Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Su~~v~ryin j~~j~~n~~~:::~~:~~~~::~:~~~~~~~==;;~~~~=~~;~======~~~~~~~~~~iithe transfer directly to the main with made his rostrum debut in Tokyo in 1982 while Bradshaw earned his first win last year in Osaka. Results 20 LAP M AIN : 1. Jeen·Michel Bayle (Han); 2. Riel< J ohnson (Han); 3. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 4 . Damon Brodsh aw (Y~m); 5. Glenn Bell (Han); 6. Jeff Leisk (Han); 7. Ron TIchenor (Suz); B. Jeff Matiasavich (Kow); 9. Micky Dymond (Yam); 10. Mike laRocco (Yam); 11. Erik Kehoe (Suz); 12. T. Yasui (Mug); 13 . T. Miyouchi (Han); 14 . A . Okabe (Kaw ); 15 . H. Ish ibashi (Han); 16. Y. Yofuku ji (Han); 17. T. Nagaunumo (Kaw); 18. T. Oshtu iga (Han); 19 . Jeff Stanton (Han) ; 20 . Larry Ward (Suz ); 2 1. T. Kawasak i (Yam). . Bradshaw wins again at Osaka Supercross By Ric h Winkler OS AKA, JAPA N, NO V. 12 Damon Bradshaw overcame intense pre-race pressure and a lack of available practice time to repeat hi s surprise victory of 1988, defeat ing Am erica's .best and a host of j apanese a nd international rider s at th e 1989 Osaka Supercro ss. Arriving in japan midweek, all th e American rid ers had to co nt end with rain a nd bad weather that made practice impossible a n d co rrec t machine preparation for Osaka's traditionallysandy track co nd itio ns difficult a t best. . Bradsh a w, in parti cular, spent much of his practi ce sessions making suspe nsio n adj us tm ents. j erf Stanton, j eff Ward a nd Rick johnson. also looked stro ng, as did j eanMichel Bayle. Pract ice also p rovided th e first glimpses of up-and-comer Larry Ward aboard hi s new Suzuki, as well as a number of trick, oneoff, shop-built bikes and th e specia l Mugen Hondas being ridden by j apan 's top riders. . One negative h ighlight occurr ed ea rly wh en Yam ah a 's Doug' Dubach attempted to triple a set of three jumps and broke hi s a nkle, putting a premature end to hi s j apan tr ip and redu cing Yam ah a's factory effort to two rid ers. Ameri cans j eff Ward, Erik Keh oe, Mick y Dym ond a nd Larry Ward lined up al on gside Gl en Bell and a full field of japanese rid ers for heat number one. The capacity cro wd cheered their app roval as the gate dropped and Dymond grabbed th e hol eshot followed by La rry Ward , Keh oe and jeff Ward. Ben had foul ed a spark plug on th e line and left th e gate when th e pack was nearl y half a lap gone. Dymond looked strong and LOok con trol, putting a little breathing room between himself a nd Ward, but his lead was short- lived as he go t sidewa ys in th e whoops and cras hed, injuring hi s kn ee and putting himself out for th e night. Larry Ward th en took co nt ro l and led for th e rest of the race . Keh oe claimed second with j eff Ward third . Bayle, Stanton, Bradshaw, Mike LaRocco a nd Ronn ie Tichenor lined up for what would turn out to be th e fastest heat of the evening. At th e fin ish it was Ba yle first followed by Bradshaw, Stanton. Tichenor and LaRocco . In heat three, cro wd favorite johnson faced jeff Mariasevich, Australian j eff Leisk and Canada's Shane Drew. johnson grabbed th e holesho t followed closely by Leisk, Matiasevich and Drew. Matiasevich event uall y moved into second and the two leaders put a huge gap between themselves and third-place Leisk, However, johnson went down in the whoops, handing the lead to Matiasevich. johnson recovered to finish second followed by Leisk and Drew. All the visiting riders had made the exception of G len Bell , who was forced to ride the semi in order to qualify. In the main event , johnso n , Stanton, Bayle and Leisk made the ir appearance on H RC's new flu orescent pink/ orange/white ·s tad iu m bikes. T he roar of the crowd was deafen ing as th e gate dropped and th e pa ck cha rged th e fir st turn. As they emerged it was Bradsha w in control