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/127254
~mnERO~ID~~_~_~_~_'~_:R_oo_~_7 ~ e Larry Ward (17) p assed Mike Fish er (23) on his way 10 a close fifth-place finish. . Late in th e race Fisher dropped from six th 10 an eighth-place finish. Two-time 125cc Western Regional Supercross champ Jeff Matiasevich thrust his hands in the air as he recorded his first-ever 250cc main event victory, , Defending Camel Supercross champ Jeff Stanton (I ) nursed his Honda 10 a thirdplace finish with a broken transmission and moved 10 second in the poinl standings. Matiasevichfulfills dream in Las Vegas By Nate Rauba Photos by Ken Faught LAS VEGAS, NV, MAR. 17 eam Kawasaki's j eff Matiasevich fulfilled a life-long dream when he crossed the fin ish line to win -, his first- ever 250cc Camel Supercross main event at th e Silver Bowl in Las Vegas. And he did it in fine fashion, lead ing all but o ne lap of the 20-lap Coors Ex tra Gold Superchallenge ma in event. " I' ve dr eamed of doing this m y wh ol e life ," said a n ela ted Matiasevich. " I'v e co me close throu gh out th e year a nd tonight it finally happened." After letting severa l main event leads slip awa y in the previo us si x ro unds of the Came l Supercross Series , Maliasevich broke away from a br ief bailie wi th Yama ha's Doug Dubach a nd then pull ed away 10 becom e th e fifth diff erent winner in seven ro unds of th e IS-ro und series. " I kn ew a win wascoming,' said Matiasevich , who earned $5000 of the $35,000 purse, plus contingencies. " I felt strong in practice, go t th e sta rt and got the breaks. God was on m y sid e tonight. " A mi stake cos t Dubach his runnerup position as defending Camel Supercross champ jeff Stanton and 250cc T World Champion jean-Michel Bayle by. Bayle eventually passed Stanton and cruised to second at the finish , while Stanton nursed his Honda home with a broken tran smission for third. Stanton's finish was good eno ugh to boost th e factory Honda rider to second in th e point standings since Dubach held off a late-race charge by Suzuki's Larry Ward to earn fourth. Matiasevich, wh o has been at the top of the sta nd ings since ro und four in Seattle, Wa shington, str etc he d his cushion over Stanton to 14 points, 134120. But Matiasevich kn ow s that he can 't relax just because he's a head. " It's (the titl e) so far a way, a nd in one race I co u ld go from leading it to fifth or sixth pl ace," said Ma tiase- > vich . " T here're so many good guy s, . you can' t worry a bo u t the cha m pio nship until they hand it to you." Larry Ward dropped from second in the point standings to third, a po int behind Stanton and 20 points ahead of Honda's Mike Kiedrowski, who finished sixth and is just one point clear of Bayle. Rounding OUI the to p 10 were gOI