Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ M C OSS AMA 125/250(( National Championship_M_XS_er_ies_:R_ou_nd_s2/2 OTO R _ , fo urt h ov e ra l l. Suz u ki 's Buddy Ant u nez rou nded o ut th e to p five wit h 8-6 fin ishes. Ba yle's 1-2 seco nd ov era ll sco re mo ved him i nto th e points lead , ho wever , as H onda teammate a nd defen ding I 25cc Natio na l cha mp Mike Kied rowski , w inner o f ro und o ne, cras he d in th e first mot o a nd finish ed 19th. Kiedrow ski was th ird in mot o two. Cooper moved into seco nd in th e sta nd ings and trails Bayle 94-83. ~. 125cc National Jeff Ward (3) stormed back from th is first-tum tangle with Damon Brad shaw to win th e first 250cc National moto, Guy Cooper (4) fought off J ean-Michel Bayle to win the second 125cc moto and earn th e overall victory. Tallon Vohl a nd (80) finished third overall. eff Ward, Cooper demolish Hangtown - By Nate Rauba Photos by Ken Faught SACRAMENTO, CA. APR. I ea m Ka wasak i's ] err Ward a nd Suzuki's G uy Cooper put on a . thr illing show fo r the 14,102 fans a tten di ng the 22nd Annual H a ngtown Mo tocro ss Classi c at no rth ern Ca liforni a's Prairie Ci ty OH V Park as th ey T 12 ba ul ed th eir wa y to the overall victories in the 250 a nd 125cc Nati o na ls. ' Yar d went hom e th e overa ll win ner in th e 250cc class aft er wi n ni ng bo th 30-mi nute plus two-la p m oto s aboard h is T om Morgan -tu ned KX250, Oa k- ley/ Sh oei-sp o nso red Ward put in a fant astic ride in th e first mot o , comi ng ba ck fro m a first-turn fall a nd snatching th e lead from defend in g 250cc Nationa l cham p j eff Sta nt o n, last yea r's H an gt own winner , wi th two la ps remai.n ing. The seco nd moto went mu ch easier for Ward as he grabbed th e hol eshot a nd rode unchallen ged OU I fro nt a ll the wa y. Ward's two moto wins were worth $1000 eac h from th e $15.000 250cc class purse. " T here was no way we were go ing to ca tc h Ward y, nOI toda y," sa id Suzuki ' s Larry Wa rd , w ho led a porti on o f th e first mo to, eventua lly fini shi ng n int h , and th en dropping OUI of mo to two afte r runn in g seco nd . Stanton bagged seco nd overa ll wi th a ' pair o f ru n ne r-up finishes. After gell ing o rr to a medi ocre sta rt in moto two, Sta nt on worked his way from seventh a nd ca ug h t Yama ha's Doug Du bach lat e in th e race for the positio n. Dubach fin ished third overa ll w i t h a 4-3 score , S uzuki ' s Mi ke La Rocco too k fo urth aft er 3-4 r ides and Ka was a ki R&D rider Mik e Fis her ro u nded o u t th e top five overa ll with hi s 7-5 finis hes. . Jeff War d scored on ly 15 points at th e se r ie s ope n er i n Gain esv i ll e, Florida, but his victory a t H an gt own put him back in th e h unt for the 250cc ti tle. Sta nt o n took over th e points lead wit h 88 points as first-ro und win ner Ri ck J oh nson m issed the Ha ngtown even t d ue to a broken han d suffered a t th e Da ytona Su percross. La k occo is th ird in the sta ndi ngs, 17 poi nts be hi nd Sta nton a nd o ne a hea d of Dubach , a nd J eff Ward moved into fo u rth in th e sta ndings with 65 po ints. H on da 's J ean-Mich el Bayle tried to sto p Cooper in th e 125cc class, b u t the 250cc Wo rld Ch ampion ca me u p short in the seco nd mot o. Fren chman Bayle domi nated the first mo to as he grabbed the lead a nd held o ff a n earl y at tac k by Cooper. But in mo to two it was Cooper wi th th e hol esh ot a nd despite a rel en tless a ttac k by Ba yl e, wh o worked into seco nd after sta rti ng 11th , Cooper kep t