Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

over the lead , as La mso n dr opped back to sevent h . But hard o n Ward's heels was Ba yl e. The Fr en ch man soo n cha llenged Ward and the two factory rid ers diced back and forth until Bayle took over the lead po sit ion [o r good. However, Ward 's problems weren 't over, as Fisher began pressurin g him. The KT M rid er event ually dove underneath Ward in a turn to assume seco nd, forcing the Kawasak i ri der wide and almost in to the hay bales . Bayle scor ed an easy win o ver Fisher and War d" while Bradsh aw had charged up and settled into fourth, th e fin al transfer po sition. Tuf Racing 's Ron T icheno r edged o ut Lam son [o r fifth. Although disappointed he wasn' t in contention [or the lead after a midpack start in th e heat race, Brad shaw was very pl eased that h is injured thumb gave him no pain a nd he said it wouldn 't be a [actor in the main event. . In the first of two six-lap semi s, whi ch transferred the top five riders to the main, Larry Ward had to pass Suzuki-mounted Kenny Kizzar and On The Line Racing/Splitfire's Ty Davi s in order 10 take the win. KTM 's Keith Johnson, Suzuki riders Brian Carroll and Kizzar also transferred as they took the second through fifth positions. The second semi, however, was a dogfight 10 the finish involving Emig, Tichenor, Team Green 's Mike Stahlman, Aloe-Up's Ra y Sommo, Lamson, LaRocco, and Tuf Racing teammates Todd DeHoop and Keith Bowen. The battle raged amo ng the eigh t riders for th e duration of the race, and when it was all over, it was Emi g edging Tich enor in a wire-to-w ir e win. LaRocco fou ght hi s way into th ird , wh ile Stahlman sett led in to fourth. Sommo edged out Bowen for fifth and DeHoop fin ish ed si xt h . L am son crashed on th e fourth lap whi le trying to pa ss Stahlman and fin ished 11th. Lamson blazed back in the Las t Chance Qualifier . easily tak in g the win. However, Del-loop and Bow en battled intensel y [or second place the final transfer po siti on of the night. The two Suzuki-mounted riders duked it ou t 10 th e ch eck ered flag wi th DeHoop nipping hi s teammate for runner-up honors. With the stage set for th e 250cc 20lap feature. mechanics were busy in the pits making last-minute tire and other mechanical changes as the night sky , threatened to ra in. It had begun to spri nkle and lighming was flashing brightly overhead during the previous race, the 125cc main. and th e hard-packed, red-clay track had become extremely sli ck. When the 125cc race concluded. winner Buehl immediately rode up to Honda teammate Bayle , who was waiting on the starting line, and gave the Frenchman last-second ad vic e regarding the rapidly deteriorating track conditions. In order to hopefull y beat the threatening rain, the l25cc victory podium ceremony was bypassed and tlte 250cc main immediately got the green flag . But by the time the field rounded the first turn, the clouds opened up and the rains carne, However, the spectators ignored the downpour, instead, they were on their feet and had their eyes fixed on the leader - Bradshaw, who had grabbed the holeshot with Bayle, Cooper, Jeff Ward , Matiasevich, LaRocco and Tichenor in close pursuit. The first rider to make a move was Cooper, who blasted by Bayl e and set off a fter Bradshaw. Cooper wasted little time in getting around Bradshaw, but once into the lead , Cooper couldn 't shake the Yamaha ride r. As the rain continued to fall harder In the middle of a thunderstorm, race leader Guy Cooper (5) passes lapper Mike Kiedrowski. and harder, th e track 'became wetter and wetter , but ins tead of gett ing mu ddy it remained hard-packed, a nd the surface becam e as slick as ice. As th e race p ro g ressed , Coo per mai ntained hi s lead over Brad sha w, Bayle, J eff Ward and Mat iasevich , wh o were a ll still bunched toge ther, Nea ring th e halfway point, however, the lead cha nge d again wh en Brad shaw got a better dri ve over a triple j ump and £lew by Coo per. Bradsh aw 's lead was sho rt-l ived , tho ug h, as he lost the front end in th e slippery mud and went down, handing the lead back over to Cooper. An y hopes of Brads haw getting back up and reeling in Cooper quickly vanished, as he had a hard tim e restarting his bike. When i t did [ire, he was buried back in the pa ck. "The front wheel just slid o ut," Bradshaw sai d. " I just went into the turn like I had every lap and the front end just slid o ut, there was nothing I co uld do abo u t it. After I go t up I just tri ed 10 rid e like I was (riding) wh en I was o u t in front , but I was just too far back. Up front, Cooper found hi mself with a somewhat comfortabl e lead , appro xima tely five seconds ahead of Bayle, who held 'a safe margin o ver Jeff Ward. In fourth , Matiasevich still pursued his teammate, Ward, while a lon g distan ce behind Mariasevich came Fisher. As the race progressed and the field became widely spread 'Ou t. Cooper maintained his advantage over Bayle and looked to be headed to his first ever Supercross win. But with less than five laps to go and with the rain still coming down hard, Cooper's front wheel washed out in a turn and he crashed. By the time he got going again, both Bayle and Jeff Ward had sloshed by. Less than a lap later, Cooper went down again wh en he tangled with lapper Kiedrowski. " I felt reall y comfortable and I though t I had it (the win )," said runner-up Cooper. "After the lo ng set of tri p les 1 was taking the o utside in th e turn and every lap there was a little bit of cu sh io n on the o u tside. I was trying to keep my bike perpendicular to the ground, but o n that lap, I let A few turns later, Cooper crashed. Winner Jean-Michel Bayle persevered in tlte rain and posted his seventh supercross win of the 1991 season. He now enjoys a very comfortable series points lead . the bike get a little bit turned too far and th e front end went away, so fast I I got back up and tried to keep the motor running but I co u ld n' t because my hand was covered witlt mud. Still in third . though , Cooper charged a fter Jeff Ward, who was running in second. Once he had Ward in sight, Cooper reeled him in and passed the Kawasaki rider bu t had no chance of catching Bayle, who looked £lawless considering the track's conditio n. Bayle, wh o has pl enty of experience racing in wet conditions in h is home cou ntry of France. kep t his Cliff Wh ite-tuned Honda o n two wheel s for the remain ing few laps 10 take the win. Cooper and Ward finished second and th ird, respectively. " I just wanted to stay o n the bik e and finish the race." sa id Ba yl e afterwards. " I really didn 't mind th e rain , but it seemed kind of funny 10 be this wet at a supercross. But it 's the same for everybody. I'v e never ridden on a track so slippery." LaRocco rode a cons istent race for fourth place. as did Fisher in fifth. Both riders took advantage of two falls by Matiasevich late in the race, o ne of whi ch left th e " Chicken" sidelined. Mat iasevich crashed over a jump, but before he could pick up his Kawasaki, Bradshaw landed on to p of it , tear in g Matiasevich 's th ro ttle cable in ha IL " I just slid o ut o ver the jump and Damon landed on me." said Mat iasevich. " He hit my elbo w, wh ich really hurt at the tim e, bu t my throttle cable 15

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