Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GSUPERCROSS AMAlCamel Supercross Series: Round 15 ~ Jean-Michel Bayle won h is firth supereross of the season and p u lled h imself ba ck int o th e bailie for the champio ns hi p. Suzu ki's Denny Stephenson came back from a cras h to clinc h th e l 25cc Eas tern R egi o nal Sup ercross Championship with hi s eighth main event win of th e series. mai n even ts this yea r - a ll th o se wins co m ing in the la st seven races - he moved hi mself back into co ntention for th e super cross title with th ree ro u nds to r un . Ba yle mi ssed tw o rou nds earl ier in the season with a n injured elbow. " No w I wa nt to be the first to win six races," the 21-year-old Fren chman , wh o now resides in Redo ndo Beach, Ca liforn ia, sa id. Supercross retu rn ed to New England [o r th e firs t time since 1981 a nd when it d id Bayle jumped into the lead o ff the sta rt. At th e end o f the first la p Ba yle led Kawasaki 's J eff Ward a n d S u zu k i ' s Mik e L a R o cco o ve r th e ta bleto p j u m p th at served as th e fin ish line on th e Stadium Dirt Designs-built track. T he gaps wo u ld cha nge, but th e o rder wou ld n' t. Defend i n g Ca me l Supercross Cha m pion J eff Sta n to n of H onda finished fou rth wi th Suzu ki's Larry Wa rd fifth , des p ite a heavi ly bruised right forearm fro m a heat rac e cra sh. Bayle scores big in Foxboro By Henny R a y Abrams FOXBORO, MA, JUNE2 12 onda 's J ea n-Mi ch el Bayl e won th e Co ors Extra G o ld Su per Cha llenge in Su ll ivan Stadium, lea din g every in ch of th e 15th ro u nd H of the Ca mel Supercro ss Ser ies before 28,020 fans . It was h is fifth wi n o f the yea r, a nd in becoming the first rider to win five Stanton moved wit h in a poi nt o f Ka wa saki's J eff- Ma tiasev ich, 261 to 265, in th e ti tle chase. Matiasevich fini sh ed a di sappoi nti ng n inth «might. Bayle, obvious ly the hottest rid er in supercross, is th ir d wi th 256 po i Ill s. " T he most importa n t th in g is th at I gai ned poi illS, " Sta n to n sa id. Bayle earned 5000 from the $27,050 250cc purse for the win with Ward ea rn ing $3000 a nd La Rocco $1,850. Kawasaki 's Joh nny O 'M ara, who fell in h is hem and dropp ed to la st p lace befo re remounting to fin ish firt h, was vot ed the $ 1000 Coors Ex tra Effo rt Award. In th e 125cc Eas tern Regional main even t , Suzu ki 's De n ny Stephe nson accom p lished two things. One, he wo n hi s sevent h ma in event an d two , he cl inched the 125cc Eastern Reg ional Supec ro ss ti tle. Step he nson go t hi s cus to ma ry jump o n th e field 'an d a p peared headed for a n easy win . But on th e ninth la p he cras he d a llowi n g ri va l Mike Jones past. Step henso n had six la ps to catch h im, whi ch h e did , passin g J ones on the last la p in th e tu n nel which curled a ro u nd a nd up to the fini sh li ne. Jones finished seco nd wi th Ba rry Carsten a ca reer-best third. Stephenson, who , with o ne race to go, clin ched th e East ern Regi on ser ies with 223 poi nts to J ones' 181, pocketed S1000 fro m th e 5000 125cc purse. Jones co llec ted 100 a nd Carsten $280 250cc H eats A field of ·19 rid ers was gridded in th ree hea ts whi ch wou ld tra ns fer th e to p five fi ni shers d irect ly to th e main , a nd wh en the gate dropped o n th e first o ne it was clea r who was the fastest rider o n th e tra ck. Ba yle j u m ped in to the lead with a tri o o f Suzukis - Guy Coo per , La rr y Ward a nd R o n n i ~ Tich en or - in p u rsu it. The Suzuki teamsters arrived in a hairpi n turn a t th e sa me ti me, era sh ing as a trio and g ivin g Ba yle even more oLan advantag e. Ward was o u t with a bruised righ t for ea rm , but Cooper rem ou nted in seco nd wh ile Tiche no r go t go ing farther ba ck. Wh en th e chec kered flag fell aft er eigh t laps, Ba yle h ad a nine-second wi n with Cooper seco nd an d Andrews Suzuk i's Fred Andrews third. Kawasaki T eam G reen 's Gen e Nau rnec was fourth a head of T uf Racin g 's Keith Bow en . " Everybody cra sh ed beh ind me, " Bayle sa id afterwa rds. " It was good for me to expe rime n t with a good line," Yam aha' s Damon Bradsh aw go t th e jum p o n the seco nd h eat with H onda 's Mike Kied row ski a nd Sta nton g iving ch a se. Th e tr io q u ic k ly se para ted themselves from th e rest o f th e l 6-rider field, which was led by Kaw asaki 's Mike Fi sh er from th e fourth lap on. As hard as Kied rowski tri ed , he co u ld n 't ma ke a d ent in Bradshaw's lea d a n d th e fou r-time su perc ro ss winner took th e checkered flag with a th ree-second margin . Kied ro wski was a safe second wi th Stan to n th ird, well ah ea d o f Fi sh er. Rodney Sm ith , supported by Dublin Suzuki/ Kawasaki, FMF an d Race Tech , go t the fina l transfer position in .th e hea t. T he track wa s beg in ni ng to take a beati ng a n d Brads h aw thoug ht it wo ul d be more o f a facto r as th e n igh t w or e on . " In th e main event th er e will defin itel y be a lo t of ruts," th e 17-yearo ld North Carolin ia n sa id. " It 's kind o f a su rviva l race. Whoev er stays up is go in g to win. T he humidity is in m y favor. I train in it. " Bra d s h a w ' s Yam ah a teamm ate Doug Dubach led th e thi rd heat for a lap before LaRocco was past. Jeff Ward h ad gotten a bad sta rt , but by the en d of th e third la p was in second beh in d La Rocco a nd a head of Duba ch a nd Matiasevich. La Ro cco was p ull ing aw ay a nd appeared h eaded for the wi n whe n he cra shed ex iti ng th e tunnel on th e seve nth lap. Ward se ized th e initiative a nd wem o n to win by abo u t a seco n d o ver La Rocco. Matasievich finish ed third with Dubach fourth a head o f O 'M ara , " I wa s trying every thi ng to ca tch up, bu t it was n ' t clicking, " Ward, wh o finis hed th ir d in the 1981 race here, said. " He made a m ista ke a nd that was it. OJ .. 250cc Sem is First-h eat crashers T iche nor and Larry Wa rd were back in th e first semi a nd p ro vided th e best racing of the n ight to th at poi n t. Tich enor ga ted ,first wi th Ward on h is ta il a nd by th end of th e seco nd lap they had a stra igh tawa y lead o n third p lace. f; ( The top two wo u ld transfer , but th e wi nn er got the better choice o f startirig

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