Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SUPERCROSS 1991 p~redi_'ct_ion_s _ Rating the riders By Nate Ra uba \th ou gh se vera l riders were favored to be in the hunt for last year 's Camel Supercro ss Ch ampi onship. in the end the race for th e titl e boil ed down to thr ee riders . .Once again th ere are a number of rider s who have th e po tential to be the 1991 Ca mel Supercross cha m p, and several factors have to be considered when predicting who will eme rge the win ner after 18 rounds of competitio n.· We've take n the top 20 supercross rid ers. based on the final po in t sta ndings of las t year 's series, an d assessed their chances of winni ng the champi on shi p or improving upon their position in the fina l standings. We'lI start with th e 20th ran ked rider and wor k our way up to th e cha mp. A 20. tinued a week la ter in San Jose when H onda 's Jean -Michel Bayle moved into second in the series. relegating Matiasevich to third. Only 14 points separated Stanton from Bayle at the final race of th e year in Los Angeles. It was a dramatic race to the checkered £lag betw een Brad'shaw and Bayle. while Stanton hung back in a safe sixth, confident the title would ' be his if .he didn 't crash. Knowing that he would ha ve absolutely no cha nce at the title if he didn't win the L.A . race. Bayle gave it his all in an effort to pass Brad shaw on the last lap. The two rid ers tan gled ba rs with the checkered £lag in sight. but it was Bradshaw holding on for the win. Even if Bayle had won the race. Stanton would still have been the champ, but Bayle was hopin g for a miscu e by Stanton that n ev er happened. It was a thrilling end to a thrill in g season. And better yet , the 1991 season should provide just as much outstanding racing and dose dicing for the champ ionship as it did in 1990. Predicting a champion will be tough since several riders have a shot at winning the title , such as Stanton. Jeff Ward, Bradshaw, Ri ck J ohnson and probably the hottest rider of them all , Bayle. As far as th is year's teams, Honda. again, looks to be th e dominant force with the defending champ Stanton. two-t ime Supercross champ Johnson and two-time MX World Ch ampion Bayle. Man y people are predicting that Bayle will put an end to Stanton's reign. but Bayle will have to do more than make a lat e-season ru n a t the champ like he did last year. "I just need to start winning races earlier in the season." says Bayle. Rebou n din g aft er a near ca reerending wri st injury. there's probably no one more hungry to win the title than Johnson . who might be cam... paigning the supercross season for the last time. ' "I know a lot of people sti ll question my abili ty to win again in supercross," says Johnson. " but I am confident that my hand is in good enough shape to allow me to win races and be a threat in the race for the championship. " Perhaps the on e team that has the biggest chance of-putting a dent into Honda's armor is the sma llest of all th e teams - Yamaha. T eam Yamaha is putting all of its money on 18-year old Damon Bradshaw, who has proven he can beat Stanton. Johnson or Bayle on an y given ni ght. But Bradshaw won't see an y titl es come h is way if he doesn 't get over the cras h-itis that's p lagued him over the years. " Not only have I go t to win races. bu t I need to not mak e as many mistakes a s I did last year." says Bradshaw, " I' ve got to run well in all of the races, not just most of them like I did last year." Team Kawasaki is another force to be reckoned with seeing as how th ey cont in ue to have two-time Su per cross Champion Jeff Ward leading th e way. Bad luck cast its shawdow over Ward in 1989 and '90. but if Ward can avoid the types of injuries that ha ve slowed his progress in supercross, he could very well be the first rider to match Bob Hannah 's th ree supercross title record. " I can do it. but th e main guys standing in my way are Stanton . Bradshaw and Bayle." says Ward. " I' ve got to beat them first." Team Suzuki features a four-rider brigade with Guy Cooper, Larry Ward. Mike La Rocco and Denny Stephenson. Seeking its first supercross champi onship since Mark Barnett grabbed th e titl e in 1981 , the '91 Suzuki team is perhaps the strongest th ey've ever had. but is it strong enough to end its title drou ght? Probably not. but anyone of th ese three riders can pull off a win or two. Keith johnsonand Mike Fish er will head the on ly European manufacturer team - KTM . Both these seasoned p ros can give top riders like Stanton. Ward , Bradshaw and Johnson a run for their money. Whatever the series produces. you can be sure of one thing - everyone will be goin' for the go ld. 19. RaySommo #27 Age:22 Hometown: Capistrano Beach. California his rookie only compe ted in six ro unds of th e series as an Pro-Am license holder. bu t later in the year he proved he's go ing to be a future star by turn ing in several outstanding perform an ces in the 500cc Nation al s. U nfo rt u n a te ly. th e yo u n g ster's ay Sommo has been one of the top privateers in the Camel Supercross Series for severa l years. He 's a determined rider and doesn 't let the factory riders intimidate h im - in fact many riders have blamed Sommo for 'blocking the track and h indering their progress. Sommo gets his backing from AloeUp. makers of skin care products, and FMF, plus RRP will provide mechanical assistance at the races th is year. He often has to figh t his way into the mains from th e semis or LCQ, and im proveme nt in the standin gs this year will depend on the number of mains he makes. Team Honda Team Manager - Team Kawasaki Team Manager - Ray Turner Gene Naumec #24 Will 1991 see a new Su p ercross Champion or will Jeff Stanton three-peat ? Kawasak i Team Green commit ments to th e am ateur event s will once again limit hi s participation in th e Camel Su per cross Series. so hi s advan cement up the points ladd er will dep end on how 'well he can do in the events he does mak e. With more su percross experience and a full -time commitment to th e series. Naumec could very well be a futur e cont ender. PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE Age: 17 Hometow n: Brooksville. Florida T J.e. Waterhouse 250cc class: Jeff Stanton Jean-Michel Bayle Rick Johnson 125cc class: Western Regional Jeremy McGrath Steve Lamson Eastern Regional Brian Swink Jeromy Buehl. #1 #8 #13 #125 #29 #42 #25 Team Yamaha Team Manager - Keith McCarty 250cc class: Damon Bradshaw 125cc class: Western Regional Jeff Emig Jimmy Button Joel Albrecht Eastern Regional Doug Henry Eric McLear #11 #18 #48 #727 #31 #46 R 250cc class: Jeff Ward Jeff Matiasevich Mike Kiedrowski 125cc class: Western Reginnal Tyson Vohland Eastern Regional R Hughes yan #3 #7 #4 #1 9 #37 Team KTM Team Manager - Selvaraj Narayana 250cc class: Mike Fisher Keith Johnson #1 4 #40 Team Suzuki Team Manager - Ray Tetherton 250cc class: ' Guy Cooper Larry Ward Mike LaRocco 125cc class: Western Regional Buddy Antunez Eastern Regional ' Tallon Vohland : #5 #10 #6 #20 #19

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