Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Championship MX Series wrap-up full of • • • ro de co nserva ti ve ly a n d fin ish ed fifth , cl inc h ing hi s first -ever Supercross Championsh ip a nd pocketin g th e $50,000 prize o ffered by Camel for th e ch a m p io ns hip. War d en ded up winnin g th e race wh en Lechien cras hed with just two la ps to go. O 'M ara fini sh ed thi rd. T he fi na l rou nd of th e 'series took p lace at the Los Angeles Memorial Co liseum a nd it was Stanton wh o proved to everyo ne why h e was recent ly cro wned th e cha m p . Sta nton eas ily wo n the race o ver Wa rd a nd Lechien . Lech ien too k over seco nd p lace in th e sta ndi ngs ·a fter Cooper injured hi mself d uri ng a p ractice session a few days before the race. Cooper d id not ride th e L. A. even t. .~ ~ O"l 00 O"l ........ ~ N N .... v ..D. 8 v ;> 0 Z Results CA M EL SUPERCROSS SERIES 25 0Cc FINAL POINT STANDINGS : 1. J eff Stanton (Hon) 302 ; 2. Ron Lechien (Kaw) 245 ; 3. Guy Cooper (Hon) 239: 4. Jo hnn y O'Mara ISuz) 217 ; 5. J eff Ward IKawi 184; 6. (TIE) Doug Dubach (Yam)/ Ron Tichenor ISuz) 167 ; 8. Shaun Kalos (Yaml 15 1; 9. Rick John son (Hon) 147; 10. Er ik Kehoe (Su) 129; 11. George Holland (Hon) 125; 12. (TIEl Micky Dymond IYam l/Keith Bowen (Suz) 105; 14. Mike laRocco IYam) 9B; 15. ITIE) Todd DeHoop (Suzl/ Fred Andr ew s (Honl 94; 17. (TIE) Mike Fisher (Kaw )/ Jean· M ichel Bayle (Hon) 79; 19, Larry Ward (Hon) 74; 20 . J ason Upshaw (Hon) 53 . 1 25cc National MX Series Wh o would've th ought tha t a rider with th e Nationa l number of 762 wou ld wi n th e 125cc Nationa l Championship? But th at's exac tly what Mike Kied rowski did after a gru eling 13-race seaso n th at p ro vid ed more close racing th an th e 250 and 500cc classes featuring th e hi ghpaid factory supers ta rs. Kiedrowski wasn 't expected to win th e title. H e was one of Honda's s u p p o rt rider s teamed up with defending champ George Holland and Guy Cooper , a 125cc spec ia lis t who might hav e won the title last year if h e hadn ' t m issed sever a l Nationa ls while recovering from a broken leg. Yama ha's rookie sensation Bradshaw was anoth er fa vori te to take th e title a fter several strong rides during the 250cc Camel Supercross Ser ies, a nd Suzuki 's Erik Keh oe had to be considered a threat a fter cha lle ng in g H o lla nd for the titl e th e previous When Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayle (111 ) wasn 't riding the Nationals or Supercrosses in the U.S ., he was in Europe chasing th e 250cc Wo rld Championship t itle, wh ich he easily captured. seaso n. Kawasaki 's Matiasevich wa s a lso a likely titl e can dida te since he'd d ominated th e 125 cc West ern Regio n al Supercross Seri es. . After th e season began. it wa s a p pa rent th at anybody co u ld win on a ny giv en day a nd there wa s a lm os t always a close battle among severa l riders for first. The competition was so clos e that there wasn 't a repeat overall winner until the fifth rou nd, an d for most o f th e season five riders wer e in co n te n ti o n for th e cha m p io ns h ip: Kiedro wski jumped o u t front with . hi s 4- I overa ll win at th e ope n ing round in G ainesville. Florida , a nd Honda's Mike Kiedrowski (762) and Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw (45) battled for the 1 25cc National title - Kiedrowski ended up on top. exce p t for. a br ief stay in seco n d follow in g H olland 's win a t round two a t Hangtown in Sacra me nto. California . Kied rowski stayed o u t front until th e fifth ro u n d. Bradshaw