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/127260
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AMA l25/25Occ National Champ=ion sh:I.ip.=M=XS:..::en=· R:. . :o:u::.:nd. . .:.3:/. :. . 3
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Mik e La Rocco (10) and Johnny O 'Mara (9) battled for a short time in mota two
of th e 250cc class un til La Rocco broke free and finished fifth overall.
Guy Coope r led th e majority of both 125cc motos, but was later ca ught and passed
by overa ll win ner J ea n-Mich el Bayle (22 ). Coope r ended up second overall.
16
from Bra dsh aw. Ward was ha nging
close, seemingly content to watch th e
leaders.
Bradshaw soo n tried to get back
under Stanton for the lead, but the
a tte mp t was bl ocked. An other try a few
turns la ter p u t th e Yamaha rider back
into fir st. But o nce i nto th e lead
Brad shaw did so me th ing th at no one
understood a t the tim e. T wice wh ile
leading, Bra dsh a w waved Sta nton by
and pulled in righ t behind the reign in g Nat ionaland Supercross champ.
" I di dn't wa nt to feel the p ressure,"
Bradshaw sai d. " I didn 't think Sta nton
co uld beat me beca use I had better
lines. The only one th a t I was worried
about was Wa rd . . . today I was just
thi nking about sta ying o n two whee ls
and fi n is hing.. . I didn ' t want to
cras h."
.
" , was rid ing m y own ra ce," Stanton
said. " Wha tever Bra dshaw was doing
was up to hi m . It wasn 't something
ei ther one of us rea lly did, I guess he
just didn't want to lead."
Bradsha w's motioni ng Stanton by
let Ward p u ll right in o n his rear
fend er.
"They were battling and I d idn ' t
wa nt to make it a three-wa y race,"
Ward said. "T hey were bl ocking each
o ther and I was content with si tti ng
back and wa tching. I had be tter lines
and I knew I co uld pass."
Ward pu t hi s stra tegy to work with
a clean pass that saw him ride aro u nd
th e o u tside o f Sta nton to tak e o ver th e
lead . But a sho rt tim e la ter Wa rd fo und
himself in seco nd af ter he bobbled a nd
a llowed Sta nton to regain the lead.
" I drifted wide in a turn a nd co u ld n 't
get a dr ive for the (do u ble) jump ,"
Ward sai d. "Stanton go t th e dri ve a nd
a lmo st sq ueezed me off the track as he
went into th e tu rn . I had to back off
becau se there was a tree there. It was
.eithe r h it the tree (with my ha nd lebars)
or let h im by."
As it tu rned o u t, Wa rd did make the
fi na l move to na rro w ly ed ge o u t
Sta nto n a nd Brad sh a w. La Rocco and
T ich en or moved through th e pack a nd
fin ish ed fourth and fifth, resp ectiv ely,
after d isplacing Do wd and Fish er .
Brian McElroy rod e home in eig h th
a head o f G en e Naumec a nd Ph i l
La wrence. Larry Wa rd d ropped to
11th.
Bradsh aw re tu rned in m oto two with
a different attitude. Following th e first
rno to he said he hadn 't been co mfor ta ble lead in g th e ea rly port io n o f the
race , bu t thi s ti m e t hi n g s wer e
different.
Bradsh a w agai n p ull ed the hol esh o t,
lead ing T ich eno r, Sta nton, Wa rd ,
Fisher, J ohnn y O 'Mara , and th e rest
of the field , b ut th is tim e he immediatel y began to pull awa y. O n the first
lap he pu t two seco nds on second-place
Stanto n, who had forced h is way past
Tiche no r as d id Wa rd a la p la ter.
Agai n the same th ree riders occupied
t he to p th ree p o siti on s, b ut th ey
rem ained eq ually spaced. The best
ac tion was in th e battle for fourth th a t
saw O ' Mara a nd La Rocco p u t the
pres sure o n Fish er. After a co uple of
la ps La Rocco go t arou nd the pa ir , bu t
Fis her reta liated a nd rep assed LaRocco
to tak e over sixth. T he passin g co ntinued until LaRocco mad e hi s wa y
to the head o f th e battle wh ere he was
to sta y th e rest of the rnoto.
U p front it became a p parent th at th e
seco nd m o to .belo ng ed en tire ly to
Brad sh aw. H e continued to open up
a com for ta ble mar g in on Stanton a nd
if th e top th ree s ta yed the sa me,
Bradsh aw w ould wi n. T he on ly thing
tha t cou ld change th a t was if War d
cou ld get by Sta nton he wo u ld be
declar ed the o vera ll winner.
Bu t th e wa y Wa rd was riding tha t
d idn 't see m like it wa s go ing to
happen. Ward a ppeared to be fighti ng '
th e bi ke a nd couldn ' t get hi s rh ythm
go ing. T hree lap s from th e finish ,
however , Ward returned to hi s usual
self a nd immediatel y clo sed in o n
Sta nton.
The pair played Iollow-the-Ieader
for a lap before Ward made hi s mo ve
and made his ma rk. Stanton ret urned
th e favor a nd retook the pos itio n , but
the pa ttern contin ued o nce more wi th
Ward taking second, which proved to
be the fina l bl ow to Bradsh aw's overall
finish ing positio n. T iche nor rode in
a d istant fourth ahead of La Rocco,
Fisher, O'Mara a nd Dowd. La rry Ward
was n inth ah ead of Fred Andrews a nd
Ph il Lawrence.