h is Mar sh al Plumb-tuned RM 125 out fron t to the fini sh. Both Bayle and Coope r ea rne d $1000, $600 for first a nd $400 for seco nd pl ace pa id pe r mo to , of th e $10,000 125cc class purse. • " It 's my first wi n o n a Suzuki , a nd th e first o ne on a ny th ing a lways feels good:' sai d Cooper . H om eto wn favor ite Ta llo n Voh la nd nailed down third overa ll with a 3-4 score, a nd a no the r northern Ca lifor nian , Steve Lamson , ca rded a 4-5 for Bayle shot into th e lead a t th e sta rt o f the fir st mo to with Cooper , Kawasa ki's J err Matiasevich a n d - ea rn T Green /Race Tec h / Yo ko-su pported Vohland close behind. Suzu ki 's Jimmy G addis, wh o was co m ing orr a wrist injury, passed Vohland early on th e fir st lap, while near th e end of the lap Matiasevich went down trying to get Cooper. " I co uld see that Bayle was ge lli ng a way," sa id Matiasevi ch . " O ver a (slow ) jump Cooper stayed low and I landed o n th e side o f hi s bike a nd it sho t me into th e bu sh es." Matiasevich was kn ocked o u t of th e to p 10 a nd crashed hard tryin g to make up tim e a few laps lat er. Matiasevich sla m med into the face of a sma ll rise, a nd after bein g a ttended to by the medi cs, th e cu rre nt Ca mel Su percross po ints lead er walked awa y b u t was unabl e to co nt in ue the race. Vohland repassed Gadd is o n lap two a nd for med a tig ht gro up wi th Cooper a nd Ba yle as the thr ee rid ers broke a way from th e pack. Gaddis faded back into the clutches of a bailie between DG YI O ' Nea l-backed La mso n a nd A XO / Pr o Ci rcuit-s po nsored Eri k Keh oe. Ga ddi s co n tin ued to fade and fini sh ed 10th. . " My hands cra m ped and my wr ist is sore - I haven 't been rid ing mu ch in six weeks: ' sai d Gaddis . " My goa l was 10 ge t a good sta rt a nd fin ish in th e top 10." Cooper kept th e pressu re up o n Ba yle for a few la ps, then a mi stak e a llowed the Fre nch ma n to start p u lling away. " T here was a sweeper heading into a n u ph ill ," explai ned Cooper. " I went into it hard and the berm knocked bo th my feet orr th Pegs a nd I nearl y wen t do wn ." ". " He push ed me a bit," sa id Bayle, " Bu t I thoug ht f'd see if he co uld ride like th at for 30 mi nutes. I just kept charg i ng a n d d id n 't m a ke a ny mi stakes." Ba yle cha rged all righ t a nd steadi ly p ull ed a way fro m Cooper, wh o ended u p nearly 30 seco nds beh ind at th e fini sh . " Bayle was a lready pull in g away ," said Cooper, referring to th e pe riod o f th e race follo wing his mi stake. "T he track is so fast a nd if you 're not with so mebody, you don 't look too far a hea d (to try to ca tch th em )." Vohla nd slo w ly lost touch wi th Cooper to sp read th e to p three. "The th ree of us set a fast pace," sa id Voh land. " I was hopin g to gel Coo per, b ut he's o lder a nd stronger th an I a m. I j us t tried to stay as close as I co uld , I'm still learning." Vohlands fast pace put him way a head o f all th e ac tio n for the remai ning spots in th e top 10. Keh oe hounded Lamson for severa l laps before cras hing o u t o n th e 11th o f 16 laps. " I was tryin g everyth ing I co uld to get a rou nd Lamson a nd ' tried a line I wasn 't norm all y taking," sai d Keh oe , who p ulled o u t wi th a n injured kn ee. " I hit some mud, th e fro nt end wash ed o u t a nd I went down ha rd o n m y leg , twi st ing the kn ee." " He was p ush ing me," said La mso n . " Bu t I felt bet ter as th e race went o n."

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