Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ePREVIEW eO Una illaU.S. 250(( MX GP d By Nate R a u ba Photos b y Alex Hodgkinson a nd Kinney J o nes ........ ........ f a ll the motocross races held in the Un ited States, there is noth in g qu ite like the 250cc U.S. Grand Prix of Motocross a t the Una dilla Vall ey Spo rts Cen ter, which return s 10 the sma ll upstat e New York to wn o f New Berl in o n july 15. It's the only maj or event held on a n a ll-nat ura l, grass-co vered course. T he re a rc no bu lldozed jumps anyw here o n the track , just natural j um ps crea ted by deep ra vin es. th e crests of h ills, or from the pounding o f many years of motor cycle raci ng at the facility. The o nly tim e a tractor tou ches thi s track is alter the event in an att empt 10 smoo th out some of the deep whoops thai form in the loa my soil. But any rider will tell you that they don 't remove a ll of the bumps. Bob Ha nna h, a lo ngtime Unadi lla co m petito r u n ti l h is ret irement last year, has said thai som e of the same bumps have remained on the course throughout his 13-ye- r career. d O cca sionall y a tra ctor m a y ro ll around th e co u rse a few times pri or 10 th e GP , but it will o n ly be to pull a m ow e r LO tr i m th e g ra ss . And accordi ng 10 med ia d irector Frank There's n9thing like it (Above) Unadilla Va lley Sports Center lies in th e ro ll ing h ills of upstat e Ne w York. ( Be lo w) Italian Alessa n d ro Puza r h as d omin ated this seaso n despi te a knee injury that slo wed him in th e last two GPs. Puzar sho uld still cl inch th e title a t Unadilla. Gera ce, a wet month o f Ma y required severa l cu ttings. It' s not unusu al for th e g rass 10 obscu re th e low markers whi ch ma rk th e track boundari es. Rick johnson , dubbed th e new King o f U na d illa by H ann ah upon h is retirem ent a t th e facility last year, descr ibed ridi ng in the deep, loamy soi l 10 be a dr eam . Th e g rass a nd rolling green hi lls provide a lush backdrop for the co lo r and pa g ea ntry o f the GP circ u s. Co lorfu l tent s cover th e co mpe titors' pi ts a nd the man y souven ir a nd food ve nd ors lo ra ted n car th e main en tra nre. Man y flags. pr edominantl y American but wit h a few o the r co u ntries' co lors thr own in , and banners en-cu-d hy th e specta to rs add more color 10 th e dista n t hill sid es. j ohnson says it's like bein g in Eu ro pe, wh ere the ' Ix'n a to rs unfurl flags to support their riders. But perh aps the mo st co lor ful o f a ll are th e Unadi lla fans, who a lso help sl't the G P apart fro m a ll other U.S. even ts. j ohn son says th e peo pl e a rc m uch mo re "c harged" in the eas tern portion of th e cou nt ry. a nd they read ily vo ice th eir support for th ei r favorite riders. They a lso suppo rt th eir chosen va nr a g e poi nts wi th fri endl y excha nges of "The ot he r side suc ks" sho ute d between h ill sid es. T he fans wi ll have pl en ty o f Arnericans to chee r for at Una d illa, a nd Ri ck j ohnson will no doubt he on e o f th eir favo ri tes. j ohnson will be in a si m ila r situat ion as he was at U na d illa lasI yea r since he'll be return in g fro m a n inj u ry. Last year it was hi s wr ist, wh ich he says wiII a lways be a p robl em he'll ha ve to overco me, a nd thi s year he's co m ing back from a brok en bon e in hi s hand . Although he o n ly began rid in g a couple of weeks befor e th e GP, j oh ns o n w ill be o u t to win and defini tely has to be co nsi de red a th reat . j o ining j ohn son o n th e facto ry H onda team will be 250cc Nati onal a nd Supercros s Ch a m pi on j eff Sta nIon. Sta nton wan ted 10 ride the 250cc G P a t Una dilla last veal', but H on da needed him fo r the 500cc U.S. G P, a nd Wa rd finish ed fourth overa ll in th e I25cc Support cla ss. The rem ainder o f th e Suzuki team, Budd y Antunez, j eromy Bueh l. Guy Cooper a nd Denn y Steph