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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127391
eMOTOCROSS
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The top three were alone now a nd
it appeared that, of th e three, Stanton
was looking to be th e most alone. His
pa ce was unmatchable in the heat and
at the finish he had about a five-seco nd
cushion on Bradshaw, who had about
the same di stance on Bayle. La Rocco
wasn 't even in view when Bayle crossed
th e line a nd he had a fair distance on
fifth-place Dubach , up to fifth, with
Matiasievich, Larry Ward, DeHoop,
Ray Sommo, and Fisher rounding out
th e top 10.
" In the second rnoto I really pushed
it, but J eff was a Iit tle stro nger,"
Bradshaw said.
CI'I
Results
Damon Bradshaw gave Jeff Stanton a
fight for first in the second 250cc moto. .
Steve Lamson (29) and Jeff Emig battled in both 125cc motos. Emig got the better
of Lamson to finish third in each race, while Lamson finished fourth.
8
up to th ird after a bad start, th ou gh
he would lose th e spot to Mati asevich .
"I go t a bad sta rt," Bradshaw began.
" I was o u t bad, so I went aro u nd o n
th e ou tside. It was kind o f dusty a nd
1 just passed and passed guys. 1 took
a lo t of cha nces th e first la p. 1 pa ssed
Matiasevi ch , th en 1 went down. 1
ca ugh t Ma tiasevich aga in and once in
third , 1 just kind of rode around."
Bradsh aw took over third for good .
on the sixth lap , though he was in no
posi tion to challenge the lead ers who
were swapping th e lead back and forth
nearly every la p . Stanton led th e fourth
lap , Bayle the fift h and sixth, and at
th e halfway ma rk it was Stanton back
in front.
Brads haw was third wi th Matiasievich being hounded by Dub ach as
Mik e LaRocco made a charge from a
bad start. La Rocco was into sixt h on
the eigh th lap, held fifth two laps lat er
a nd was into fourth a t th e end of th e
12th lap . He was mak in g a run at
Brad shaw, but, in quick successio n,
had two problem s. Fir st, he was forced
wide o n a berm, whi ch he sai d was
no big d eal , th en he briefly lost
co ncent ra tion yelli ng a t a back marker
to move over a nd crashed after losing
his fro nt whee l over a berm.
" I was yell ing at him to move over
a nd I forgo t to brak e as mu ch as
usual ," La Rocco sa id.
On the I Ith lap, Stanton a p pea red
to be ga ini ng some ground on Bayle.
but it was deceivin g. Ba yle was hol d ing
his charge for the final stages and on •
th e next la p too k over the lead o n a
series o f jumps a t th e far end of th e
la ke. Quickl y, he pulled away a nd
what had been a closely contested race
was now all but decid ed.
At th e end it was Ba yle in fro nt o f
Stanton with Bradshaw a di stant third,
LaRocco fou rth and Dubach closing
in fifth . .
" I just tried to rid e smooth and go
fast th e last couple of laps," said Bayle,
wh o b y winning th e moro briefly
in creased hi s points lead over Stanton
by three. " It was so hot you can not
go fast the wh ol e race. He was riding
good, but 1 was not riding wid e o pe n."
Bradshaw agreed th at hand lin g th e
heat was crucial.
" It 's playing a big [actor," Brad shaw
sa id. " We' ll feel it more th e seco nd
mot o. This here's, by fa r, the ho ttest
race of th e year."
Bay le go t th e hol eshot in th e second
rnoto, bu t Bradshaw pas sed him coming o ut of th e tunnel u nd er the Dunlo p
jump a nd pulled a wa y a t a deceiving
ra te. By th e end of th e first lap th e
North Carolinian had nearl y a fivesecond lead on th e Fren chman , wh o
now had h is ha nd s full with Sta nton.
Tuf Racing's Todd De Hoo p was
aw a v fourth in front o f Mat iasevich
a nd' Larry Ward, wi th La Rocco seventh a nd La rry Brooks, wh o flew in
for th e race tha t morn ing a fter com. pe ting in a n Ultracross race in Los
An geles th e previous n ight. eig ht h .
Nothi ng much happen ed ou t front
until mid -r a ce, th ough LaRo cco
mov ed th ro ug h th e field up to fifth
by th e third lap. H e dropped Matiasevich back to fifth on th e ninth lap and
took over fourth. Though th ere was
ac tio n in front of a nd behind LaRocco,
he'd be unaffected a nd wou ld fini sh
the re for th e second tim e tod ay.
Stanto n took th e lead o n th e eig h th
la p by taking a n inside line th rough
a set of wh oops. Brad sha w was a
persistent seco nd, with Bayle just o ff
th e pace in thi rd. Back in the lead o n
the ninth lap , Brad sha w h ung on for
one mo re la p before Stanton took it
back in the same co rn er he'd used for
his first pass . The on ly difference was
tha t th is tim e he mad e th e pa ss stic k.
125 MOTO I: I. Mik. Kiedrow ski (Kaw); 2. Guy
Cooper (S UI ); 3. J