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/127271
eMOTOCROSS ; AM! 125/25&( National Cham~ionshi~_M_X S_en_'es -------: _ min ute plus two-lap race. Cooper kept the sam e pace as Ma tiasevic h and made the pa ss then greeted the checke red flag first . Kiedrowski p ut on a stro ng ride the entire secon d moto and la ter caught and passed Mat iasevich d uring the fina l stages of the race to fini sh second. Cooper's unbeatable I-I combinatio n earned hi m $1200 of the $10,000 purse, while Kiedrowski's 3-2 nett ed h im seco nd and $680. Matiasevich ro unded o u t the top th ree overall and pocketed $520. An esti ma te d 10,000 spectators wat ched four 30-minute plus two-lap motos in humid conditions. As usual th e MX 338 track was physically demanding, which took its toll on riders. Jeff Stanton (I), shown here with Larry Ward (17), Rick Johnson ( ~ 3 ) and Rich Taylor (189), won both 250cc motos. Guy Cooper (4) moved 14 points closer to the 125cc p oints lead after a perfect performance at Southwick. R odney Smith (135) pursues Cooper. Stanton, Cooper chur n out wins atSouthwick By Ken Faught SOU1llWlCK, MA, JULY 22 t was a show of forces at Southwick 's famed MX 338 track, as Team Honda's j eff Stanton and Suzuki's Guy Cooper each took an I overall win with perfect I- I moto scores in their respective classes. But more importantly it was a day that saw' the defending 250cc National MX cha mp Stanton, winner of the 250cc class , move back into the series lead after dropping to second to Kawasaki 's jeff Ward at the previous Red Bud National. Coming into Southwick Stanton was three points behind former 125, 250 and 500cc National and Supercross champ Ward. Stanton , however, scored 12po ints more than Ward to move int o a nine-point lead going int o the final ro und at T roy, Ohio. Ward was slowed due to a minor wrist injury su ££ered in the previous National. As for Cooper, the 125cc victor, it meant clo sing the gap that sepa ra tes him from current points leade r Honda 's jean-Mich el Bayle. Befor e th e Southwick National Cooper was 23 po ints behind th e former 125and 250cc World Champion, but by th e day's end that lead had shrunk to nine points. "I didn 't think I would be able to gai n this many points so fast," Cooper said. " Every now and then I pi ck u p a few, but th is is grea t. And with the series this tight, th ings are changi ng with th e team. " Stanton's firs t 250cc Nationa l win of the seaso n earned him $2000 of th e $15,000 250cc purse. Suzuk i's Mik e La Rocco and Ward trailed Stanton in the overa ll colu mn . H owever, it was Ward an d Yama ha' s Damon Bradshaw who gave th e defending champ a run for hi s mo ney, but neither rider was near Stanton's Honda at the fin ish . In the first 3D-minute plus two-lap moto LaRocco and Ward tra il ed Stanton across the finish line in that order, bu t Kawasaki's j ohnny O 'Mara came to life in moto two and claimed the runner-up spot ah ead of La Rocco. La Rocco 's 2-3 rnoto tally earned him second and $1100 while Ward's 3-4 credited him for third and $850. Cooper's win, on the other hand, came after he ran away with the first moto. Second and third place finishers Bayle and defending 125cc National champ Mike Kiedrowski both suffered poor starts and were never a factor. Round two saw Kawasaki's jeff Matiasevich overpower Cooper in the begi nning and lead half of the 30- 250cc National Yamaha 's Doug Dubach started things rolling in mo to one after nailing the start ahead of j e££ Ward, La Rocco , O'Mara, R ick johnson, Stant o n and Larry Ward. Picking himself up o ff the gro und wa s Bradsh aw. " It was crowded in the first turn and I cou ld n't see," Bradshaw said. "Someone hi t me and I high-sided. Then a sho rt while laterI Ray) Sommo and I . came together an d I wen t down. " While Bradshaw regrouped, jeff Ward took th e lead as both he and Stanton pushed their way around Dubach. On the same lap La Rocco went down and dropped back to lOth. "I got an unusually good start," said LaRocco, "and then I threw it away." joining the list of riders who were having th eir share of di££iculties with the Southwick sand was johnson. The multi-time National and Supercross rider was making hi s first National appearance since injuring his hand a t the Daytona Supercross last March. " I got a good start," johnson said, "and then crashed three times in one lap. I wasted a lot of energy picking up my bike. I didn't think I had a chance to win today bu t I was con fident that I would do well. You have to walk before you can run. Right now I am at the walking stages and don 't feel that I will ever crawl again." Up front Stanton ended je££ Ward's stay in first and pulled ou t a small lead, "Ward let me by, " Stanton said." I expec ted him to give me a race but he never did:" "I injured my wrist two weeks ' ago at th e Red Bud National after tangling with Damon (Bradshaw)," Ward said. " There was some tendon damage in my wri st and I wasn't sure if I was going to ride today. Up until yesterday I hadn 't ridden a bike in two weeks." Sta n ton even tually stretch ed his lead to more than 10 seconds by the time the checkered flag £lew. But before th e finish th ere was still a lot of action yet to take p lace. O 'Mara and Larry Ward displaced Dubach to fifth and set out after th e leaders in an inten se two -man battle. Local rider j ohn Dowd, who placed third overall in last year' s Southwick 250cc National, wa s sixth ah ead of LaRocco. LaRo cco was on the gas and, before the halfway point, he changed th e or der of th e top five. He eventually moved into third ahead of Larry Ward and Dowd before overtaking j e££ Ward. O'Mara ended up sixth. Mike Fisher, who finished seventh in moto one ahead of Bra dshaw, led the field at the start of moto two . Fisher, ho wever, was quickly overpowered by Stanton, je££ Ward and Bradshaw as the three factory riders mo ved around the Kawasaki R &D rider. O 'Mara was fifth with john son sixth.