a he ad o f Mariasevi ch, T icheno r, Stanton , Bell , Ba yle, Larry Ward a nd j eff Ward. j ohnson , Kehoe a nd LaRocco had all 'sta rted poorl y and . j ohnson 's tr oubles soo n beca m e worse as he cras hed hard o n the firs t la p , bend in g h is bars and putti ng himself o ut of th e race . Stanton p ut a way Tich en or o n lap two to tak e over th ird a nd started after Matiasevich. Mea nwh ile, Bayle moved up to pressure Tich enor a nd a heavy three-way battle developed between j eff Ward , Larry Ward a nd Bell. LaRocco crashed on lap two and eli mi na ted his cha nces of a LOp finish. Up front , Bradshaw wa s Ilawl ess, as he began LO distance himself from the pa ck. Bayle soo n got by Tich enor a nd th ey began closing on Stanton as the two H onda men began to pressu re Matiasevi ch for second. This three-wa y battle would continue for so me tim e as the Kawasaki rider ga ve no o p portu nity for th em to get by. . Meanwh ile, j eff Ward, who had separated himself from th e battle with La rry Ward a nd Bell , passed T ichen or through th e wh oops a nd th en cleared th e triples th at had inju re d Duba ch (a n d n ot been a ttem p ted since) four laps in a ro w a nd, closed to within striking di sLance of Ba yle. By no w it was obvio us th at both Sta nton a n d Bayle were being held back by Matiasevich in second and Bradsh a w had stretched hi s lead to nearl y five seconds. Finally, Stanton made his move, pa ssin g Matiasevich over th e sa me came l jump. A Iewlaps lat er , Ba yle passed the Ka wasa ki rid er over th e huge cen terj um p, The two Honda rid ers immedi ately put distance o n Matiasevich and Ward. Brad sh a w seemed so far ahead th at he would be impossible LO ca tch, but th ere were still some surprises in sto re fo r th e cro wd as Bayle began. to mak e waves. With onl y a few laps remaining, Ba yle reel ed in U .S. Super cross Champion Sta n ton, passed him, and' began a cha rge for Bradshaw th at would cut severa l seconds per lap from hi s lead . At th e fin ish , Bradsha w held on for th e win , bu t th e cro wd was o n its feet as Ba yle had closed to with in a bike-length. Third went to Stanton, a nd Matiasevich captured fourth after a see-sa w battle wi th j eff Ward , wh o rounded ou t th e top five. Bradsh aw was ecsta tic over hi s victory a nd took the parade lap sta nding o n his Yamaha 's seat and wavin g to th e crowd. His win earn ed him 1.5 million yen (ap proxima tely $ll,O O). O • Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward rode conservatively at both the Osaka and Tokyo S upercrosses. He f inished third in Tokyo and fourth in Osaka. U.S . Supercross Champion Jeff Stanton (7) did not f inish the Tokyo Supercross due to a seized engine. He f inished third in Osaka. yamaha 's Damon Bradshaw scored his second Osaka Supercross v ictory III a row, but couldn 't match that performance in Tokyo with a fourth . Results FINAL: 1. Damon Bradshaw (Yam); 2. Jeon Michel Bayle (Han); 3. J eff Stanton (Hon ~ 4. J eff Matiasevich (Kow); 5. J eff · Ward (Kaw); 6. Ron Tichenor (Suz); 7. Larry Ward (Suz); B. Glen Bell (Han I;. 9. Jeff Leisk (Han); 10 . Erik Kehoe (Suz); 11 . Mike laRocco (Yam); 12. Taka Miyauchi (Han); 13. #05 (Yam); 14 . #01 6 (Han); 14. #10 (Kaw); 16 . Shane Drew (Han); 17. #01 (Kaw); 18. #78 (Yam); 19. #02 (Han); 20. Rick Jo hn son (Han). HEAT 1; 1. Larry Ward; 2. Er ik Kehoe; 3. JaIl Ward ; 4. S. Hanada; 5. #7B. HEAT 2: 1. Jean M ichel Bayle (Han); 2. Damon Bradshaw (Yam); 3. J eff Stanton (Honl; 4 . Ron Tichen or (Suzl; 5. Mike laRocco (Yam). HEAT 3: 1. Jeff M atiasevich (Kitw); 2. Rick J ohnson (Han); 3. Jeff Leisk (Han); 4 . Shane Drew (Han); 5. Ishibashi (Han). SEMI 1 4: 1. Glen Bell (Han); 2. #05 (Yam); 3. #06 (Kow); 4. #48 (Han); 5. #16 (Suz). SEM I 2; 1. #12 (Han); 2. #02 (Han); 3. #026 (Kaw); 4. #21 (yom) ; 5. #73 (Han). 9

• Cover