Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127392
Em ig . Antunez drop ped back into a battle over fou rt h with Lamson. " All of us were clo se at firs t, th en m y arms go t pumped up, " sa id Lam son , who drop ped back sli gh tly. Kied row sk i had no troub le up fron t as he slowly ex tended h is lea d. Cooper was having all kinds o f trou ble try ing to stay close eno ugh to str ike a t Emig a n d n ear! y cras h ed j us t p a st the halfway point. " I was launch ing o ff th e back jumps a nd bent my front wh eel ," sa id Cooper. "I wasn 't sure if th e sp o kes wer e broken so I backed off until I was sure noth ing was wrong. Then I cl ipped apole a nd went off in th e banner s." He had bu ilt enough o f a cus h io n so that Antunez wasn 't ab le to get close, but L amson 's arms h ad relaxed a nd h e began to reclose th e gap An tu nez enjoyed. Some di stance beh ind Lamson, DGY 's Doug H enry and Peak/Pro Circuit rider J erem y McGrath were dicing for si xt h, as Suzu ki 's Denny Stephenson reeled them in. In th e late stages o f th e race, Kied rowski eased h is pace slig h tly and maintained a seven -second lead to th e finish. Emig came under a ttac k from Cooper with tw o lap s rem aining butwas left all a lo ne in second when Cooper crashed on th e fin al ci rcuit. "I clipped a lap p ed rider in th e air," said Cooper. " I la nded still ho ld in g on a longside th e bik e, bu t th en it swapped and tackl ed me. " Cooper quick ly rem oun ted a nd was a b le to fin ish th ird, whi le La mson had ba ttl ed by Antunez a few laps fro m th e en d to cla im fou rt h . Antun ez finishe d fifth, and H enry reeled in McGrath a nd p assed him a few tu rn s before th e finish to ta ke six th . " I went to th e inside rut, h ad some trou ble a nd he go t aro u n d o n the o ut side," sa id McG rat h . " I screwed up. " McG rath held o n to seventh a t th e fin ish , a co u p le o f seco nds clear o f Stephen son. Peak/Pro Circuit rider Brian Swink, th e winner of th e Mt. Mo rris Nat ional in Ma y, fin is h ed ninth aft er ge tt ing off to a poor sta rt With Bradsh aw at the bottom of a pileup, Jean-Michel Bayle wrestles to remount his Honda with its throttle stuck wi de open. and fa lli ng once, a n d DGY 's Er ic McL ea r ro u nded o u t the top 10. Em ig has-become th e ho lesh ot king in th e I 25cc class, a n d he im med ia tely sh o t to th e front . a t th e start o f moto two. G rov e Ci ty, Ohio' s J ames Ei ckel got awa y seco n d, followed by Stephenso n, Lamson an d Ant u nez. Cooper a n d Kied rowski battled for sixth o n the op en ing la p , th en Co oper go t away from Kiedrow ski a n d q uickly passed Antunez. Up fro nt, Emig was abo u t three seco nds a head when Step henson got by Eicke l fo r seco n d o n la p tw o . La mson a lso pas sed Eickel as th e loca l rider slo wl y dropped ba ck to 13th, fighting for every position a lo ng the way. By the fifth la p o f wh at wou ld be a 13-lap mot o , Cooper had moved in to cha lle nge Stephens on for seco nd. Wh en Cooper got by h is Su zu ki team ma te, Emig was about five seconds G u y Cooper (I) passed Jeff Em ig (18) for first la te in the second 125cc N at io nal moto to score the ove rall win. Emig was the runner-up in each moto . a head . Kiedrowski reached th ird a co u p le o f laps la ter after h e fought hi s way past La mson and Ste p he ns on , but Cooper was a lready fa r o u t of reach . " I was behind from the start and it wa s hard to get aro u nd peop le," sai d Kiedro wski. "Once Cooper got second, he left us and it was ha rd to ca tch h im ." Aft er mo ving to seco nd, Cooper spent severa l laps sl owly ca tching Em ig. By la p eight Em ig's lead wa s down to three seco nds, a lap lat er it was red uced to two. O n lap II , Cooper had reached hi s rear fender. " I was riding wide open a nd wa nted to get h im before th e two -lap signa l," sa id Cooper. : '1 kn ew once h e saw it that he'd be rea l to ugh to pass." Cooper's stra tegy worked and he pa ssed Emig just befo re th e two-lap board ' wa s sh own a t th e finish line. Cooper th en pulled o u t a two-second lead which he kept to the chec kered n~ . "I got the h o leshot an d went like hell, " sa id Em ig. ''' T ha t gave me room to rela x, a n d I relaxed too much ." E mig still finished secon d , well a hea d of Kied rowski. After battling . wi th Stephen son for much o f race , L a mson finally p assed th e Su zuki rider n ear the end o f th e ra ce to finish fourth. Sw in k was close behi nd the ba ttle ea rly in the race u nti l hi s rear br a ke went away a nd h e faded to 14th . Antu nez fell ea rly in th e race a n d ca me u nder attack fro m McG ra th as th ey battled for sixth. McG rath eventu all y p assed h im lat e in the moto to fi n i s h si xt h b e h in d Ste ph e nson . Antu n ez held on to fin ish sevent h ahead o f H enry, McLear a nd Ba rr y Carsten. 250cc N a tio nal All h ell broke loose as th e pack exi ted the first turn at th e start o f moio o ne wh en Bradsh aw clipped Mai ias evic h's rea r wheel and we nt do wn in front of th e pack . J eff Ward was the fir s t to hit h im , and th e p i leup co llected Ba yle a n d Mi ke La Rocco , as well as severa l o ther ride rs. " I we nt into th e first turn , got a littl e 7