got o ff to a sha ky start in th e first two ro u n ds ; but found hi s form at round three in Axton , Virginia , and cha rge d to hi s fir st o vera ll win with a I-I score. Tha i moved him to second in th e p o int st and in gs a s Kied ro wski climbed back on top with a pair o f seco n ds for th e day. Holland dro p ped to fourth in th e s ta n d ings behind Cooper due to a first-turn cra sh a nd a flat tire. La rr y War d . a nother H onda su pport rider , became the fourth different win ner w hen th e ser ies m oved to Southwick , Massachusett s. Brad sha w su ffered a hip 'inj u ry whil e pra cticin g durin g the week a n d dropped behind Cooper in th e sta ndings. one poi nt ahead of Holla nd. Priva teer Honda rider Donn y Schmit took seco nd overall and rem a in ed a dark h orse for th e titl e a few po ints back in fifth. H oll and became th e first repeat winner o f th e seri es a t ro u nd five in Mt . Mo rr is, Pennsylvania , a n d won agai n t h e fol lo w in g wee k a t Bucha non , Michiga n to retak e th e po int s lead. Bu t at th e next ro und in Troy, O hi o . Holl and reinju red h is surg ica ll y-re pa ired shou lde r. The pain lin gered for th e rem ainder o f the series, but Ho lla n d stayed in title co n te n tio n unti l h e cr as h ed and inju red h is sho u lde r agai n lat e in the season. Holl an d sa t o u t the la st two ro u n d s, t h e n a n no u n ced h is retirem ent. Cooper got hi s o n ly overa ll wi n at Troy, bu t Bradsha w had a strin g of co nsi sten t finish es and took th e points lead. Bradsh a w padded that lead with an o the r ov era ll wi n wh en th e ser ies visi ted Millv ille, Mi nnes- so ta, w h i le Kiedro wski s l ig h rl y falte red a nd dropped 10 third beh in d Coope r in th e sta nd ings. Kiedrowsk i put a sto p to hi s slide a t round nin e in Wa sh ou g al. Washingt on , wh ere he wo n both mot os a nd closed in o n points-lead er Bradshaw . At th e next race in Bin gh a m ton. New York , the two rid ers' growing riv a lry becam e b itt er when th ey tang led whil e batt lin g for th e lead in the first moto. Bradshaw staye d up , took seco nd to Cooper a n d won m oto two to ta ke a 27-point lead over Kied row ski , the wid est mar g in of th e ser ies. But wh en th e series mov ed 10 Delmont, Pennsylvania , fo r ro u nd II , Bradsh aw 's large lea d di sappeared wh en he h u rt h is kneecap a nd DNF the fir st 1110 lD . Kiedrowski co u ld n ' t full y ca p ita lize du e to cras hes, wh ile Mati asevich , wh o had been co m ing o n strong la te in th e season a fter m issi ng severa l ro u nds du e to i n j u r ies, to o k hi s fir st Nat ional win. Coo per went 1-6 a nd mov ed into a tie with Kied row ski for seco n d in the sta ndi ngs , 19 points behind Bradsh aw . T he pe nu lti ma te ro und a t Bud d 's Cree k, Ma ryland , wa s a lso disastrous for Bradsh aw as he crashed in the first Illata , dam aged h is rear brak e a nd finis hed b u t of th e points. A ca u tio us th ird in mot o two wasn 't enough to keep h im in front since Kied rowski sco red the doub le mot o wins 10 go six points up on Co o pe r. wh o had a pa ir o f seco n ds, a nd II o n Bradsha w. T he pr essu re wa s on for the fina l rou nd at the to ugh U na d illa Va lley Sp orts Cen rer co urse in New York. Brad shaw d id w ha t he had to do a nd won both rnot o s, but Kied row ski stu ck to h is ssrat egy of sta yin g out of troubl e a nd went 3-2 to tak e th e ti tle by three poi nt s, Cooper cra shed severa l tim es for 12-16 scores a nd 5

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