Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMOTOCRO~.w~~~_OO_~_CMX_S_~_~:_B_m_lro_~_d__~ _ ~ ~ Dam on Bradshaw (69) chased Bayle (67) early in moto two , but slid back to fifth . Jean-Michel Bayle became the fhst rider to score wins in every form of AMA National and World Championship Grand Prix motocross competition. Bay blasts at U.S. GP le By Donn Maeda and Nate Rauba Photos by Ken Faught and Kinney Jones SAN BERNARDINO, CA, AUG. 25 ea n-Michel Bayle con q uered Am erica wh en he wo n the Camel Supercross and 250cc Nat io nal Ch ampionsh ips ea rlier th is year, but today he con q uered the world in the Shoei He lmets U.S. 500cc Mo tocro ss Gra n d Prix. Before a n estimated 18,000 spectators at southern Cal iforn ia's G len H elen O H V Park, the 22-year-o ld T eam Hon da ri de r de fea ted wha t many . consider to be th e most elite group of riders in the worl d. T he Fre nchman, raci ng wi th an Ameri ca n licen se, scored the o vera ll victo ry wi th 2-1 moto finishes. Bayle is n ow th e on ly rider to ha ve scored overa ll wi ns in all th ree World Champions hi p GP classes, plus all four AMA Nat ional Ch am p ionsh ip classes. "This ma kes me very happy," sai d Bayle. " I h ave won every thing n ow. " Ba yle nearly breezed to victory in bo th 40-min ute plus two-la p mo to s, but a rear brak e prob lem forced th e Frenchman to slow down as he held a lO-second lead ea rly in the firs t race . Kawasaki's j eff Ward then spent abo ut half the race reeling in Bayle and took the lead for good after 35 mi nutes in the moto had ela psed. Bayle stayed in second, finish in g well ahea d o f ne wlycrow ned 500cc W orld Champion Georges lobe. ' . J 6 Bayl e had no problem s in th e seco nd rnoto as he left the pack behind in the fir st tu rn a nd went on to score a ru naway w in. Ward started off ra ther poo rl y, a n d when he moved into second, 10 m inutes after the start, Bayle was already out of sight, and so wa s th e chance for th e 30-yea r-old southern Ca li fo rn ian to score hi s fir st-ever victory in G P co mpetition. After fig h ti ng a bad col d for a week p rior to the event, a wea kened l ob e O-degree tem peratur es to endured th e I O cla im th e third spot on the winner's podiu m with a pair of third-place fi n ish es, w hile Team Ya m a h a ' s Damon Brad sh aw showed flashes of brill iance in h is first-ever Grand Prix appearance to score fourth overal l. Bradsha w ra n u p front early in both motos, but was never a serious th reat aboard hi s a ir-cooled Yamaha WR500. Ame rica n Bill y Li les, who for the past five years has been a regular, o n the G P circuit, rounded ou t the top five with 7-4 moto fin ishes. Liles suffered mediocre starts in both motos and was unable to seriously threaten the leaders. Although lobe had the Wo rld title wrapped up before co mi ng to Glen He len a nd l acky Ma rten s, who fail ed to finish eithe r moto, had a lock on second in the cha m p io nship , th e remaining positi ons were still u p for grabs. For the seco nd year in a row, Belgian Dirk Geu kens claim ed the bronze meda l. Liles en ded th e year tied for fourth in points wi th En gl and's Paul Malin, but Malin go t th e nod for the fourth positi on in th e fin al sta ndi ngs si nce h e won m ore m o tos th rough out th e year . The GP featured basically th e same course used last year, one designed by five-tim e 500 cc World Ch ampi on Roger DeCoster. Many su percross-type jumps were pl aced o n th e flat portion of the track which was directl y in front of th e main grandstands. Those su pe rcross jumps had to be cut down for th e G P as th e FIM offi cials deem ed the m too high . Many riders still .go t a lot o f a ir time, espe cially over a long tabl etop-style jum p. The co urse also req u ired the co mpe titors to cl imb a h ill side, lin ed with many spe ctators. 500cc GP Of the 40 big-bore riders th at lined th e gate for th e fir st mota , "Bayl e was th e fastest in th e dash for turn one , bu t it was l obe wh o em erged with th e lea d. Bayle led KTM's Marten s, teenager Brad sh aw a nd Ward in the chase after lobe. T eam Peak H onda rider Steve Lamso n, No leen-bac ked Sh aun Kalos and English man Pau l Malin scramb led for positions a few seco nds bac k. ' After following l obe for little over a lap, Bayle pulled a lo n gside th e early lead er and ass umed control o f th e point posi tio n as th ey navigated a series of single a nd tableto p jumps. Although l ob e stayed close to Ba yle fo r a few turns, the Ameri can Honda team rider set a blazing pace a nd began to pull away. "I wanted to take a big lead right away," sai d Bayle, who added nearly one second per la p to h is lead. Meanwhile, Ward bega n to kn ock at Brad shaw 's rear door, and stormed past in a high-speed chicane following a drop-away jump. " I didn't screw u p or a ny th ing ," sa id Brad sh a w. " Wa rd was just going faster thro ugh there." Once into fourth , Ward set his sights on Mar tens and began to reel in the . Belgi an. One lap la ter, Ward used th e same spot in which he passed Bradshaw to smoke past Martens and into third. Roughly 10 minutes into th e 40minute plu s two -la p moto, Ba yl e enj oyed a 10 second lead over lobe, wh o was trying everyth ing to maintain hi s sh ri n king advantage over Ward. "I knew he wa s com ing ," said lobe. " I have been sick all week, a n d 1 have no strength' in my body. 1 tri ed to go fast , but co uld not stay in front of hiirn. " As th ey began the 10th lap, Ward had d os ed on lobe a n d began 10 shadow th e Belgian 's every move. A few turns later , Ward found hi s way past th e series ch a mp and set out after Bayl e, who still m a inta in ed a 10second lead . After being passed by Ward ea rlier in the rnoto, Martens beg an to steadily fad e ba ck into th e pack. Bradshaw was the first. to find hi s way by Marten s, with ' Lam son , Mal in and a ch ar ging Bill y Liles foll owing suit. "T he heat , it is so bad ," said Belgian Martens, wh o eventually pulled ou t of th e race. " I co u ld n ot keep a fast pace." Ward steadily ate away at the seem in gl y insurmountabl e lead that Bayle h ad o nce e n joyed, knocking o ff a p p ro xima tely a second per lap. By th e 15th of wh at would be a 22-lap rno to, Ward had closed within three secon ds of th e flyin g Frenc h ma n as they began to lap slower traffi c. " I just kept chargin g, " sai d Ward, who seemed to find his way past lapped traffi c with ease. " I never had a chance to rest, 1 had to keep passing gu ys." With the support of th e partisan cro wd, Ward found hi s way past Ba yle two laps la ter in the back section o f th e co urse. Once into th e po int position' Ward set sai l a n d began to pull a way from Bayle. " I used too much rea r brake in the fir st laps," sai d Bayle. " I tri ed to tak e a bi g lead and th e brakes went away . 1 co u ld not go as fast as I wa nted to ; I got tired an d mad e many mi stake s." Meanwhile, l obe kept a firm grip on third, well a hea d of Bradshaw, who was circling th e track a t a steady pace.

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