Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

race, Ward was way o u t in front , wh ile Bradshaw held a n uncha llenged second. However, a ba ttle over th ird, which had fully developed by midrace, raged bel ween Suzuki teamsters Tichenor, Larry Ward a nd Mike La Rocco. The war reached a cl imax two la ps from the end when Larry Wa rd mad e a move on Tichen or just before th e two sets of doubles. Ho wever, th e a ue m ped pass backfired. " I went 10 th e in sid e o f him (T icheno r) in the tu rn right before th e double do ub les," said Ward. " We hit and I almos t cras hed and I couldn 't jump the firs t double. I tried the second do ub le but cased it rea l hard and La Rocco passed me. After that I decided 10 save my energy fo r the second moto." Tiche nor broke free o f the three-way dice a nd fini sh ed a ll alo ne in th ird, wh ile La Rocco fin ished fourth. H o wever, th e first m oi o was cos tly for Lakocco , wh o was on th e verge o f heat prostrauon , as he ca rne back into the pit s after the first moto. LaRocco tried racing th e second mot o, but even tua lly pulled O U L o f the race, too deh ydrated 10 conti n ue. Fifth in the [irst mo to wen t to Larry Ward , who edged ah ead of O 'Mara, Rou nding out the top 10 were Sta llio n, Duba ch , Bowen and Fisher. In between motos, winner Jeff Ward, who was resting in the sha de with a n ire pack on hi s foreh ead , said, " O nce I got out in front, I just kept a good pace. It's so hot ou t there tha t I didn 't want 10 blow up!" ta nton led the field after th e first lap in the second mota , but was closely accom pa n ied b y Brad shaw, Larr y Ward, Jeff Ward a nd Tiche no r. During th e second lap, Bradsha w dove 10 the inside o f Stant on in a turn a nd took over the lead. while Jeff Ward motored u ndern ea th of Larry 'Yard for thi rd . Mom e n ts lat er , Brad shaw d ropped h is Yamaha in a turn , handing first and second 10 Stanton and Jeff Ward. Bradshaw regrouped in fourth behind Larry Ward. - Stanton a nd Wa rd trad ed pos itions severa l times for the lead before Stallion settled int o th e driver 's sea t and gai ned a sma ll cus hion over Ward. ,H ead i ng in to th e fou rth la p , T icheno r, wh o was pressuring Brad sha w for fou rth, began experienci ng eng ine problem s and soon dropped O U I of th e 101' 10. " I do n' t kn o w what was wrong, maybe an ignition," said Tiche no r. " It's very d isappointi ng! I just haven 't had that good o f a year, a nd I thi n k I co uld've had second overa ll today." Nearing the m idway po int. War d hega n dosing the gap on leader Stanto n a nd was quickly searching for a hot line around the Hon da , which he soon found. As he had do ne in th e first mo ta , Ward took command once he moved into the lead. H e not iceab ly extended his lead with each la p unt il he was 20 seconds ahead of Sta llion as th ey crossed the fin ish line. " I felt so stro ng I co uld 've go ne a no ther five laps if I had to," said Ward. " I gained 14 po ints today and that 's pre tty good." " 1 just go t bea t: he was stro nge r th an I was," said Stanton. While Ward and Sta n ton were lon g go ne ou t in front, Brad sh aw was having hi s problem s. Wh ile runnin g fourth , a lo ng distan ce behind Larry Ward wh o was cruising all by himself in third, Bradshaw go t crossed up in a rutted turn a nd fell over again. This was a ll O 'Ma ra needed to take control o f fourth. About 15 seconds behind Brad sh aw was hi s teammate Du bach. O 'Mara was on the gas and started reeling in a fading Larry Ward. With j ust a few la ps remaining, O'Mara roos ted by the Suzu ki ride r, Bradshaw (8), Ward (3), Jeff Stanton (I) and Ray Sommo (34) prepare to battle in the first 250cc moto, Ward won both motos, Guy Cooper (4 ) dives in front of Steve Lamson (hidden behind Cooper) and Mike Kiedrowski (I ) in the second l25cc moto, O' Mara crossed the checkered flag in th ird , a head of Larry Wa rd, Bradshaw, Dubach an d Suzuki rid er Ra y So m mo, So mma was chased across th e line by Fisher, Bowen a nd Suzuki rider Tom Carso n. Tichenor nursed hi s ai l ing Suzuk i to 19th for ninth overa ll. l25cc The sta rt o f the first 125cc moto saw Suzuki's Buddy Ant u nez