Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Runner-up Bayle also knows the title isn 't won in a single race, and he approached the season opener with that in mind. Bayle also started in the middle of the pack and when the Team Honda rider passed Yamaha 's Damon Bradshaw for second on the 12th lap, he wasn 't worried about trying to catch Stanton. "After 1 get some points ] can ride more aggressively, but tonight it was best just to be on the podium," said former 125 and 250cc World Champion Bayle. " La ter, when yo u have some points accumulated, you can make a mistake and still be in championship contention. (A mistak e) won't mess up your head." Bradshaw also had a goa l to reach the rostrum . After Bayle got by hedidn't pu t up a figh t and cruised to a distant third-place finish . " ] felt u ncomfortab le," explained 18-year-ol d Bradsh aw . " ] didn 't feel ] had the speed to be up there tonight , and ] didn't want to th ro w it down. I' m still going to hang it out o n the edge to win , but it was better to stay in third tonight. Third is better than 10th." Bradshaw did throw it down in the second of two heat races when he clipped Stanton's rear wheel just after the start. As Stanton ran away with the race, Bradshaw cha rged back to finish fourth when Ronnie Tichenor fell in the last turn. Under the new two-heat form at , it was the last transfer pos ition to the main. T ichenor , the local favorite from Pa l m Harbor, Florida, eventually made it to the main with a secondp lace finish in the second semi. He led the six-lap race until he was bumped to second in the final turn by Yamaha's Doug Dubach. After being dropped from T eam Suzuki at the end of last season, Tichenor was ou t to prove that he can be a factor thi s year as a semi-privateer riding for Tuf Racing. Tichenor proved his point as he grabbed the holeshot and led the main for seven laps until Stanton took control. When Bayle and Bradshaw went by a short time later , Tich enor also decid ed to play it safe. "When Stanton passed me, ] tried to hang with him, " said Tichenor. " Bu t Bayle and Brad shaw also got by, and once they got out my sight] backed orr a little bit. ] wanted to finish up near the front ; it 's a long season and consistency will playa big pan." One of the few riders who seemed able to match Stanton's aggressiveness was Kawasaki's j eff Ward. The former two-time Supercross champ battled with Bradshaw for second early in the main and was going after leader Tichenor when he crashed. " I went over a plateau and jumped a bit further tha n usual," said Ward. "A rut grabbed my front wheel and ] went down. It was hard to ride after that. " . Ward 's return to the race was delayed as he wrestled with a stuck throttle, bu t afte r a few laps he was back up to speed and eventually charged up to nint h at the finish . T he o n ly ot her rider wh o ap peared to be cha rging throughout the event was Kawasaki's Mike Kiedro wski. He was for ced to come fro m the back of the field afte r he went down in the firs t tum. " I got a good jump orr the gate, bu t wh en ] got on the brakes for the first tum a couple of people hit me from ' behin d," said Kied rowsk i. " Larry Ward got on the gas, turned my handlebar and ] washed out." Suzuki 's Larry Ward was the last victim of Kiedrowski's charge to a Mike Kiedrowski got a wheel ahead of the pack at the start of the 250cc main, but he fell in the first turn. Brian Swink (42) passed Ryan Hughes (37) as th ey approached the finish line to win the 12!kc Eastern Regional mai n. fifth-p lace finish, a nd had Kiedrow ski no t admittedly spent too much time behind the Suzuki rider he may have caught T ichenor as well. La rry Ward couldn't ho ld off teammate Mike La Rocco either. La Rocco had q ualified fo r the main by easily winning the first semi after a crash knocked him out of the first heat race. La Rocco started poorly in the main, but stead ily worked his way u p and passed Ward on the 15th lap. Ward hung o n to seventh at the fin ish . " ] haven't ridden m uch lately," said Ward, who recently underwent surgery to remove a cyst on the inside of his ankle. " I raced with them as close as ] could." Except for his win in the first heat race, Kawasaki's jeff Matiasevich was never in contention as a poor start and lower back problems hampered him throug hout the mai n. He was ab le to work up to eigh th, how ever, after a struggle with two -time Supercross champ Rick j o hnso n. johnson's h o pe of tu rning two injury-plagued seasons around got orr to a good start when he led early in the first heat, but ended prematurely on the last lap of th e fina l when his Honda's cha in derailed in a ru t ap proachi ng the trip le jump. johnson - 5

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