Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

was hounding Matia sevich a nd- was looking for room 10 pa ss, but th e Kawasaki rid er bloc ked Bayle's every attempt, The b ail ie ra g ed o n fo r another two Iaps, th en Ba yle got a better drive up th e Peri style secti on a nd roo sted into th e lead. Bayle qui ckl y es ta b lis hed wh at looked like a co m forta b le lead, but a la p lat er a t the top of th e Per istyle, Mati asevi ch suddenl y emerged out in front with Bayle. ' " I j us t mad e a mi stake and went too wide in th e tu rn," said Ba yle. " I tried 10 jam through th e berm, but I jumped too far o n th e inside and h it a ha y bale with my b ike, and I just crashed." Like he had done ea r lier, Ba yle began hammering on Ma tia sevich , but the Kawasak i rider was dete rmi ned no t to l et Bayle by. Fo r the next three laps, Ma tias evic h slammed th e door on the rece ntly crowned Supercross cha m p, bu t Bayle never backed o ff. Bayle's pe rsisten t bad geri n g o f Ma tiasevich finall y paid o ff just past the ha lfwa y point over a series of double jumps. The French man , for the seco nd time in th e race, for ced hi s wa y a ro u nd Matias evich a nd moved int o the lead. " It was easier passin g Ma tiasevich t he first t i me, beca use I kin d o f surp rised him , but th e second pass was a lot harder," Bayl e sa id . " He kn ew m y lines and that I would try 10 pas s him on the ins ide. It was a good race." O nce a ro u nd Matiasevich , the race wa s a ll Bayle's, as he extended his lead by a lmost a seco nd a lap a nd was never a ga in cha lle nged . , While Bayle ran aw ay out in front, Stanton beg p ressuring Mat iasevich an a nd slip ped by the Kawasaki rider with seven laps rem aining . Mar iasevi ch , o wever, d idn 't let u p a nd kept th e heat o n Stanton , while Kied ro wski followed in a close fou rth. Wh en the che ckered £lag ca rne o u t, ay le en joyed a bo ut a n eigh t-second ead over Stanton, who narro wl y edged ut Ma tiasevich and Kied ro wski as h ey crossed the fi nish li ne. " It was good racing, " Bayle sa ' . ' Mat ia sevich was hard 10 pass, but we ere raci ng." "Bayle and I ha d a good d ice," said Mauasevich , " bu t I wasn 't racin g like y normal self - th e AMA' s got an Damon Bra dshaw (11) posted a sixth in the feature, clinching second overall in the final point standings. 'eag le eye o n me out th ere. (Matiase vich was fi n ed $ 1000 a t th e Sal{ j o se Supercross for " u n necessary" co n tac t a nd endangering a no ther rider." If cha rged for the same offense in th e near fut u re, h e faces possibl e suspension .) H e (Ba yle) was j u st going a littl e fas ter than me ton igh t, he deserved 10 win ." " I just got smoked ," said Sta nt o n of hi s second-place finis h. " I didn' t feel co m fo rta b le ton igh t. I was there (u p front ), bu t th ings just d id n 't click for m e. Ba yle rod e o ne hell of a race." Fo u rt h -place finis her Kiedrows ki sai d , " I was trying hard th e who le race, but I just co u ldn 't ge t around those J eff Emig (18) p assed ~teveLa mson (29) for the win on th e last lap of the 125cc West Coast feature. Emig also wonthe 125cc East/West Shootout. Johnson saYlgood·bye to Supercross special tribute was pa id to two-time Supercros s Cham pi on Ri ck j ohnson during an intermission a t the L.A . Supercross. johnson, 26, who retired earlier this' year due 10 compl ications from a wrist injury. took a ceremonial lap around th e Coliseum track. The 37,472 spectators ga ve him a standing ovat ion, a nd j ohnson responded by stopping a t th e tops o f several jumps to take a bow. Afterwards, members from Team H onda presented j ohnson with h is 1986 works Honda C R2S0, th e bik e th at he won his firs t Supercro ss title on. j ohnson join ed th e H onda team in 1986. "I,t really meant a lot for H onda to take th e lim e to set up th is p resentatio n to grve me my championshi p bike: ' sai d johnson, who holds the record for th e most Supercross wins with 28. "And it meant a lot 10 hear th e cro wd cheer for me. too . . " It' s. hard to say good-bye 10 every th ing th at I've been doing since I wa s a little kid, ' added j ohnson. " I' ve always wanted to be number one at . motocross, now tha t story has come 10 an end . ''I'!TI, happy that I m,ade i~ through my moto rcycle racing career, but I'm sad that It s over. : Bu t that s a lright; there's always tomorrow and I've got a lot 10 live for. I'v e got a beautiful wife, a great house, m y fami ly, so I'v e got a lot to look forward to. " I would love 10 keep riding a nd finish up being a champion, bUI it didn 't work out that wa y," johnson plans to pursue a career in automobile racing now tha t h is motor cycl e racing days are behind him. " With automobile racing, it 's a whole new avenue for me 10 experience," sai d Johnson, "I've got a lot more cha lle nges ahead of me." A g uys. Bayle was ridin g real well and pulled away, whi le the rest of us were working ha rd but staying (in) th e same (p ositio ns)." . ' Du bach la nded fift h after spending most of th e race dicing with LaRocco . who event ually dro p p ed o u t w ith a broken sprocket. Bradsh a w's bad luck in the qua lifiers foll owed h im into th e main event , though he had j ust enough good luck to edge Sta nton for second p lace in th e final poi nt standings by one point with h is sixth- p lace finish. " I d id n' t get a very good start, but I was ma k ing up time quick ly," Bra dshaw sai d . " (On the fifth la p ) I was goi ng up the P er i s t yl e a nd so mebody h a d h it a h a y ba le a n d it rolled"into my path. I h it i t an d went down. My m echan ic to ld m e o n m y p it board h ow many ri de rs I n eeded to pass to clinch seco n d in th e ser ies , so I d id what I had 10 do. It was a long nigh t. " , Fi nishing seventh was Cooper, who sta rted th e mai n in ninth, while Jeff Wa rd , Larry Wa rd and Stepenson rounded out th e to p 10. Keith Bowen was the top privateer in l l th , 7

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