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
Damon Bradshaw held off an attack by Jean-Michel Bayle to win the second night of competition, then crashed the next two nights. was spread out and he could pass riders o ne at a time without getting too close to a possible collision. johnson moved up to fifth at th e finish. Stanton rode ca u tio usly during th e qualifiers and was elim in a ted, but the promoters seeded him in the semis. Stanton was then put into the wall as he rod e around a French rider who gifted the final transfer to German Dietma r Lacher . Fo llowing a day of rest, Saturday evening was a crazy nigh t of racing as ri ders threw ca ution to the wi n d o n a too-sim p le track. "There are no o bs tacles a ny m ore," sa id j ohns on 's m echanic Brian Lunniss. "Everyo ne is flat out. Eve n the Fren ch guys ca n hold on until th ey ge t tired, then all h ell lets loose a s the train of rider s try to ge t past " j ohn va n de n Berk b eat th e " Fren ch signal" an d hol eshot th e m ain , but Dema r ia immed ia tely made a crazy pass. The Dutchman wa s then p u t o n th e grou nd as Leisk a n d Bayle a lso went under him an d Bayle's front wheel took o u t van den Berk 's, Wi th j eff Ward clearly not interested in pl ayin g th e dangerous games a head of h im , a nd johnson ridi ng with the leaderboard pack bu t making n o serio us at te m p t to g e t amongst them, Ba yle look ed h ot for th e wi n as he moved in on Demaria a nd Leis k fro m third. Bu t Bayle lost the front wheel an d took Sta nton down wi th him, th en ret ired to th e p its . Then Bradshaw, faster than anyone but last o ut of th e ga te, was the n ext man to ta ke Stanton ou t wh en h e cras hed hard in th e whoops a nd Stanton co u ldn ' t m iss h im. L eisk took o ver the lead , but co u ld n ' t resi st th e exu bera nt ch allenges o f Larry Ward and Mike Ki edrowski , eac h smelli n g th e ch a nce to take thei r fi rst 250cc su perc ro ss win . j ohnson sat patiently, rea dy to take over if th e trio ahead of h im coll ided. On th e last lap Larry Ward led with Kiedrowski ch as in g desperately , but Kiedrowski got sideways in th e whoops and let Leisk back to secon d. Ward's victory was sweet , as h e had lost his H onda support ride and was on his Suzuki debut an d led three red machines over th e finish line. Camel Supercross Champion Jeff Stanton was taken out in crashes in several races. His best finish was fourth on the first night. Mike Kiedrowski' s feud with Bayle on the final night helped Johnson earn the Bercy crown . Although th e crowd was worked into a frenzy by th e action on th e tra ck , it was gellin g dangerous o n the stadi um £lo o r. Nearly every pho tograph er a nd official on th e infield had eith er been hit by an o utof-control rider or had a near-m iss. . Going into th e fourth an d final afternoon, survival was beco m in g th e keyword as fatigue began to set in. For th ose still interested in the Kin g of Bercy title, lohnson wa s ahead o f Leisk and j e£ Ward trailed in third . Interest a lways starts to wane on th e fin al da y, a nd most of th e riders were simpl y going through the motions in the quahfiers. Wh en th e main sta rted , Demaria and van den Berk again a nt ici pa ted th e drop of the gate, despite th e fact th at th e . starter wa s now fully hidden. Van den Berk quickly dropped back , a nd Demaria led until h e crashed out hard. Bradsh aw and j eff Matiasevi ch crashed even harder as they di sputed seco nd place. Bradshaw lost control in th e whoops and th e en tir e building seem ed to shake when th e two The Paris Supercross is an entertainment extravaganza with light shows .and cheerleaders. Home hero Bayle is introduced to the crowd. rid ers a nd m ach in es hit th e stadium wall together. In cred ibl y, both were u nh urt Leisk inhe ri ted the lead, a n d if th ings stayed th e sam e h e would also ge t the crown. Bu t j ohnson was rid ing a ll o u t a fter startin g las t. A crash in th e whoops b y Stanton ga ve j ohnson fourth place, an d as h e closed o n th e leading trio of Leisk, Kiedrowski a n d Bayl e, a p re-race argume nt helped him into seco n d. Bayle had cra sh ed out his 1990 Ame rica n teammate Kiedrowski in th e sem i-fin al, and Kiedrowski had swo rn reven ge in an open di spute in th e pits. As Bayle tri ed to ride around Kiedrowski in the final , the Fren chman sudde n ly found h imself pushed into the hay bales. j ohnson reacted in a fla sh and went inside for second. That secured the overall crown for johnson, bu t johnson made a last desperate attempt to pass Leisk in the final co rner that just barel y failed. Leisk became th e only. nonAm erican winner while Bayle p assed Kiedrowski on th e fin al la p for th ird.• Results WEDNESDAY: 1. Rick Johnson (H on~ 2.Jell Ward (Kaw); 3. Jean -Michal Bayle (Hon); 4. Jell Stanton (Hon); 5. Larry Ward ISuz~ 6. Jail Laisk (Hont 7. M ike lBRocco (Yam); B. Jell Mat iasevich (Kaw); 9. Damon Bradshaw (Yam); 10. John van den Berk (Yam). THURSDAY: 1. Damon Bradshaw; 2. Jean · Michel Bayle; 3. Jell Ward ; 4. Jell Laisk; 5. Rick Johnson; 6. Dave Strijbos (Suzl; 7. Mike laRocco; 8. Micky Dymond (Yam); 9. John van den Berk; 10. Jell Matiasevich. SATURDAY: 1. Larry Ward ; 2. Jeff Leisk; 3. Mike Kiedrowski (Hon); 4 . Rick Johnson; 5. Jeff Matiasevich; 6. Mike laRocco; 7. Jell Stanton;· 8. Yves Demaria (Yam~ 9. Jeff Ward; 10. Damon Bradshaw . . SUNDAY: I .Jell Leisk; 2. Rick Johnson; 3. Jean M ichel Bayle; 4. M ike Kiedrowskl; 5. Jell Stanton; 6. Jell Wsrd; 7. Guy Cooper (Suzt 8. John van den Berk; 9. Edwin Evensen (Kaw~ 10. Broc Glover IKTM). OVERAll.: 1. Rick Johnson; 2. Jell Laisk; 3. Jell Ward; 4. Jaan ·Michel Bayle; 5. Jell Stanton. II