Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Damon Bradsha w (11) grabbed the holeshot in the main and stayed in contention for the win until a broken spark plug forced him to retire at the halfway point. Bayle untouchable at Suncoast Dome By Ken Faug h t ST. PETERSBURG, FL, APRIL s re H onda teammates j eff Stanton and j ean-Michel Bayle, who have dominated the Camel Supercross -Ser ies this year, untouchable? Only time will tell , but th ere was litt le di spu ting th at th eo ry a t th e Suncoast Dome wher e th eir fier ce battle for th e Camel Supercross titl e co nti n ue d o nce aga in with Ba yl e eme rg ing th e victo r o f th e Tampa Bay Su pe rcross. Ba yle, a tw o-time World Champion fro m Manosque, France, ca me from thi rd in th e 20-lap 250cc main event to pass Sta nton a nd teen age sensatio n Dam on Bradshaw before bea ting Stanto n by a 10-second margin . The tri o swa p ped posit io ns three tim es before Bradsh aw was forced back to th e p its on lap 10 due to mechanical p roblems , leav in g Ba yl e a nd St a n to n all to th ern sel ves, But Bayle, wh o ea rned hi s tra nsfer spot into th e main after winning th e seco nd heat race, was untouch abl e a fte r Bradsh aw dro p pe d OUI. The Fren chman rode in con tro l th e rest of th e wa y and gave th e 26,4 II fans wh o wim essed th e first-t im e event in SI. Petersburg a near-perfect show. " T he o n ly thing that co uld 've been bett er was my start," sai d Bay le, who a lso leads th e 250cc National Champio nsh ip p oint standings. " But 1 kn ew that 1 was faster and co u ld winas lo ng as I didn 't ge t ta ken o u t." Bayle's 10th career supercross win earn ed him $5000 o f the $35,000 250cc purse in additio n to $5000 he ea rn ed A for th e Coors Silv er Bu llet Sh owdown - an awa rd given to a rid er wh o wins the main event, providing he' s victorious in one of two heat races and does so w ith th e quickest elapsed time. The prize, which is normally $ 1000, rolls over if it's not earned at an event, lik e it hadn 't been du rin g th e past four ro u nds. Team Kawasak i's Mik e Kiedrow sk i also dr ew a lot of attention as he charged th rough th e pack a nd passed tea m mate j eff Ward before reeling in Stanton at th e co ncl usion of the event. A last-ditch effort to pass Sta nton ended up sending Kiedrow sk i to th e grou nd before he claimed th e final spot on th e rostrum. The win, Bayle's fifth of the season, comes a t a n im portant time as the series reach es th e halfwa y poin t a nd in creases hi s points lead over Stanton, 205- I95. Kiedrowski took th ird in th e po ints ch ase a wa y from Brad sh aw , wh o sli pped to fifth in th e sta nd ings . If Bayle is able to win the cha m p ionship he will pock et $100,000 from th e Camel point fund in additio n to bonus money from Honda and other sponsors rumored to be worth almos t doub le' that figure. Bayle wou ld a lso keep Stanton from earning hi s th ird co nsecu tive Su percross cro wn, bu t that won 't be easy, cons idering th at nine of th e 18 event s st ill rem ain to be run a nd Stanton is kn own for co mi ng o n stro nge r a t th e end o f th e season. " I was just slow tonigh t," sa id Stan ton , wh o has won th ree Camel Supercross even ts th is season. " Ba yle rod e a great race a nd 1 was off the pace. 1 had better turn it on or 1 won't be able to make it three (Su perc ro ss cha m pio nsh ip titl es) in a row. " As usual th e I25cc East ern Regi onal Supercross final provided some o f the best racing of th e even ing, wh ich sa w a quartet sha re th e lead in th e 15-lap race befor e T eam Peak /Spitfire/Pro Circu it-bac ked j eromy Buehl scored h is first-ever Supercross victory after corning fro m a sixth place sta rt. Buehl, who transferred to th e main after pl acing seco nd in th e Las t Ch ance Qualifier behind j ason Langford, beat Gra yson Goodman a nd Brian Swin k. Iro nica lly, Goodman a nd Buehl live together in Pl an o, T exa s. Bu ehl' s impressive co me -fro m beh ind win mo ved him closer to the points lead wh ere he trails Swink, 11389. It a lso earned him $2000 from the $10,000 125cc purse, while runner-up Goodman pock eted $1000 and Swink co llected $750. T he even t marked th e first tim e in six weeks th e riders have ridden in totall y dry conditions. Ra in a nd co ld weather have plagued th e last five National -caliber race s, but the tra ck , made up mostly of hard-packed dirt with a sm all section of wh ite sand, was in perfect form . T he most ta lked -about obstacle was a series of deep whoops that claimed many a rider throughout the evening. Local favorite Ro n Tich enor, of nearby Pa lm H arbor, gated perfectly during th e first o f two heat races that would transfer four riders directly to th e main. Stanton, however, quickly rained o n Tichenor's parade, as did Ward and Bradshaw, dr opping the T uf Racing rid er to fourth. Tichenor managed to regain third after Bradshaw tangled with Ward during a failed pass attempt and hit th e ground, the throttle o n hi s YZ250 stuck wid e open. Stanton, Ward, Tichenor and Denny Stephen son transferred from th e eightlap ra ce and th e rest of th e 20 riders would be di vided up in two sem is in search for a spot in th e final. It came as no su rprise that Bayle assumed th e lead in th e second heat ra ce after j eff Matiasevich got th e bett er sta rt. Bayle led Matiasevich as Guy Cooper, j eff Emig, Kiedrowski and Pl ant City , Florida 's Vince Deyane duked it ou t for a spot in the mam. Wh en th e actio n was over Bayle claimed an easy win over Matiasevich , Cooper and Kiedrowski. Emig, like DeVane who cra shed his way back to 14th, wou ld join th e rest of the field in a ' semi that would transfer five co mpe titors to th e fin al. Bradshaw, th e only rider aside from Stanton and Bayle to win a series event this year, returned to the action with full force to lead the first semi from start to finish . Mike Fisher, who was fighting the £Iu, trailed in second the entire time ahead of KTM teammate ' Keith johnson and Tuf Racing's Keith

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