Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

th ird in th e first heat race behind Bradsha w and 125cc Natio nal Champion Guy Cooper. ' H ad Bayle won that heat and posted the fastest heat race tim e, th e Fren ch man would have co llec ted $ 1000 for winning th e Coors Silv er Bullet Showd own , an award p rogram that rewards th e rider who wins the fastest heat ra ce and th e main event. Bu t for th e seco nd stra ight round , no o ne accomplished th at and th e mone y rolls over into next week 's event at Anaheim, where 3000 will be u p fo r grabs. " I was n' t too worried about the m oney - I just wanted a spot in th e m ain ," said Bayle, wh ose margin of victory in th e main was fo ur seco nd s. " I got a good stan a n d kn ew th a t I could ride fast w he n I need ed to . Mariasevich was dose for th e firs t few laps, bu t I saw th a t h e tired in h is h eat ra ce a nd I was n 't worried ." " I' m just tr ying to be co n sisten t to w in the championship," added Bayl e aft er his sixth career Ca mel Su percross win . " I have a lo t o f experience with th e pr essure o f a ch a m pions h ip . Wh en r wo n the 125 (World Cha mpio ns h ip) t i tl e it ca me d own to th e la st race . . . this yea r shou ld be different ." " I go t a grea t stan and tried LO stay o n Bayle's butt ," sa id Matiasevich . " I fell tig ht all night long a n d I m ad e o ne mistake an d h e got far o ut. I tried to ride a .Iiule smoother, but he was gone. R ig h t now I'm just tryin g LO be in the LOp three every, week - I think co nsisten cy will pa y o ff." "All I did was ride safe," Bradshaw said, apparently disappoin ted with hi s effort s. .In th e m ain , the 18-year- ol d rider from North Ca ro lina rode co nservativel y, electi ng not to rid e in hi s usual ragged-edge style. " I didn ' t get a good stan ;" co ntin ued Bradsha w. " I wen t by a co u p le o f guys, but had problem s with (Mike) Fish er and (Rick) johnson. I stayed behind them too long. Later in the race I had some dutch problems - '1 think I ad justed it too tight. I'm not sa ti sfied - mayb e next week in Anaheim I'll ge t a win." After ge lli ng a mi d-pack stan a nd work in g h is way by Doug Du bach , R ick j ohn so n and Fis her, Team Suzuki ' s M ik e La Ro cco fin is h ed Iou rth ahead of tea m ma te Larry Wa rd . "It wen t o kay o u t th er e ," said LaRocco , who wo n the first semi. " I had a sore wrist and it wea kened u p in th e ma in. My goal was LO be in th e LOp five a nd gai n so me points. I mad e th at, so I'm ha ppy." "I h ad th e h olesh ot an d Sta nton a nd r co ll ide d," sai d Larry Wa rd. " r bobbled a n d dro p ped back LO about n in th . I eventually got up to fifth ." After fall in g do wn in bo th h is heat race and sem i severa l times, T eam Kawasaki's Mike Kiedro wsk i su ffered a poor sta n in the main and pounded hi s way toward the front of the pack. T he 1989 125cc National Champion worked hi s wa y into six th and man aged LO hold 0[[ t wo -ti me Camel Supercross Champion Stanton . " I started 0[[ good, but fell in th e tu nnel ," said Stan ton, who is trying for his th ird co nsecu ti ve tit le. " I sta rted to work m y wa y up a nd actua lly fell pret ty good. I'm not reall y worried ab o u t the ch a m p io nsh ip righ t n o w. La st year it took me a lo n g ti me to . get in to the points lead , so this year has actually got 0[[ to a decent stan. " Beh ind Sta nton ca me Du bach in eigh th. T he Ya m ah a rider ran in the top 10 th roug hou t th e entire race a fter a len gth y ba ttl e with joh nson. "I wa s' rid ing a ll right, but I rode tight and got passed by La Rocco before the triple," said Dubach. "T he fastest line was th e o u tside, but he went underneath a nd stuffed me. I kind of Runner-up Jeff Matiasevich (7) pursued Bayle (8) righ t fro m th e start but co uldn't catch th e two-ti me MX World Cham p ion. pu t it ba ck together a n d th en j ohnson put up a figh t a nd that cost me a lot o f tim e." After riding in th e top th ree for th e first half doz en laps, KTM 's Mik e Fishe r rod e to a ninth pl ace finish a head o f johnso n. The Californian pu t in one o f the best pe rfor mances of hi s ca ree r as he fought hi s wa y in to ninth in th e point sta nd ings. "I wa s right behind Ma tiasevich a t th e sta n a nd he was just a littl e more u sed LO goin g a t that speed righ t aft er th e stan, " sa id Fisher. " I got tens e and tr ied to relax, b u t I made a m ista ke. I thin k th is was m y best -ever race." " I was j us t a not ch 0 [[ th e pace," sai d j ohnson, the winn in gest rid er in Superrross history. " I h ad the speed, but I th ink I o vertra ined th is week . I got fa tigued - it was lik e I was a frai d. It's real sad de n ing a nd di sappointing , b ut I a m going to wi n. I kn ow I'm defini tely not a th reat for th e number o n e plate, but I'm not gi ving up. It 's my last season a n d I'm just sorry th e H ou ston fans co ul dn't have seen a be tter perfoma nce o u t o f me," After transferring into th e ma in via th e seco nd heat, T uf Racing/ Suzukisu p ported Keith Bowen was th e hi ghest pl acing privat eer , finish in g l l th a hea d o f fac tory Suzuki p ilo ts Denny Stephe nson a nd G uy Cooper. T h e appearance by Cooper was hi s fir st in the seri es, havi ng been side lined since injuring h is hand in the Geneva (S w i tzerl a n d ) uper c ross in ea rl y Decem ber. " I fell good , but I kn ew th at I was o ut o f sha pe ," sai d Cooper. " I was hopin g for a good stan, but I didn 't ge t it. I was working my way up wh en I hit a ha y bale a nd sta lle d it. After that I wa s just to o tir ed to keep cha rg in g. ' "Surprisi ngly it (the inj ury ) d id n 't hurt that bad tonigh t," co n tin ued Cooper. " I haven ' t been able to ride for five weeks - I'm beat a ll o ver." T he injury was almost worsened in practice, however , whe n h is hand was struck by a £lyin g objec t. " I raced with a rock gu ard o n m y bars because in p ra ctice Stanton th rew u p a big rock a nd it hun pretty bad. It worked out-pretty g~ th ough." KT M ' s Mike Fish er (14) h eld o ff Damon Bradsha w (I I) du ring th e earl y stages of the m a in. Bradsha w event u ally finished third and Fish er ni nth . What didn 't pa n out , however, were Ron ni e T ichen or and jeff Wa rd 's h ope s of improving on last week's performances. After placing fourth overall in Orlando, Tichenor crashed hard over th e tri p les a fter landing o n Ward 's down ed Kawa saki in th e second hea l. Nei the r rider transferr ed to themai n. " I cased it over the triples a nd hun bo th wrists," 'sa id Ward , who limped 0 [[ th e track a fter a lso su fferi ng a 7

• Cover