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/127267
Mike Kiedrowski (II) battled with Jeff Ward as h e made h is way to th ird a t th e finish. Ward passed Stanton on th e last lap to co m p lete the top five. the line togeth er, wi th Cooper edgi ng You ng out of fourth by inches. H eat two bel onged to Bayle as he grabbed th e hol esh ot a nd was go n e. O 'Mara sta rted second. whi le Suzuki's La rry War d stuffed p rivateer Suzuki ri der Dean Ma tson for thi rd on lap two. Bradsha w passed Ma tson in the n ext tum . th en Aloe U p / FMF·backed Ra y So m ma go t h im 'n ea r the end of the ' lap. Ward spe nt mu ch o f the race reelin g in O 'M ara , th en charged by on the s ix th lap a nd fin ished a d ista nt seco nd be hind Bavle. O 'Mara wa s third, well a head of B;';'dsha w. while Somma took the fina l tra nsfer aft er riding a lo ne in fifth. . Sta nton made sure nobody cou ld ta ke h im O UI in the thi rd heat wh en he gra bbed th e ho lesh o i and qu ick ly pu lled away to th e win . AXO /P ro C irc u it-backed Er ik Keh oe held seco nd w ith Jeff Wa rd right behind, wh ile Kaw asak i R&D rider Mike Fisher held fou rt h over Yama ha 's Doug Du ba ch a n d Suzuki's Mik e La Ro cco. Wa rd attacked Keh oe , but the priva teer Honda rider held h im off. Nea r the halfwa y point Wa rd got by, bu t Kehoe immediatel y repassed him th en held o ff the former Super cross cha m p to g ra b th e win . Keh oe's defen se.earn ed him th e medi a' s vote for th e $1000 Coors Extra Effo rt Award. Fish er held fou rt h th e ent ire race, wh ile LaRocco fell ea rly in th e race b u t ca me back to pass Dubach on the sevent h lap and finish fif th . 250cc S emis O nl y two rid er s wou ld transfer to the main from each o f th e tw o six -lap se m is, a n d R odn e y S m i t h, Fred And rews a nd Larry Bro ok s fought for those two spots in th e fir st semi . Sm ith led a ll th e way, b u t An d rews kept th e pressure o n . Br o o k s c h a llen g ed Andrews near th e end, but bobb led in th e wh oop sectio n approa ch ing th e chec kered flag a n d was sent to th e La st C hance Qua lif ier. Dubach ran away wi th th e seco n d sem i whi le James Eickel a nd New Zeal ander Da rryl Kin g foug h t for seco nd . Kin g houn ded Eickel for h al f th e race before he crashed. then Eickel cruised the rest o f the wav to finis h a d ista n t seco nd beh in d Du bach . ' L a st Chance Qu a lifi er Ma tson gra bbed the ho lesh o t in the six- la p LCQ wi th Brooks and King r ight behind. Brook s s te p ped o ff foll owing th e tr ip le jum p o n lap tw o a nd was o u t w ith a n in jured leg. Kin g mo ved j n and tri ed everyth ing to get by Ma tson for the on ly transfer posit io n to th e ma in , but h e w as n 't successfu l. 250cc Main Sta n to n a nd Bradshaw led the 20ri de r pa ck in to the sharp, 90· deg ree first tum and Sta nton squeezed Bradshaw into the hay ba les to assu me so le possesion o f fir st. Ti chen or ca me through to fight Sta nton in th e seco nd t u rn . but the n he was p assed by O 'Mara. Tich enor's cha rge ended on la p two wh en he cra sh ed. " Go in g through some whoops I en d oe d a n d h it my c he s t o n t h e h andl eb ar s, " sa id T ic he nor. " I t kn ocked the wind o u t of me a nd m y vis io n go t b lurry. After tha t I made mis ta ke after mistake. " Ti ch enor even tua ll y fini sh ed II tho . O '"l ara pok ed h is fr o nt wh ee l al ongside Sta nton severa l times in the early la p s, b u t ea ch time S ta nton sla m me d the door. Brad sh a w staye d close behind in th ird wi th Larry Ward , J eff Wa rd, Kied row ski, Matia sevi ch a n d Ba yle in a clo se grou p a li ll ie fu rt her bac k. Bayle h ad qu ickly mo ved up fro m a poor start a nd it too k hi m two la p s to get by Matiasevich. " I got off the gate rea ll y la te a nd locked bars with O 'M a ra a nd Ma tia sevich," said Bayle. " I didn 