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
Kawasaki's Jeff Emig took over the lead on the sixth lap of the 125cc main event and held on for his first-ever supercross victory. . -r• • .the wrist should heal if I take care of it, wh ich might mean a couple .of operatio ns do wn the road." .. " , Team H onda' s j ean-Michel Bayle, who fin ished second .a t Ana heim , pulled ' out of the event after hyperextendi ng h is elbo w in a crash d uri ng practice. ' Accord ing to Ho nda's race team ma nager Dave Arnold, "The elbow swelled up and he (Bayle) tried riding his bike after practice in the parking lo t, but he was in too much pain a nd didn 't have a whol e lot of ' movement with hi s arm." Before th e main event began, the 250cc MX World Ch ampi on French ma n was on a pl ane, head ed to , Californ ia for treatm ent. ' In th e l25cc Western / Eastern Regional Supercro ss main , Kawasaki 's J eff Em ig made full use , of a collisio n involving Suzuki 's Denny Stephenson and last week's Ana heim winner Michael Cra ig to win th e main even t. Emig was leading th e race at the halfway p oint, whi le Step he nson and Craig were pressuring hard ' in second and third. T he n Step henson and Cra ig colli ded in m idair over a tripl e jump and both riders went · dow n hard. The cras h kn ocked Craig , o ut of .the race a nd Stephenson to the back of th e pack. Emig took th e win over Honda rider T y Davis a nd Su zuk i 's Buddy Antunez. It wa s Emig's first-ever supercross win. - For ' w i n n i n g the m ain even t, Bradsha w collec ted $5000 of th e $28,000 total p urse, plus contingencies, while l2 5cc class winner Em ig poc keted $2000 of th e $7500 ' I25cc class purse. , After th e first two rounds of the series, Bradshaw enjoys an l 8-point lead over Kaw asaki' s J eff Matiasevich, wh o finished ninth in the main after having a collision with a lapped r ide r. L arry Ward, O 'M ara a n d La Rocco are tied for third wi th 31 points each. Next in line is defending cha mp Stanton with 30 points. Heats , ' Jeff Ward turned a fourth-place start in the first of three eight-lap 250cc heat races into a victory, but the win didn't come easily. ' I Doug Dubach (7) is chased by defending Supercross Champion Jeff Stanton (1). Stanton rode conservatively and finished fifth in the main. Jeff Ward (3) and Dubach (7) collided in the main. knocking '!Yard from the top 10; Dubach was eighth . O 'Mar a was th e early leader and he held on to th at position until two laps from th e end wh en Ward snuck past. Then, Matiasevich hammered on O'Mara, passed him, and set out after Ward for a last-lap co nfron tation. Matiasevich was looking for a way around his teammate, but ended up crashing over the rockers, drop- ping him to th e back of th e pack a nd into th e semi s. Ward too k th e win ' ahead of O'Mara, I25cc National MX Champion Mik e Kiedrowski, and the factory Suzuki-mounted duo of Ron Tichenor and Guy Cooper. The rest went to th e semis. For coming from behind and holding on for the hard-fought win, the press o n hand voted Ward ' the , winner of the Coo rs Extra Effort Award wh ich put $ 1000 in' h is , pocket. It was a Yamaha back-and-forth battle in the seco nd heat race bet ween Doug Dubach and Shaun Kalas. T he two , riders banged handlebars for most of the race until Dubach broke