" It feels good to win ," Ward sa id,
"and I need th e points. It 's a short
series a nd things happen fas t . . .. I'm
not ready to giv e in, because as long
as I'm havi ng fun I will be racing."
" It was tough," Stanton sai d. " T hey
(Bra dsha w and Wa rd ) were r id ing
good. T h is year whoever ma kes a little
m ista ke wi ll ge t passed. I ma de one m istak e and Ward ca ugh t me and that
was it. "
Cl'I
Resu lts
125« MOTO I: I. G uy Cooper (Suz); 2. J ea n.
Mieh d Bayle (H nn); 3. Rod ney Sm ith (sw); 1. Mike
Kiedrowski (Ho n): 5. Jefl Mariasevich {Ka w) : 6.
Budd y Antunez (Sw ); 7. Denny Step henson (Suz);
8. Ta llo n Yohland (I(" w); 9. Eri k Kehoe (Hon ); 10.
Bill y Whi tlr-y (SUl); II. Jd£ Em ig ( Ka w) : 12. j eremy
Buehl (S Ul) ; I ~. Brian Ca rro l (S Ul); 14. Barry Ca rs ten
(S Ul) ; 15. J usl in J ackso n (Sw); 16. T y Davi s (Hon);
17. T y wal lace (Ka w) : 18. Do ug Hen ry (Yam); 10.
Micha el Treadw ell (Kaw); 20. Steve H er man (Yam);
20. j am es Eick el (Yam) ; 22. Jim Chest er (SUl); 25.
Tim R ice (Ka w ]: 24. J. W i n ~l ow (Han); 25. M.
Neid erhiser (Han); 26. S. Sla th er (SUl); 27. B.
Strauon (Yam) ; 28. Tom Wel ch ( Ya m ); 29 . P.
j astremski (Han); ~ O . Brian Ca lho u n (SUI); 51. j.
R ivas (SUI ): 52. B. Bamen (Hon); ,,~. Tracy Bach man
(H o n): 31. J . Yetzer (I(" w); 3;. J aso n Langford
(Yam); 56. Dol;'R: Iddign s (Ha n): 57. David Caylord
(Su z); 38. Ch ris Nea l (s uz): 39. J ell Gl a" (Hon);
Steve Lamson (S UI ).
l 2Xe MOTO 2: I. j ea n-Michel Bayle (Ho n ); 2.
C uy Coo per (S UI); 3. Mike Kied row ski ( Han ); 4.
Ta llo n Vo h land (Kaw); 5. J eff Ma riasevich ( Ka w );
6. Rud d y AOIune1 (S UI); 7. Jdf EmiK( Kaw) ; 8. Den ny
.
Slt'p he llso n (SUI); 9. Eri k Keh Q(' (H a n) ; 10. J erom y
1.)
Buc.-hl (S U ; I I. T y Davis (Han); 12. Rodney Sm ith
(SUI); 13. Do ug Hen ry (Ya m); 14. Brian Carroll(5ul);
15. Rill y Whitl(')' (S UI ); 16. Barry C m ilen (SUI) ; 17.
J ame'S Ei chl (Ya m); 18. j . W i n ~ uw (Ho n); 19. JaltOn
La n gford (Ya m ); 20. j u u in j ackwn (S UI) ; 21. T .
Wa llace ( Ka w); 22. Chris N ~.l1 (Su z); 25. T . Ria'
(Kaw); 24. M. Neid erhiser (H on); 25. B. Stra non
(Yam; ; 26. Bria n Ca lhou n (S UI) ; 27. Doug Iddings
(H (m ); 28. j. R iva s (S UI) ; 29. S. Her man (Yam ); 30.
S. Slm her (s uz); 31. T ral'J' Bachman (H a n ); 32. J elf
Glass (Ho n ); 35. P.Jaslrt'msL i (Ho n ): 54. T om Welch
(Ya m); 35. Michael Treadwell ( Ka w): 56. J. Yemz er
( Ka w] : 37. Jim Chesler (S uz]: 38. B. Barn ell (Ho n).
, l2Xc NA T t O NA L 0 / A: I. J ea a- Mic hel Bayle
(Hu n ); 2. Guy Cooper (SUl): 5. Mik e Kiedr owski
(Ho n): -t j eU Mana sevich {Kaw ]: 5. Ta llo n Voh la nd
o
( Ka w): 6. Buddy Ant un ez (S UI ); 7. Rodney Sm ith
(S UI); 8. Den ny Step henson (SUl); 9. j eff Emig (Kaw );
10. Erik Keh oe (H on); II. Jero m y Bueh l (s uz); 12.
Bill Wh itl ey (Sut); U . Ty Davis (Ho n ): 14. Brian
Carrol (SUI); 15. Barry Carsten (S UI); 16. Doug H en ry
(Yam ); 17. J m.tin Jackson (S UI); 18. j ames Eickel
(Yam ); 19. Ty Wallace ( Ka w): 20. John Winslo w
( Ho n): 21. Jason Langfo rd (Ya m) : 22. Michael
Treadwel! ( K.aw); 23. S. Her man (Yam).
l 25