't wa nt to crash so I let o ff. I kn ew I could co me back." At the beginn ing o f, la p five, Brad shaw passed O 'Mara a nd immedi atel y went to work o n Stan ton. After fol lowi n g Sta nton for a nothe r la p Bradshaw too k the lead a nd rod e away. O ' Mara began to a uack Stanton o nce aga in a nd passed the defe ndi ng cha mp o n la p eig ht. " I go t out front a nd was bein g pus hed," sa id Sta n to n . " I didn' t feel rea l co m fo rta b le." ' Whi le Stanton was dropping back , Larry Ward. J eff Ward, Bayle a n d Kied ro wsk i a ll foug h t over fo urt h. Bayle pass ed J eff Ward, th en Larry Ward suddenly slo wed a t th e beginni n g o f lap n in e a nd Bayle moved to th e fro n t of the group. . " All o f a sudde n so me th ing bro ke in the clut ch , it would stay o u t," sa id Larry Ward. " I tried a t do m y best J eff Emig took home $10,000 for winning the 125cc Camel Shootout. Emig also finished second in the 125cc Western Re gion al main despite crashing. with o ut it, but the way the track was I needed it." Larry Wa rd dropped back behi nd Jeff Wa rd a n d Kiedrowski , bu t st ill ma naged to sta y in the tight group while hol din g off Mat ia sevich . J u st past the halfway po int , Brad sha w was nearl y five seconds ahead o f O ' Mara whil e Ba yle moved in and passed Sta nton. Bayle th en closed the gap to O' Mara a nd passed h im o n la p 13 wi th Sta nton ge ll ing close as well. Kied ro wski pa ssed J eff Wa rd o n la p II a nd moved in o n Sta nton as well. "T he re was a littl ejum p in the back th at I cou ld make u p time ov er, " sa id Kied ro wski . " Wa rd moved over a bi t a nd I sn uc k by. I kept doing th e jump la p af ter lap a nd ca ug h t up to Stant on a nd O 'M ara ." Up front. Bra d sh aw' s lea d was slo wly di min ishi ng as Ba yle ch a rg ed close r. On th e 15th la p hi s g a p d isappeared. " I was ou t there rid in g a pace a nd nobody was p ushing me," said Bradshaw. " I got into some la p ped riders and it cos t me so me time." Bayle qui ckl y began cha lle nging th e leader a nd tri ed to stu ff under Brad sha w in a tight horsesh oe turn at th e bottom o f th e peristyle. Bradsh a w sh ut th e door, bu t Ba yle co n tin ued to show h im a wheel every cha nce he had. Bradsha w co nti n ued to shut the Fren chma n off, bu t Bayle fou nd the opening in the sam e tu rn on the final lap. " H e got a bette r drive going back up the peri st yle," sa id Bradshaw , wh o retook th e lead in th e fo llowi ng tu rn. " I was o n the inside go ing into the next co rner and didn 't shut o ff. I had a wheel on him , a nd there was so me co n tac t. " I pa ssed h im clean ly and he came ba ck very h ar d a nd p ushed me," sa id Ba yle, wh o wasn 't happy wi th Brad shaw 's move. " He did it on th e la st lap. but if he wo u ld 've done it befor e I wou ld 've repassed hi m . H e made a lot of b lock passes." Ba yle n ea rl y got th a t cha nce to repa ss as th ey a p p roac hed th e chec kered flag. " I ju m ped a litt le too far in th e wh oo p s. lan ded o n th e face o f a nothe r o ne a n d it thr ew m y legs o ff, " exp la ined Brad shaw. " I d idn 't shut off. Ma ybe if it had been ea rlier in th e race, but no t a t th e fini sh line." Brad sh a w nearly step ped o ff th e side o f th e b ike, bu t was ab le to ge t hi s leg o ff the seat a nd ba ck to the foo tpeg as he h it the ram p o f i he fini sh line jump and hung o n for th e win with Rayle a t hi s side. Behind the fir eworks at th e front, Kiedrowsk i went aft er O 'M ara la te in th e race a nd passed him on lap 19 to la ke thi rd. " Abou t ha lfwa y I made a reall y bi g mista ke and a lmost cras hed," said O'Mara. " Fro m there it was hard for ' me to regroup a nd it took a whi le to rega in my composure." .Jeff Ward got by Sta nton o n th e las t la p to cla im fifth , whi le Matia sevich finis hed a di stan t seventh . Guy Cooper