing 125cc P ro class qual ifying rn oto , foll owed by Keith Bowen o n the T uf Racing Suzuki , Rodney Phi ll ip s, Da vid Wyeth a nd Steve Her man . Ma tiasevich was left in the firs t turn. " Everyo ne j ust started fall in g," _ Matiasevich said. "Someo ne fell over o n top of me, tak ing me o u t in a hurry. T he sa me thing happen ed last year ! T he starter told us th a t th e gate wou ld drop five to 10 seconds after the ca rd went sideways ; I co un ted to one a nd the gate sudde nly un load ed, I just wasn' t ready ." Bowen and th en Wyeth q uick ly passed Cooper o n the first la p, but Cooper soon reta liated a nd swapped th e lead wit h Bowen a few times before pulli ng away for good on the fourth lap. Bowen and Wyeth held the nex t two spots for the rest of th e eigh t-la p moto wh ile Mati asevich made his way up from the back of th e p a ck to lan d fo urt h. Dal e Spa ng ler ro unded o ut th e top five. " I was go ing alo ng making lots . of mi stakes early on while ba ttling with Cooper," said Bowen. " I di dn 't want to risk falling, so I backed orr. I blew through a cou p le berms th en decided to save my ene rgy for the next moto." ' T o round o ut th e field to 10 rid ers, a seco nd had to be run. Ca rlo Coen , shot o u t of the ga te and rai led on for the win. By the thi rd of eigh t laps Ph il La wrence mad e h is way up behind Coen wh ile Brian Carroll, Bill y Silvarole a nd Ed Bao comp leted the top five p laces. In th e final Cooper busted out of the gate a nd was never to be touched. Carroll started well bu t dro p ped out of th e race by the fourth lap. Tha t left Bowen to contend with Shan e Lawson , Allen H orne' and Coe n. Ma tiasevich was right behind th is pack; and by the fourth lap he made hi s way up beh ind Bowen . Two laps la ter he passed Bowen a nd wem after Coope r to no avai l in the 10-lap mo to. At one po int j im Neese had m iraculously made hi s way past Matiasevich fro m last pl ace, but qu ickl y dropped back wh en he go t that little taste of glory. H e was passed back by Coen a nd Bowen to fill the fifth spo t. Cooper easi ly took th e overa ll win with Bowen , Coen, Matiasevich a nd Barry Carsten ro und ing out th e top five. ' " I was sittin' in the tru ck wh en th e two minute ca rd went up," sa id Coo per. " Mat iasevich a nd I got the ex treme ou tside starti ng posit ions. My adrena line was really flowing by this tim e a nd I so mehow got the hol esh o t. I hammered ou t the first five laps prett y hard. In the last five, I co uld see Mati asevich , but I had a big lead o n h im . H e was goi ng faster tha n me towards the end, but just co ul dn't do anyth ing abou t it." Coo pe r too k hi s 1990 H onda CR250 to the front of the 250cc Pro pack a t th e start of. th e firs t mot o. By th is tim e, he had gotten th e track dial ed a nd head ed for th e chec kered flag all by him self. Ch ris Col ema n and Bowen were also quick starters . Mickey Kessler, Carl Vaillancourt a nd Kurt McMillen freight-trained their way to the front of the pack in the early goi ng . On th e th ird lap, Bowen kn ocked himself silly wh en he tumbled down th e backside of the m ost m onst erous j u m ps o n the course. " I fell down th at bi g hill, right on my head !" said Bowen . " I got up pretty dazed , a nd pulled off th e tra ck." By the halfway po int of the Ill-lap moto, Coope r was long go ne. Coleman was now foll owed by Vaill anco urt, Bill Safford a nd then Kessler. Coleman had a few probl ems shortly thereafter and momen tarily dropped back three spots. By the last lap, he had worked hi s way back into the runner-u p spo t while being cha sed by Va illa n cou r t, McMillen a n d Kessler. As sh ad ow s began to build up aro und the course la te in th e day, the second a nd fin al 250cc Pro mo to was o ff. Cooper tim ed the ga te perfectl y a nd too k the ho lesh ot once aga in. Col eman was right o n hi s fender, with Bow en , Vaillancourt a nd Lawrence in tow . Co lema n took adva ntage of all th e laps he had followed the H onda team ster and ma de a pass on th e second lap . Bo wen p lowed right on along wi th him . After leading every lap unti l th is poi nt , Cooper fou nd h im self in third, but not for long. Bowen bobbled, letting both Coo per a nd Vaillan court past. It wasn 't until the eig h th la p that Coo per wrestled h is lead back. Oncehe go t o ut fro m , he pulled a way for a safe win. At th e checkered flag he was fo llow ed