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/127255
~ SUPERCROSS AM! Camel Supercross Series: Round 8 e Suzuki teamsters Buddy Antunez (60) and Jim m y Ga ddi s (3 1) diced fo r the lead in the l25cc fea tu re race. Antu nez finished in ches ahead of G addis for the .win. Jeff Ward scores runaway Rose- owl win B J eff Ward cap tu red hi s second Camel Supercross wi n of th e year wi th a startto-fin ish ro mp at the Rose Bowl. Ward is now tied for fourth in th e point standings, Ward (3) grabbed th e hol eshot in th e main even t and never looked back, Jerr Ma tiasev ich (20) had a fourth-place start but worked up to finish second. 18 By Kit Palm er . P hotos by Ken Faught a n d Kinney J o n es "I PASADENA CA, MAR. 24 , t was prett y easy. rea lly. I wish th ey a ll went th a t way," said Tea m Ka wasaki ' s J eff Wa rd after leading from sta rt to fin ish in th e Coors Extra Gold Su per Ch all en ge mai n event a t th e Pa sad en a Rose Bowl. " I've been working o n my sta rts. and I kn ew I co u ld get th e hol esh ot a nd wi n it. My lu ck is changing a nd things are go ing to turn arou nd now." Ward, 28. mad e the win look eas y as he grabbed th e ho lesh ot and quickl y p ulled o u t a co m forta ble ad vantage over th e rest o f th e pack in th e 20-lap m ain eve n t. Th e tw o -t ime se r ies cha mp from San Juan Capistrano , Ca lifornia, set a blistering pace tha t co uldn' t be ma tch ed en route to hi s seco nd Camel Su per cross victory o f th e year. Hi s pr evious 1990 win co mi ng in Atlanta, Februa ry 24. Las t week 's Las Vegas Camel Supercro ss win ne r a nd series points leader J cff Ma tiasevi ch worked h is way into second place by th e sixth lap and settled into a groove tha t ca rr ied h im across th e fini sh li ne in a run ner-up posi tion . Most of the di ci ng was for third th ro ugh sevent h positions. Fren chman Jean-Michel Bayle ca me out on top of the b rutal ba ttle for third o ver reig ni ng 125cc MX Na tio na l Champion Mike Kiedrow sk i, Suzu ki's La rry Wa rd , defendin g Camel Supercross Ch am- pi on J eff Stanton a nd Suzuki 's Ronnie T ichenor. T ichen or's teammate Mik e La Rocco a nd Kaw asaki rid ers J ohnny O 'M ara a nd Mik e 'Fishe r ro u nded o ut th e top 10. Ma tiasevich went into the eigh th ro u nd of th e 18-race ser ies wi th a 14p oint lead over St an ton , a n d b y pl a cing second h e e x te n de d that cus h ion to 21 points o ver Stanton a nd Larry Ward, wh o a re now tied for second with 135 points eac h. J eff Ward a nd Bayle ar e tied for fourth with 11 8, while Kiedrowski is next with I 17. The 125cc West ern Reg io na l Su per- . cross m ain eve n t sa w 16-year-o ld Buddy Antunez come from behind and narrowl y beat S uz u k i teamm at e Jimmy Gaddis and Kaw asaki T eam Green rider J erem y McGrath in the 12la p race. Series points lead er T y Davi s was in th e hunt for the lead earl y in th e race before crashing a nd eventua lly fini shing n inth. H ow ever, Hondamounted Da vi s s ti ll m aintains a co m fo rta ble series poin ts lea d over McGrath, 122-103. Fifth-place finish er Michael Cra ig is third wi th 101. Neither two-lime Supercross Champi on R ick Jo hn son o r Yamaha 's Da m on Bradsha w co mpeted in th e Rose Bowl event. J o hnson is recoverin g fro m a broken hand a nd Bradsh a w a brok en foot. . A $38,500 purse was up for grabs in