Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

far beh ind or how bent-u p his bik e ge ts. Hi s stra tegy for the seaso n is to co nsisten tly fini sh a t th e top, for he .bel ieves that the titl e will go LO th e mos t consis tent rider. Cooper also wa nts to prove something. " I'd li ke to be the first rider to leave H onda and sti ll wi n a championshi p," says Cooper. Another Honda . refu gee is Larry Ward. Wa rd had severa l strong rides in th e 125cc Western Regional series a nd a lso was up near th e fron t o n occasion in the eas tern 250cc races, Afte r sw itch i ng to Suzuki in Nove mber, Ward wo n hi s first supercross race in Paris, France. Mike La Rocco lost hi s ride at Yam aha a nd also found hi s way to the Suzuki team. La st year, La Rocco co nce ntra ted on th e 125cc Western Regional series, a nd was the winner in H ouston. He also had some good 250cc rides o n th e eastern leg of the series, fin ish in g as high as fourth in Miami. In 1990, La Rocco will direct a ll o f h is effort towards the 250cc class . LaRocco has problems wi th poor sta rts and cras hes, but he's a hardcha rger wh o co mes th ro ug h the pack. T he rest of th e Suzuki sq ua d will contes t the 125cc class, with Jimmy Gaddis and Buddy Antunez taking on th e Western Regional series and J ero my Buehl and Denny Stephenso n co mpe ting in the east. 6 Team Yamaha Yamaha 's philosophy for 1990 is quality rather than quantity. Last yea r, Yam ah a had more rid ers o n its squad than a ny other team. But this year, Yamaha is fielding th e sma lles t team with just two rid ers. Yamah a is rel ying o n o ne of the sp ort's fastestrising yo ung stars, Damon Brad sha w, and vetera n Doug Dubach , a. k.a . Mr. Hol esh ot. Bo th riders will co mpete in the 250cc class. Yamaha is not fielding an officia l factory ' effort in the 125cc class, bu t severa l Pro! Am suppo rt riders will compe te in the reg iona l seri es. Brad sh aw , 17, joined the Pro ra nks last yea r and made hi s presen ce kn own by winning the 1988 J apanese Supercross, backing th a t up with a no the r J apanese Supercross victory one year lat er. In between , Bradshaw finish ed second in th e AMA National Championship 125cc MX Series, fin ishing just a ' few points behind Kiedro wski. Brads haw is known for his aggressive riding style, which ca rried him across the fini sh line in first place many times during the 1989 seaso n, But crashes plagued th e North Carolinian throughout th e year, and quite possibly robbed h im of the 125cc National title. But many feel that Bradshaw is going through the same crash p hase that Rick J ohnso n went throug h whi le he was movin g up through th e ran ks, a nd Yamaha is hopi ng Brad shaw will mature into a true champion and repl ace J oh nso n as the kin g of motocross and supercross. " My goal is to be consistent a nd finis h in th e to p five at each race," says Bradsha w. " I'm going to try and exc ur ng r iders to watch Supercross. Erik Kehoe is a no ther long-tim e factory rider goi ng the pri vateer route for '90. Keh oe has ridden for Suzuki since 1985, but af ter a disappointing 1989 season he finds hi m self pi loting a Honda bac ked by Pro Circu it Racing. Keh oe's ma in focu s is th e 125cc ou tdoor ariona ls, whe re he has wo n many races and has always been a threa t for the n um ber o ne p late. In supercross, he has never won a main event, bu t he is a lmost always a sure bet as a qualifier for th e mai n, a nd as a top- IO finish er. Befo re ri di ng uzu kis, Keh oe rod e H ondas, Another rider to keep an eye o n is northern Californian Steve La mson, whose sixth-overall finish in the 500cc National s in '89 gave hi m to p privat eer honor s. 'L a m so n rode Do wn er s G rovebacked Ya mah as last year, but has switched to Suzu kis in 1990. Lamso n's pl an s are to compete in th e 125cc Western Regional Supercros s Seri es rounds and the 250cc cla ss in th e eas tern even ts. Mi chi gan ' s Keith Bowen h a s show n in the p as t th at h e h a s ca pa bi lities as a top fin ish er in Su percross . T he fo r mer fa c to ry Yamaha rider will start his third year in th e 250cc class o n a Tuf Racingbacked Suzuk i. learni ng th e ro pes. " I haven't had much of a cha nce to ride supercross and I'm no t th at fam iliar wit h it it's very differen t." Other riders to w at ch Many factory racers were left without rides after the 1989 seaso n , one of who m was for mer two-t ime (1986-87) 125cc Nationa l Champion Micky Dymond. Following the 1987 season, Dymond left Team Honda and jo ined Team Yam ah a. Durin g the next two years , inj uries prevented Dymond from shi n ing as brightl y as he did whe n he was on H ondas. Because of Ya ma ha 's decision to trim back its team for 1990, and Dymond's less-than-spectacul ar per for ma nce in 1989, Dymond received hi s walkin g pa pe rs, With all