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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127401
eM OSS OTO~R e AMA National Chameionshie 125/500a: MX Series: Rounds 10/3 'Defending 500cc National Champion Jeff Ward (I ) grabbed the early lead ahead of Ron Lechien (100) and Doug Dubach (15) in the second 500cc National mo to. Bayle, LaRocco shine at Binghamton By Ki t Palmer P h o tos by Michael Snyder and P almer BINGHAMTON, NY, SEPT. 22 onda 's J ea n-Michel Bayle ca me on e step closer to beco m in g the first rider ever to claim th ree AMA MX Champ io nship titl es in a single year afte r scoring th e overa ll wi n , via 3-1 moto tallies, in th e 500cc MX National a t th e Broome-Tioga Sports Center near Binghamton. Ba yl e, wh o h a s already been crowned th e Camel Supercross a nd 250cc MX National Champion, further extended hi s series points lead by five over factory H onda teammate J eff Sta n to n , fourth to day with a 4-2 per fo rma nce. Ba yl e n o w enjoys a mod est 14-point lead over Sta nt on , 140-126, wi th three rounds to go in the six-race 500cc series. "I'm happy I won, but I'm no t rea lly all th at co ncerned abo ut winning all th ree titles," said Bayle, wh o walked away with $1600 from th e $15,000 500cc class purse. " I already ach ieved my main goal with the Camel Supercross titl e, now I'm just trying to win each race. " ' " I just kind o f had a blah kind o f da y," said Stanton, who alo ng with Damon Bradshaw a nd Mike Kied rowski had just returned from Holland a few da ys ear lier aft er winning the Motocross des Nations. Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward, wh o won th e previous 500cc .Na tional at Washou gal, Washington, came within a cras h o f sco ring his second co ns ec u ti ve vi ct ory. After fini shing seco nd to Yam aha 's Bradshaw in the first 500cc moto, Ward was pitched o ver th e han dl ebar s while holdin g a com fortable lead during th e ea rly stages of th e second mot o, effecti vely eliminating any chance he had o f scoring th e overa ll win. Nonetheless, th e defending 500cc National Champion did salvage seco nd o verall with 2-3 rnoto fini shes. H 12 Bradsh aw, too , was a vicum o f a second-rnoto solo crash. After wi n n ing th e first moto, Bradshaw ba iled in th e second tu rn of th e o pening lap. By th e tim e he rem ounted, the Yamaha p ilo t was relegated to last, but a br ill ia nt co me-fro m-beh ind rid e landed h im third overall via a 1-5 tall y. St anton a n d Tuf Racin g 's Ron Lechien (5-4) rounded out th e to p five overa ll, respectively. In the 125cc cla ss, Suz uki' s Mike LaRoc co score d hi s th ir d career Nati onal victory wit h a perfect I-I tally. LaRocco , wh o won a t th e Sp ri ng Cr eek National in Mill vill e, Minnesota, in Au gust, was chased by 1989 l25cc Na tional Champio n Mike Kied ro wski every in ch o f the way du ri ng mot o o ne and crossed th e finish lin e just a few seconds ahead of the factory Kawasaki rid er. In th'e second moto, Kiedrowski was th e early lead er but, like h is tea m mat e Ward in th e 500cc class, the Ca liforn ian cr as hed ea r ly o n, effec ti vely handing the mot o and overall win to LaRocco. The LaPorte, In diana, rider earn ed $1200 o f th e $10,000 125cc class purse for his efforts. Rounding out th e top five overa ll were Yamaha 's J eff Em ig, wit h 4-3 m oto finishes, d ef e n d in g 125cc Nation al Champi on Guy Cooper, with a 3-4 tall y, and the overa ll wi nner a t th e previous round in Washougal, Suzuki's Larry War d, who posted 56 fini shes. Despite los in g out to La Rocco, series points lead er Kied rowski had a profitab