enson, is sched uled to compete in th e 125cc Support class. T he Ameri can Kaw ask i a nd Yam ah a sta rs wo n' t be in the GP. Kaw asaki elected 10 co nce n tra te o n pr ep aring for the u pcoming 500cc Nati on al s and will mo st likely field rid ers in the 500cc U.S. G P. Yam a ha 's Damon Bradshaw wa n ted to rid e, but doesn't turn 18 unu l four da ys after th e G P a nd FIM ru les sta te th at rid ers must be 18 years old. Brad sh aw will ride th e 125cc Support class ins tead. Amer ica n Trampa s Parker, wh o no w lives in Ital y, w ill ride hi s first G P on home so il. After winning th e 125cc Wor ld Ch ampionship for KTM FIl\I rul es sta te th ai a rider ca n on ly ride o ne G P in hi s home co u ntry. One not abl e H onda rider tha i will be mi ssin g is 1989 250cc Wo rld Champi on j ean -M ich el Ba yle. Ba yle is passin g u p his o ne cha nce to wear th e number o ne plate th is year in o rder to co mpe te in the 500cc U.S. G P in Ca liforn ia lat er in th e year. Defending I25cc' Nat ion al champ i\lik e Kiedrowski will rep resen t H o nda in th e 125cc Support cla ss. Am erica n Suzuki has en tered Mik e La Rocco , Ro n T iche nor a nd Larry Ward in th e 250cc G P. LaROtTo a nd T iche nor wi ll both be look ing to make u p for the bad day they had at Unadi lla last year. T iche nor ra n out of gas in mot o o ne, th en cras hed hard in th e second mot o. La Rocco also had prob lem s with cras h ing in the firs t mot o and finish ed seven th in moto two. last yea r, Parker moved up LO th e 250cc class. Although Parker's seaso n started o u t well , it qu ick ly deteriorat ed when he had problem s with a stomach virus a nd th en brok e hi s co lla rbo ne a t th e fifth ro u nd of th e se r ie s Czechoslovaki a. Shaun Kala s di slocated hi s hip at • an Italian Internati onal race just before the season started , a nd th en cra shes a nd mechanical failures slo wed him at th e seco nd round when he returned. Kal a s, who rid es for th e Italian Yam aha importer , th en sa t out severa l rounds before returning LO action for round six in H oll a nd , but he still wasn 't a t full strength. With no Ameri can Kawasaki rid ers a t U nadi lla, th e green team w iII ha ve 10 co u n t on former 125cc Worl d Champion Da ve Strijbos for a win. Ho lland 's Str ijbos is cu rrent ly fo urth in the po in t sta ndings a nd wo n th e Czech oslovaki an G P wh en a red flag SLOp ped th e seco nd mot a du e 10 a cras h that knocked him un conscious. Sin ce a race ca n' t be restarted o nce sto p ped, St rijb o s becam e th e overa ll winner based o n his victory in th e first mot o. Belgi an Marn iq c Bervoet s, German Rol and Diepol d a nd Denma rk 's So ren Mort en sen wi ll a lso be a board Kawasak is. Finlan d 's Pekka Vehkonen wi ll be th e LOp Yam aha ride r. Vehkon en fin ish ed seco nd in th e cha m p io ns hip behind Ba yle last year, a nd has started o ff very slo wly thi s year . Veh konen co m bined 3-5 scores for third overa ll a t U na d illa last year. Suzuki will be th e tea m to beat at U nad illa since th ey have severa l top European rid ers in addition to th e three Amer icans. Form er 250CC World Ch ampi on j ohn Van d en Berk switched from Yamaha 10 the Ch esterfi eld Suzuki team a nd struggled early in th e seaso n wi th a kn ee injury. Van den Berk has been co nsistent, th ough, a nd has cl imbed to seco nd in th e cha m p ions hi p sta nd ings. Pekka Veh ko nen 's co usin Ismo wi ll a lso be ab oard a Suzuki as well as ha rdcha rg ing Italian Michel e Fanton. But Suzuki 's biggest threa t co uld _ very well be Ita lian Alessandro Puza r, After chas ing Parker for th e l25 cc Worl d titl e last year, PUI.ar step ped u p to th e 250cc class a nd will mo st lik ely cl inc h th e cha m pio ns h ip a t Unadi lla. T he o n ly th ing th at has pr evented PUlaI' from winning everyth ing this

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