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/127282
/ ~ MOTOCROSS 125/500(( M XSeries: Rounds 5/12 e Jeff Ward (I) won the first 500cc moto when Jeff Stanton (2) fell, but Stanton ran off with mota two when Ward fell while trying to pass him early in the race. G uy Cooper (4) won the first 125cc moto, but Mike Kiedrowski (I) passed him to win moto two and take a one-point advantage to the final National of the season. Kied i, Stanto rowsk npull through at Potomac Speedway By Nate R a u ba BUDDSCREEK, MD, ocr. 7 onda teammates Mike Kiedrowski and J eff Stanton topped the 125 and 500cc classes, respectively, in the penulti ma te National Championship 125/ 500cc MX round at Potomac Speedway. But both riders left the event in the same position in the point standi ngs in which they entered the Maryland event. Defending 125cc National cha m p Kiedrowski hung on to a one-poi nt lead in the standings after two hard-fought motos with series rival Guy Cooper, while Stanton stayed 26 poi nts behind 500cc po int standings leader Jeff Ward desp ite 2-1 moto finishes. Suzuki's Cooper, who lost the 125cc po ints lead at the previou s Na tional, momentarily went back into first when he beat Kiedrowski in the Iirst Sfl-rnin ute plus two-la p mota , run o n a tree-lined course set in a sou thern Marylan d forest. Kiedrowski fough t back in the final rnoto and snatched first from race-lon g leader Cooper late in the contest. Coope r tried 10 fight back bu t dropped .abo ut five seconds behind at the finish, which put him rig ht back 10 where he was at the beginni ng of the day - o ne point behind Kiedrowski. Both Kiedrowski and Coope r earned 1000of the $10,000 125cc class pu rse. H 10 '" felt reall y . good to day," sai d Kiedrowski. '" just went out to race the best' could." Despite the close points race, neith er Kiedrowski nor Cooper feel any added pressure for the finale at Una dilla. " It doesn 't feel any different ," said Kiedrowski. " I' ll ju st go o ut and race and do whatever it takes 10 win." "Suzuki has put no pressure on me," said Cooper. '" want to win it for them." Suzuki's Mike La Rocco combined 53 mot o finis hes fo r th ird ove ra ll , Kawasaki 's J eff Matiasevich was fou rth overall with a pa ir of fourths, and Suzuki's Ron T ichenor rounded o ut the top five. Former 125cc Nation al series po ints leader Jean -Michel Bayle, who broke his arm earlier in the season at the Washougal Nation al, was set to retu rn to action . But after Bayle rode practice, Hon da MX Team Mana ger Dave Arnold p ulled his entry. "We're in the middle of a cha m pionship bau le," exp lained Arnold, referri ng 10 the close race between Kiedro wski and Cooper. "T here's been some problems between Kiedrowski and Bayle this year, and after talking 10 Bayle he is unab le 10 pu t those problems behind . I wasn' t sure if he could ride as a team memb er; you have to' ride as a team at the end of the year. I regret the effort of bringing him and his mechani c back here, it's an em barrass ment for me as well as Ho nda." In the 500cc class, there was little Stanto n could do to overcome the po ints he lost to Jeff Ward after he suffered a concussion the previous week and failed to fin ish a moto, StanIon suffered a minor fall while leadi ng the first moto at Po tomac Speedway, but it was eno ugh to let Ward and Honda teammate Rick J ohnson by. Ward went on to win the rnoto , while J ohnson fell near the end of the race and gave up second to Stanton. Stanton rode flawlessly in moto two and it was Ward's turn to fall when he attem pted to pass Stanton early in the race. Stanton stayed just out of johnson's reach for mu ch of the rnoto, whil e Ward charged back and pa ssed J ohnson near the end 10 fini sh second. '" didn't feel comfortable after ringing my bell last week, , was just out riding my race," said Stanton, who knows that in order to overcome the 26-point deficit, Ward will have to encoun ter som e terrible luck at the final race at Unadilla. Both Ward and Stant on earned 1600 of the S15,000500cc class purse. Johnson was"th ird overall with hi s pai r of thirdp lace fin ishes, Kawa saki' s J oh nn y O 'Mara fini shed fourth overall and privateer Gene Naumec comp leted the top five. 125cc National Cooper sped 10 the front at the start of the first moto and soon had company after Matiasevich passed Kevin Walker on the first lap. T he two riders began to leave the pack behind, then Cooper fou nd hims elf seven seconds behind when he crashed on the fourth lap. T here were still II lap s to go as it would take a total of 15 circu its to com plete the 30-minute plus two-lap moto. '" was go ing up a choppy hill when the back end came aro und," said Cooper. '" was han gi ng off the bike trying to save it when it caught the top of a jum p , spun the other way and pitched me off.' When Cooper remounted he wasn' far ahead of T ichenor and Kiedrowski bo th of whom had passed Walker 0 the thi rd la p . Ya maha/ Gear/ Scott su p ported Wal ker, from Penh ook Virginia, wou ld slowly fade back to 16t at the fini sh. Cooper charged a",:a . slightl y as Tichenor fou gh t off Kied rowski and soon closed in on Mat iase vich , who surrendered the lead on la] seven. " My arms pum ped up, " said Mati asevich. " When ' go t by Cooper I starter getting nervou s and rode tigh t." In the meantime, Kiedrowski finall y found a way pa st Tichenor, then quickly passed the fading Matiasevich. After ano ther lap Ti chenor go t by Matia sevicl as well. LaRocco, who encounte r problems o n the first go-around, ha charged 10 fifth at thi s poi nt bu t wa. far behind and the top five fini shers wen set. Kiedrowski, however, made sure th last hal£ of the race wouldn't be boring. After being five seconds behind whe he reached second, it took Kiedrowski two laps to reach Cooper's back fender But that 's as far as he'd get since Coope answered each cha llenge and fini sh with a coup le of seconds to spare. '" co u ld see him coming ," sa i Cooper. '" felt if , kept the same pa c he'd catch me an yway, and I'd rathe it be close so , would know what's goi n on. On the last lap' just pinned it an got some momentum going." "There were a couple of places wher , could've slammed him, bu t' wante to make a clean pass," said Kiedrowski. "On the last lap I made a couple 0 mistakes, so I decided to settle for secon right now." . Kawasaki 's Jeff Emig reached sixtl around the hal£way po int and stave there to the fin ish. Emig's last victim wa s Sh elton , Co n ne cticut' s Do u Henry , who hung on 10 seventh. Suzu ki's Jerom y Buehl fought past Michi gan '5 Eric McClear late in the race t cla im eigh th, whi le Barry Carsten rounded o ut the top 10.