le day as he ga ined six valuable - po in ts o n his closest rival , Cooper. The 22-year-old stretch ed his lead to 49 poi nts, 400-351, with three ro u nds remain ing inthe series. LaRocco, who joined th e I25cc class seve n rounds into th e. series afte r co mpeti ng in th e 250cc class where he fin ish ed fifth in th e final sta ndi ngs, isn ' t a threat to Kiedrowski in th e champions hip, "Even th ough La Rocco ca n 't win the cham p ionsh ip, I still wan t to win every race," Kiedrowski said. " It's my job a nd tha t's what I have to do, but it's ni ce extendi ng my lead in the series, " " I'm j ust out th ere gi vin g it my best ," La Rocco said. "I've go t a lot to prove and a lot to ga in ." A total o f 192 rid ers turned o ut for the Broome-Tioga Nati onal - 106 in the 125cc class and 86 in the 500cc division. A series o f qual ifying heats a nd cons ola tio n races were held to reduce to field to 40 ri ders in each class . 500cc National Ward powered hi s Kawasaki into th e ea rly lead in th e first o f two 30-mi n u te plus two-lap 500cc motos with Bradshaw, Bayle, Stanton , Yamaha's Doug Du bach a nd Lech ien in hi s wak e. Lech ien mad e the first move whe n he passed Du bach on th e outsid e o f a tu rn, b ut all eyes were focused o n Bradshaw, who seemed more content studying Ward's every mo ve rather than trying to pass th e veteran. On th e seventh lap, tho ugh , Bradsha w started sticking his fro nt wheel alongside Ward 's Kawasak i, looking for room to pass. Sh ortl y th ereaft er, Brad shaw saw ,his chance and mo tored a ro u nd Ward a nd into th e lead . Ward , how ever, didn 't let Bradshaw o ut o f his sig ht, a nd he didn ' t have mu ch choice in the matter since Bayle was breathing down his neck. Dropping off the pace a little bit in fourth was Stanton, and ap p roxima tely 15 seconds beh ind him came Lechien : Bradshaw , Ward and Ba yl e remained within a few seconds of each . other for th e rest o f th e race, although no o ne made a serio us a ttem p t to pass . The tri o crossed the finish lin e in close format ion , wit h Brad shaw recording hi s first-ever mo to win in th e 500cc class. Ward a nd Bayle finis hed seco nd a nd third, respect ively. "I rode real good and smart and that's wh at I wanted to do, " said Bradshaw . " I reall y wanted to get a win under my belt , beca use I kn ew I co u ld do it. It really bo osted m y confide nce." "My bik e wasn 't set up verywell a nd th e track was very bumpy, " Bayle said. " We didn't thi n k th e track would ge t th is ro ugh." Sta nton eventua lly crossed th e fin ish lin e a ll a lone in fou rth and was never a threat to th e top th ree. " I just wasn't o n trac k; jus t ten se and tight, I don 't know," Stanton said. " I' ve been fighting -a co ld all week since gett in g hom e (fro m th e MX des Nations). I just didn 't have th e punch a nd couldn 't ge t it." Lechien contin ued h is streak o f five fifth -place mot o fin ish es since th e 500cc series began. " I didn' t really ge t th e sta rt I wanted a nd had to wo rk my way up," said Lechi en . " Bu t I'm feel in g really good and I' ve got so me works parts suspe nsion a nd cra n k - o n m y bike, which reall y helps." Landing a d istant sixth after starting th e moto in fifth was Dub ach, who was followed across th e line by KTM's Mike Fisher a nd KTM-mounted, Tuf Racing-backed Keith Bowen. Smithl DGYI Pro-Circu itl An swer-sponsored Rich Taylor a nd RRP/FMF/Aloe U p / Fo x/ Bel-Ray/ R K Chain-backed Ray Sommo ro u nded out th e top 10. As the pack ro u nded the first set of turns at th e start of the second rnoto, first-race w in n er Bradshaw found