Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

In . th e 20-lap main , Bra dsh aw again ba ttl ed with Team Kawasak i's Mat iasevich a nd m ade th e win n in g pass on the 14th la p wh en Ma tiasevich bega n to slo w due to arm fatig ue. Honda 's J ea n -Mich el Bayle, . the 250cc World Champion Frenchman wh o wi ll co m pe te in Am eri ca th is yea r, a lso got by Matiasevich lat e in th e ra ce to fini sh second. Ba yle's stra tegy o f hang ing ba ck and wa it ing for riders to ma ke mistakes left h im too far beh in d to ma ke a ru n at Bradsha w, who collected $8000 of the $53,000 purse, p lus co n tingen cies for the win. Mat ia sevich held o n to third over Kawasak i teamma te J eff Ward , and Yamaha 's Doug Dubach edged o u t Honda 's, Ri ck J ohnson to co mplete the top five. Defending Ca mel Supercross Champion J e ff Sta nto n struggled with th e n u mber one pl ate jitters and fin ish ed sevent h. I n th e wild l 25 cc West ern Reg ional Supercros s Series main, Kawasaki Tea m Green rider Michael Craig broke ou t o f a fou r-way battle for first midway through th e 15-lap race and went o n to pi ck up $2250 for winning. Craig's victory wa s especiall y s wee t since he' s just recently recovered from a broken neck. Suzuki's Buddy Antunez finished second and H onda-rider Jimmy Button claimed th ird. 250cc Heats Wh en th e first o f three eight-la p heat s th at transferred . th e top five directl y to th e main go t underway, Kawa saki 's J ohnny O'Mara wa s fir st to turn one , but Bradsh aw swept arou nd th e o utside an d took th e lead a way. Johnson ca me o u t th e first turn behind O 'Ma ra wh ile Ma tiasev ic h a n d Su zuk i ' s Gu y Cooper battled clo se behind. Matiasev ich q uickl y m o ved to seco nd a nd by th e halfway po int he h ad cl o sed th e tw o -second ga p Brad sh aw esta blis hed early in th e race. Du ring th e nex t la p Mat iasevich co nt in uous ly showed his front wh eel to Brad sh aw , but Bradshaw did every th ing he co u ld to hold him o ff. " 1sa w his front wh eel in a corner ," said Brad shaw. " hi th e next corner I noticed h e was o u tside so I just m oved him up o n th e hay bal es." " It .was ge tti ng pretty physical ," said Mat iasevich . " H e was sto p p ing a nd forcing m e up on th e h igh ba n ks, try ing to rai l me." Th in gs got real physica l on th e fifth lap w he n Bra dsh aw crashed in a whoop section. As Bra dshaw was dragged o ff th e ba ck of the bike hi s body pulled th e ma chine towards Maria sevi ch , wh o was cha rgi ng a lo ngside. T he Yamaha 's front en d sky ward a nd clipped we nt Ma tiasev ich. " I sta rted slidi ng into th e whoops a nd it threw me o ff bal ance," sa id Bradshaw. " He was swappi ng righ t a t me." ... Matiasevich said. " H is from tir e actually hi t m e in the side of the he lmet. " Mati asevich staved on h is Kawasaki, though , and ~ode to victo ry. He was a lso selected by th e med ia as th e $ 1000 Coors Extra Effort Awa rd wi n ner for survivi ng th e clos e ca ll. . Joh nso n clos ed in near th e end a nd was a few seco nds beh ind Matiasevich atthe finish . O 'Mara took third o ver Cooper, while P ro Ci rcu it / AXO- bac ked Erik Keh oe, rid in g a Honda, passed Pro Circu it tea mmat e Larry Brooks, wh o was a lso ri di ng a Honda, o n .th e last la p to claim .th e final transfer position. The seco n d heat belonged to Jeff Ward, as he go t th e holesh ot a nd sped a way with th e win , completing th e eight-lap race .in th e quickest time of th e three h eats. H onda 's Mike o 0'> 0'> ..... After losing the lead, Matiasevich (2 0) couldn't hold off Bayle and dropped to third behind the Frenchman. Kiedrowski kept him in sig ht the ent ire distance and finished seco nd a few seconds a hea d of Suzuki 's Mike LaRocco. Kawasaki R&D rider Mike Fish er held fourth the entire di stance, while Mik e Pascarella passed Derek Brown on th e second lap and rode on to fifth. " I d idn 't even ma ke it this far here last year," said Ward, wh o in jured h is foot during practice for th e 1989 even t a nd mi ssed th e first five rounds of last year's ser ies. Holesho t a rt is t Dubach reached th e first turn first in heat three, but went a little wid e which a llowed Suzu ki 's Ro n Tich en or an d Stanton to sq uirt by. Bayle a lso got Dubach o n the first la p an d took seco n d whe n Sta nton fell bac k to fourth. Ba yle stu ffed T iche nor on la p three, bu t T ichen or stayed righ t wi th th e leader until he went o ff the trac k on the six th lap. Bayl e th en cru ised to th e win, while Stanton battled past Dubach to cla im seco nd. Suzuki's Larry Ward was a short di stance behind in fourth, a nd Tiche n or took adva nta ge of a bobble by Suzukimounted Ray So m mo to earn th e fifth and last transfer to th e main. Semis Bradshaw got th e holeshot at th e sta rt of th e first six-lap semi a nd was go ne w ith the fir st o f th e tw o pos.itions tha t tra nsferred to th e maul. " I think it wa s good for me to ride th e semi because I was ab le to ride lik e m yself instead of bein g a goon," sa id Bradsh a w referring to his hea t race ride. Honda ride r Grayson Goodman and Suzuk i p i lo t Dean Matson argu ed over seco nd until th ey went down together a t the end o f th e th ird c irc u it. Ya m aha-mounted Shaun Kal os in heri ted th e position a nd held it to the fini sh . FMF-backed Somma led th e start of th e seco nd semi an d mai n tai ned h is lead to th e finish desp ite the co ns tant th reat of ru n ner-u p Honda rider J ason U psha w wh o finished just a second back. Last Chance Qualifier Brooks, Matson and Ta kay u ki Miyauchi o f Japan battled for firs t p lace and the o n ly transfer positio n from the six- lap LCQ. Matson stuffed Bro oks o n the seco nd lap, but the n Mat son st u ffed himself into th e ha y bal es. Brooks took over and Mi yau ch i dogged him to the finish line but was never able to ge t by. Main Bradsh a w used hi s o u tside lin e in th e first turn to lead th e 20-rider field into th e o pening lap of th e 20-lap main event. Ba yle, Matiasevich, Stanton , J ohnson a nd Dubach fol - Dubach (7) and Johnson battled for fifth place throughout the second half ofthe main. Dubach crossed the line just ahead ofthe former champ. Jeff Ward (3) got a last- place start, charged through the pack and passed M ike Fisher (23) and Johnson on hi.s w ay to a fourth place finish , lowed. LaRocco and Kiedrowski, wh o went sideways off th e lin e and n early took out Jeff Ward, were left in a h eap in the first turn. Matiasevich moved by Bayle on the second lap a n d Dubach passed J ohnson while Ward had moved from th e back of the pack to eigh th behind Fisher. Stanton's bad night contin u ed when he fell a lap later. " I was trying too hard and was tense, " said Stanton. "I was too worried about carrying th e number one plate, thinking I had to uphold the image of being number one." Up front a few bike lengths spread - the top three, while Dubach began to lose touch as he had to protect h is position against johnson and a charging Ward. johnson briefly stopped Ward's charge as the two swapped fifth several times before 9

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