Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ M OSS WorldChampionship 250(( MX Series: Round 10 oroeR e o 0') 0') ........ Jeff Sta nton (64), shown here leading the sta rt of moto two, domina ted bo th motos to earn his first -ever GP victory. Stanton wins, Puzar wraps up title at Unadilla GP By Nate R auba P h otos b y Tom Strattman and Rauba 6 NEWBERLI N, NY ULY 15 ,J h ile Am eri can H on da ' s J err Stanton was o n his way to wi n ning both m ot o s of the 12th Annual U ni ted Sta tes Grand P r ix o f W Mot ocro ss be fo re a n es ti ma ted 12,000 fans at th e Unadi lla Va ll ey Sports Ce nter, 21-year-o ld Ital ia n Alessan dro Puzar rode co nser vat ive ly to . become th e new 250cc MX World Champ ion with 6-5 mot a finishes . St anton 's vi ctory wa s th e ei g h t h straig h t for Am eri can rider s in th e U.S. 250cc MX G P; onl y tw o for eign rid er s (Du tch m a n Kees Van der Ven a nd Br it Nei l Hudson ) h av e ever won th e event. Puz a r clinch ed th e cha m p io ns h ip with two rounds rem a inin g in th e ser ies and did i t in fro nt o f last year's 250cc World Champio n , Fren chm an J ean-M ichel Ba yle, who passed u p hi s o n ly cha nce to wear th e' number o ne pl ate. Ba yle, wh o elected to ride th e 'U .S. 500cc MX GP lat er next m onth ra the r th an co mpete in th e 250cc G P, won th e l 25cc Su p port class wi th a 2-I score. But the star o f th e da y as far as th e Amer ica n fan s wer e co ncern ed was two-tim e Cam el Superc ross a nd d ef endin g 250cc Nati onal c ha m p Stanton , as th ere was little a n yon e co u ld do to sto p h im fro m rolling th rough both 40-m in u te plus tw o -lap mot os o n th e de m a nd ing Unad illa co u r se and co llec t ing 1017 Swiss francs per m o to , wh ich is a p p ro ximat el y 730 in U.S. funds. 'T m g la d to add a GP to my co llectio n o f w ins ," sa id Stanton, "a nd I'm g lad I co u ld do it here in th e U n ited States. " Suzuki 's La rr y Ward tri ed to stop Stanton in th e fir st mota a nd was th e o n ly rid er to t h row a roos t o f rockfill ed Unadi lla lo am o n th e fact o ry H ond a r id er. But a fter tw o laps Stanton was roos ti ng Ward a nd the rest of th e pack a nd he ro de a way to a co m ma nd ing win desp ite going orr the track la te in th e ra ce. Mike LaRocco chase d down his Suzu ki teammat e a bo u t two-thirds of th e .w a y thro u gh th e' mo ta, but co u ld n ' t cl ose o n Stanton a nd settl ed for second. Ward fini shed a sh ort dis ta nce behind in third . . Suzuki rider Puzar, who was weake ne d b y a sinus infecti on rep o rt edly b rought o n b y hi s ex posure to Arnerican air co nd i tio n ing, just m issed his ch a nce to wrap up th e cham p io ns hip in th e first m ot a . T he Ch est erfi eld ci ga re ttes spo nsored rider ca me (0 Am eri ca with a 100-point lead in the sta nd ings a nd a ll he had to do ",'as fin ish a head of H oll and 's J ohn Van den Ber k and Finland's Pekka Veh konen , the o nly tw o rider s w i th a m ath em a tical c ha nce o f ca tc h i n h im . But after a poor st art Puzar co u ld o n ly bring himself up to sixt h a nd fini sh ed in the track s o f both Vehkonen a nd fourth-pl ace fin ishe Va n d en Ber k. " I co u ld n' t p us h it ," sa id P u za th rough a n interpr eter. " I was weak and m y co nditioni ng was n o t s good , but th at 's no excuse ." P uza r tri ed to p ush past Sta nton wh en he sta rt ed seco nd beh ind th H onda rider in mo ta two. But PUl ar ' assau lt ended o n the seco nd la p whe he realized that it was m ore importan to back o rr in ord er to clinch th e titl e. LaR o cco o n ce aga i n c h a r g ed t seco nd, b u t hi s d rive en ded jus t p as th e halfwa y poi nt wh en he coastec to a stop wi th m echan ical trou bles. As Puza r fad ed back to fifth , Eng la nd's Ro b H err ing m ade h is wa y t< second w here he fini sh ed well be h in Sta nton . Vehko ne n m ad e a la te-rae cha rg e a t H err in g th at fell shon 0 1 the last la p , and Van de n Ber k passe Puza r o n th e fina l circu it to cr eat a three-way tie for seco nd o ver all - Herrin g 's bett er fi nish in th e secon. rn oto b rok e th e d eadl o ck , wh il Vehkonen was th e o ther European t flank Stanton o n th e rostrum . With Van den Ber k fourth overall three of th e top fiv e positions wer taken b y Eu ropeans, a lt ho ug h the hav en 't been a b le to top the ro stru since Van d er Veri di d it in 1982. Larr ~ rd complet ed the top five avera1 b y sa lva ging seventh after fallin tw ice in th e seco nd m ot o. American Trampas Pa rk er 's sea so ended a t U nad i lla in the first mo t T he 125cc World Champion, wh now lives in Ita ly , re i n ju red th sh o u lde r h e h u rt in a crash a t th Cze chos lov akia n G P in Ma y. Pa rke ra n as h ig h as seven th before disl ca ting h is shou ld er. H e tr ied to p us on b u t pull ed o rr ~ n.d ca lle d it , season so that th e mj ury ca n h co m p le te ly. " I ca n' t ride so I' m go ing to la o rr until it heal s properl y, th en I d co nce ntrate o n nex t season ," sai Pa r ker.

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