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/127222
M ike Kiedrowski took advantage of bo bbles by rivals to w in the fi rst night of competition. then worked up t o fi nish fourth on nig ht two . Cooper, Kiedrowski collect Geneva Supercross wins Guy Cooper was .the runner-up to Kiedrowski the f irst ni ght. but came back to win the final night's rac ing even though he crashed once. By Alex Hodgkinson File photos by Fran Kuhn GENEVA, SWITZER LA ND, DEC. 8-9 G u y Cooper took his first major WIn for Suzuki in the Lucky Strike Supercross a t the Geneva Palexpo. Falls for Larry and J eff Ward left the way clear for Mi ke Kiedrowski on th e first even ing, then on Saturday Cooper came back from a fall to win the final and the overall. . The stra m. of almost .non-stop su pe rcross ra~mg ~as staru ng to tell o n th e trav eling circus as the ac tio n ~oved to ~ wlt.zerla ~ d a fter four nights of ~cmg .m Pans, France, one week earlie r. Rid ers and team personnd. wh had . been thro.ug h. all four ni ghts in Pa n s we~e feeli ng SICk. Most thought t~ey had influenza, but a more. reali sti c t;xcuse was carbo n m~~~xIge p01~onm~. es .eman a deci ded he had had enough in Gen eva after practice as he suffered with a tem perature of 104 degrees. J eff Mati asevich also needed o n ly o ne pr actice sessio n to realize -tha t hi s shoulder, whi ch was injured in a cras h with Dam on Brad sh aw in the fourth Pari s fin al , was to o painful for him to race. J eff Leisk wa s th e lu ckiest g uy around wh en he survived landin g o n seco nd cla ss rid ers who cras hed before him off th e big jumps in each of th e practi ce sessions. Add to all that John van den Berk with vision problem s and 24 stitches in hi s left bicep after a car cras h th e day befor e th e race, p lu s a je t-lag ged R ick J ohnson, wh o had been to California a nd back withi n a week a nd the most incredible thing wa s that th e 14,000 full house in the Pal expo wer e tr eated to su pe rb racin g. .. . The heats were magnificent on Friday as England's W~rren. Edwards was all over Mike Crai g with Larr y Brooks, Denn y Step he nso n a nd J eff Emig left in their wake on the superb J ohn Savitski trac k. Crai g ran the Brit off th e track, th ough Edwards returned to win hi s semi easi ly. H eat two . was a mazi ng. Kied rowski co u ld n' t hold o n after tak in g the hol esho t a nd fini sh ed fo urth as th e race saw four di fferent lead ers in th e fina l ha lf la . First Larry Ward bru ta lly dro ve ~nder Coope r but couldn't ge t awa before the next turn a nd Cooper ~eturned the com. . p li rnem. Leisk ,,:ent throug h the gap, bu t bobble~ mto t~e hay bales a t the end of th e whoops anddro pped to thud as Wa rd took th~ wm . J ohnson ~ ever saw.whi ch wa y .J t;ff Ward w~nt in th e thi rd heat, a nd m th e sem i Johnson o nly passed Greg A l be~ tJo:n for second o n the run to the fin ish, Va n den Berk a nd Sw iss sta r Cha rly Ton us exchanged th e lead in heat fou.r until both fell o n th,e same lap to give Broc Gl over the wm. Emig hurt a wri st wh en hejumped a berm a nd sla m med into th e stadium wa ll after being passed in rapid succession by Leisk, Kiedrow sk i a nd Coo per. Larry Wa rd needed th e La st Chance Qualifier for h is second win after J eff Ward wa lked awa y with sem i two. The first a tte mp t to run th e fin al was sho rt as Brooks cras hed on th e seco nd jump and was tak en away with kn ee injuries after being run over. Larry Ward and van den Berk rep eated th eir ho leshot at th e second attempt and th e American looked all the way a winner until he went down three laps from th e end and strugg led in for sixth aft er landing o n hi s head . J eff Ward had been up to seco nd, but cras hed a t th e end of th e wh oops a nd rod e o n a t a much-reduced pace, having pulled hi s ri ght shoulder. Leisk 's cha nces had gone ea rl ier wh en he went o ver th e bars as hi s front wh eel hit a ha y bale di slodged by Kiedrowski. Kiedro wsk i had been improvi ng as the eveni ng went o n, pass ed J oh nson o n la p two and Cooper soo n after to win his first 250cc Supercross wh en J eff and La rry Ward hit th e deck . Van de n Berk rod e well with h is inj uries to keep fourth. On Saturday the heats were agai n lively as Cooper ra n away with his heat. Van den Berk and Leisk both su rvived fall s, while Larry a nd J eff Ward fought out a close heat two and Kiedrow sk i had to co me th rough from a bad start. Alb ert yn beat Gl o ver , Step he nso n, Rick Ryan and Fred Andrews with ease in th e thi rd heat, th e fourth being scrapped as injuries reduced th e field to 39 rid ers. J ohnson had gone to rid e in Ge nova, Ital y. . After Ton us had delighted th e ho rne crowd by leading th e first semi for two laps, van den Berk took over " nd co untered every a ttac k by Coope r a while Larry Ward, Kiedr ow ski and Crai g got th e bett er of Leisk. J eff Ward needed half of th e second semi to ca tch and pa ss Albert yn, with Stephen son , Andrews a nd Ryan left well behind in th eir ba tt le with Everts o n, wh o was aga in improv ing as th e even t went on. The Kawasakis of Crai g a nd Yann Guedard led the sta rt of th e final wi th Cooper quickl y demot ing van den Berk from fourth as Albertyn co mpl eted a five-man break away. Jeff Ward went do wn in a co ll isio n with L eisk , a n d th e Au strali an crashed o u t a lone one lap lat er as Ward chas ed Kiedr o wski through th e pack. Craig was the weak est of the front five and soo n surrendered hi s lead , but Coo per cras hed a t th e end of th e whoops on his fir st a tte mp t to ta ke th e lead from Gueda rd. The Fren chman a nd van den Berk mo ved a way in front as Cooper led J eff Wa rd and Kiedrowski past Cra ig. The American cha mp io ns co uld n't live with Coope r, indeed War d cras hed o ut try ing to stay wi th th e new Suzu ki pilot. In th e last three laps Coo pe r stor med to the win a nd, with Kiedrowski o nly fourth , th e overa ll. • Resu lts FRIDAY 1. Mike Kiedrowski (Hon); 2. Guy Cooper (SUl ~; 3 . Rick Johnson (Hon); 4. John van den Berk IYam ); 5. Jeff Leisk (Hon); 6. Larry Ward (SUl ); 7. Yann Guedard(Kaw}; 8 . Sroc Glover (KTM); 9. M ike Craig (Kaw); 10 . Ryan Hun , (Hon); 11. Ricky Ryan (Hon~; 12. J eff Ward (Kaw ); 13 . Greg Albenyn (Kaw); 14. Jean Charl es Tonus (Hon ). SATURDAY 1. Guy Cooper (SUl); 2. Yann Guedard (Kaw ); 3 . van den Berk; 4 . Mike Kiedrowski (Han); 5. Mike Cr aig (Kaw); 6. Denny Step henson (Han ); 7 . RickV Ryan (Hon); 8. Edw in Evensen (Kaw); 9. Sroc Glover (KTMI; 10. Greg Albenyn (Kaw); 11. Fred Andrews (Yam); 12. Je ff Ward (Kaw ); 13. J ean Charles Tonus (Hon); 14. Jeff Leisk{ Hon); 15. Larr y WardlSuzl .

