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/127248
Suzuki's Larry Ward (17 ) grabbed the holeshot in the main event and led for six laps. Johnny O 'Mara (9 ) crossed the finish line in third place. At the Houston Astrodome, Yamaha 's Damon Bradshaw (8) carded his second supercross v ictory in a row. AMA Camel Supercross ChamlJionship: Round_ ' 2 Bradshaw;s for real in Texas By Kit Palmer HOUSTON, TX, FEB. 3 Just one week after winning his fir st 250cc supercross in the U .S. a t the Camel Supercross Series open er in Anaheim, Californ ia, Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw showed 6 the more th an 46,000 specta tors at th e H ouston.Astrodome I that h'se is for real a ndrio fluke. that last week victory was The 17-year-old North Carolina rider dominated the Coors Extra Gold Super Challenge 250cc main event af ter pa ssing early leader Larry Ward on the sixth lap of th e 20-lap feature race. " T h is is just o ne of th e best feelings," said Brad sh aw . " I guess I can 't really explain it." In the main ' Brad shaw left the starting ga te a nd rou nded the first corne r in fo urth p lace while Su zuki's Ward had the holeshot. Once Brad- shaw pa ssed Ward, there was no stop p ing th e factory Yamaha pilo t. . " I go t a pretty decent start and after that, I just tried to work traffic as fast as I co uld," said Bradsha w. " I tried to pl ay it smart." Ward crossed th e finish lin e j ust a few seconds behind Brad sh a w to cla im second; it was Ward 's best-ever ' 250cc su pe rcross finish in America. Ward won a su percross in Paris,' Fran ce, last No vemb er. " I rode three 250':c su percrosses last yea r a nd this is th e second o ne this year, so I'm really pleased, " said Ward. " I got the holesh ot a nd I saw Brad sh aw com ing, but I made o ne mi stak e and that's whe n he ca ug h t me." In hi s second su percross appearan ce ridin g for Kawasak i after co mpe ting o n Suzukis for th e last two years, 1984 Su pe rcross Champion J ohnny O 'Mara flicked his KX250 by th e checkered flag in third, within eyesigh t of Larry Ward. " I definitel y felt better than last week at Anaheim wh en I fini sh ed 10th ," sa id O 'Mara. "My goal was to reach th e winner's circl e tonight, wh ether it was to win , or finish second or third. So I' m happy I acco mp lis hed that. I just shou ld 've been a little more aggressive." Rounding out th e top five was . Suzuki's Mike LaRocco and defending Su percross cha mp and last year 's Astrodome winner Jeff Stanton. Many of the veteran su percross performers suc h as Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward a n d two-tim e Supercro ss Champion Honda 's Ri ck J ohnson had a night they 'd probably just as soon forget. ) Stanton said, ''I'm riding terrible.. th at's all there is to say.. . I'm just not myself right now." r J eff Ward was on the move in fifth place wh en he crashed into Yamaha 's Doug Dubach and ended up finishing 12th. . Short and to the point, Ward said, " I' m not pleased. " Johnson, who crashed twice in the main and finished 18th , surprised many by just showing up at Houston after experiencing persistent pain in his wrist following the Anaheim Supercross. Earl ier in th e week Honda had issued a press release which sta ted that Johnson wou ldn 't] co mpe te at Houston. " I saw a doctor th is week and he , basicall y told me I should n' t rid e a ny more a nd tha t my career was over," sai d J ohnson. " Bu t I saw another . doctor , o ne who rides mo to rcycles, a nd he said that I co ul d rid e a nd th a t , It