ta ke the early lead over pri va teer Steve Lamson, Bayle, Suzu ki riders J immy Gaddis a nd Rodney Smith, Kawasaki 's J eff Ma tiasevich , Todd DeH oo p a nd Cooper. Left behi nd pic ki ng up his bik e in th e first tu rn was defendi ng 125cc champ Kiedrowski. " 1 let go of the clutch a little bit too quick a nd the bike bogged o ff the line," said Kiedro wski. " 1 came int o the first turn a liule bit 100 fast, trying 10 p ush my way through. Someo ne cut in front o f me and hit my front wh eel a nd I high -sided. After tha t I was mad and tr ied to pace myself a nd work back up." Kiedro wski was 21s1after the first la p. Up Iroru . Ant unez, Ba yle, Lamson and Gaddi s bauled for th e lead . and it was Bayle wh o mad e th e first move. T he 250cc Worl d Cha m pion slipped by Antu nez d uri ng th e th ird lap bu t An tu nez stayed close 10 th e. new leader. It wasn't until two more laps had go ne by tha t Ba yle actua lly started puui ng distan ce between him self and Antunez. Slowly but surel y, Bayle began p ulling away , bu t all eyes began focu sing on Cooper, who had mo ved into the top three. He had passed Lamson for third a nd was press uri ng Antu nez for second wh en he sudden Iv fell. . " Everyth ing wa s go ing good unt il I slid o u t," said Cooper. "I missed the inside rut that I was aiming for in a turn and the back end came arou nd on me. I had·just passed Lamson !" H owever, this miscue was only a m inor setback for Cooper, who repassed Lamson shortly thereafter. Cooper then motored in o n Antu nez and sto le seco nd. By the time Cooper had moved int o second, thou gh , Bayle was nowh ere in Cooper's sight. Ba yle enjoyed a 20second lead o n Cooper as they crossed the finish line, Cooper held a safe, fiveseco n d adva ntage over tea mmate Antunez, wh ile Mariasevich , who was ru n ni ng fifth for m uch of th e race after a 's ixth-place start, snuck by Lamson late in the race for fourth. Fin ish in g fifth , after passi ng La mso n o n the last lap, was Kiedrow ski: Rounding o ut the top 10 were Sm ith, Kawasaki rider Ta llo n Vohla nd, an d p rivateers Dave Beckington a nd De Hoop. " I was too far back to ca tch Bayle," said Cooper. " 1 didn 't wan t to pi n-i t and wear myself ou t - I was j ust too far back. I j us t wanted to fin ish the race a nd sal vage a second ." Unable to ride the seco nd m o to due III heat. prostra tion after th e first moto was Ma tiasevich. " 1 don't thi nk I drank enough wat er th is morning," said Mati asevich. "1 got really deh ydrated. f wasn't going 10 back off during th e moto - l-started feelin g it halfway th rough. I got dizzy a nd it gal real ly ha rd 10 see the track." At th e start of the seco nd mo ta, Cooper nabbed the hol esho t, " I p in ned the sta rting gate perfectly ," said Cooper , but har d on his rear fender was Lamson, Antunez, DeHoop, Bayle, Kiedrowski and Kawasa ki's J eff Em ig, who fin ished 10lh in the first moto, " 1 rode real conservatively on the first lap, because they had wat ered the track a nd I did n't want to fall," said Cooper, who quickly estab lished a comfortable lead. Whi le Cooper led th e way, Bayle a nd Kiedrowski moved into second and thi rd. " I looked back, expecti ng to see Suzukis behind me, but a ll I saw were Kiedrowski's and Bayle's Hon das," said Cooper. "I thought, 'Oh no, now my work is reall y cu t out for me.' •• Mean whi le, Antunez had drop ped back to ni nt h when he fell dow n o n the first la p. Cooper immed iatel y picked up hi s pace, while Kied ro wsk i a nd Ba yle fou ght over second place. Running in fourth was Lamson, followed by Emig, DeHoo p, Gadd is, Voh la nd and Smi th. Wh ile Cooper led the wa y, Kiedrowski and Bayle tang led with Bayle veerin g off th e track, costing him two posi tions 10 Emig and La mso n. " We were comi ng u p in to a tu rn and he (Bayle) went to the ou tside," sa id Kiedro wski. " H e look ed over at me, like, 'Let me go by.' So I took the inside and gassed it, the n he gassed it a nd we both hit . I was in front of him and he got a ll sidewavs a nd hit the banners." " My friend put me ou t," said Bayle. " H e put me into the banners," as he

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