th e o the r teams already maxed to capac ity, Dymond had no cho ice but to bu y a nd race hi s own motorcycles in 1990. Dymond will rid e Kawasakis thi s year with help from Pro Circuit Racin g. Dymond feels that hi s forte is Supercross racing, a nd wants a Supercross number-one plate befor e his racing career is over. The popu lar Californian is known as a smoo th rider wh o is fearl ess o ver double- a nd triple-jumps. H e is o ne of th e most 1990 privateers who finished in the top 40 in 1989, and their 1990 National and Supercross numbers 250cc class 10th E Kehoe/Honda ••• •• "" #19 rik 12th Micky D ymond/ Kawasaki •••• •#21 13th Keith Bowen/Suzuki •••• • ••• #24 15th Todd DeHoop/Suzuki • • •• , •• #25 16th Fred Andrews/ Honda .••••• •#18 17th Mike Fisher/Kawasaki •• ••••• #23 20th Jason Upshaw/Honda • • • •• • •#53 21 st Brian Manley/Kawasaki • • • • • •#35 22nd Ray Sommo/ Suzuki •• • ••• • •#34 23rd larry Brooks/ Honda •••••••• #30 stay off th e gro und as much as poss ible. I' m ca lmer now, and I feel more co mfortab le on the 250 than I d id on th e 125," Dubach , o n the o ther hand; has yet to win a Nati onal or Supercros s . . Championship, but his determinatio n a nd cons isten t to p p lacings at Supercrosses and at o u tdoo r Nationals have earned him a no the r one-year co n trac t with Yam aha, Dubach , 28, from Chino, California , finish ed six th in th e Camel Supercros s Series last year, as well as six th a nd fourth in the 250 and 500cc o u tdoor National s. Not o nly is Dub ach a seaso ned race r, but he al so pl ays a valuable role in Yam aha 's race a nd developing department for th e production YZS. Dubach is ano ther ag gressive rider on the race track wh o is no t afraid to tak e risks. Look for Dub ach 's wh ite-and-red , numb er seven Yam ah a out in front of the pack as soo n as the sta rti ng ga te drops. Team KTM KTM is the o nly European man ufacturer pl ann in g LO field a Supercross team , a nd that effort wi ll co nsis t of just o ne rider - 19-yearo ld Keith J ohnson fro m Pen broke, Massach usett s. J ohnson is a n up-and -coming rid er wh o, befor e signi ng with KTM , rod e a privateer Kawasaki a nd mad e hi s name as a regular top- 10 finish er in th e 250 a n d 500cc o u tdoo r Nationals. H e has o nly ridden four su pe rcro sses in hi s career, wh ich included a respectable 12th in th e main event at T ampa, Florida. " I'm reall y happy with th e progra m we have a t KTM ," said J ohnson. "I p lan on riding all the 250cc Supercros s races and all th e 250 and 500cc ou tdoo r Nation al s." With only four su percross races under his belt, Johnson is still Let the races begin As all of the riders have said, consis tency will be the key to winning th e champio ns hi p. There's 21 weeks' of racing - in clu d in g supercross a nd National events - with o n ly o ne weekend off unt il the Ca mel Supercross Series en ds. Predicting a champion will be LOugh, a nd we p rob a bl y wo n't k now w ho th e wi n ner will be until th e last mai n ends o n June 23 in Los Angeles. 24th Mike Pascarella /Suzuki •••••• #57 27th Dennis Hawthorne/Kawasaki ••• #32 29th Danny Storbeck/Honda •••• • •#40 30th Ross Pederson/Suzuki •• •• ••• #56' 33rd Jeff Frisz/Suzuki ••• '• •• •••• #54 35th Terry Fowler/Kawasaki • • , •• •#89 '36th Kurt McMillen/Honda ••••••• #28 38th Jim Holley/Yamaha • • ••• •• •#94 39th David Hand/Honda • •• ••• • •• #61 40th Allen Dyck/Yamaha • • ••• •• • #77 2S0cc Class 59 or less ride rs (qualifyi ng races w ill be hel d if necessary to redu ce field to 5 9 riders) Top 20 riders in curre nt points are exe mpt fro m quali fyi ng an d w ill be seeded direc tly to the Heat s. Three Heat s. Two Semi s. On e Last Chance Qu alifier, One M ain Event HEAT 1 HEAT 2 HEAT 3 120 riders) IB laps) (19 riders) (B laps) (20 riders) (B laps) IN EACH HEAT Pos. 1-5 to M ai n (plus pos. 6-20 in HEAT 1 to SEM I 1.) Pos. 6·20 in HEAT 3 to SEM I 2. Pos 619 inHEAT2wili be split between SEMIS 1 and 2 SEMI 1 SEMI 2 (22 ri ders) (6 laps) Pos. 1 & 2 to MAIN Pos. 3 - 13 to LA ST CHANCE Pos. 14 - 22 0ut (22 ri ders) (6 laps) Pos. 1 & 2 to MAIN Pos. 3 - 13 to LAST CHAN CE Pos. 14 - 22 Out LAST CHANCE (22 riders) (6 laps) Pos. 1 to MAIN Pos. 2 • 22 Out w it h e ven numbers to SEM I 1 and odd numbers to SEM I 2. MAIN EVENT (20 riders) (20 laps) 2S0cc Class 44 or less riders Two Heats , Two Sem is, One Last Chance Qual if ier, One Main Event HEAT 1 HEAT 2 (22 riders) (B laps) (22 riders) (B laps) . IN EACH HEAT' Pos 1 - 6 to MAIN & Pos 7 - 22 to SEM IS SEMI 1 SEMI 2 (16 rider s) (6 laps) Pos. 1 - 3 to MAIN Pos. 4 • 14 to LA ST CHANCE Pos. 15 & 16 Out (16 riders ) (6 laps) Pos. 1 - 3 to MAIN Pos. 4 - 14 to LAST CHANCE Pos. 15 & 16 Out LAST CHANCE (22 riders) (6 laps) Pos 1 & 2 to MA IN Pos. 3 • 22 Out MAIN EVENT (20 riders) . (20 laps)

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