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/127403
~ MOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 125/500c MX Series: Rounds 1215 e lo-ol V ..0 o ..... u o AD estimated 15.000 fans attended the National at Potomac Speedway, a course which is modeled after the high-speed tracks that make up the World Championship GP circuit. J ean-M ichel Bayle's 1-1 m oto tally increases his chances of clinching the 500cc National title in mo to one of n ext week's National in New Berli n , New York. This Budds' for Bayle, Cooper By Ken Faught B UDDSCREEK, MD, ocr. 6 wo down. One to go . J ean -M ich el Ba yl e 's 500cc Nat ional vi ctory to day a t Potom ac Raceway moved the 22-yearold Frenchman closer to yet another mil estone. His wins in bo th 30-mi nute pl us two-l ap mOlOS pu t the Team Honda rider close to wh at no rider has ever ach ieved - winnin g th e Supercross, 250 and 500cc Nati onal Ch am pionship titl es all in th e same seaso n. Bayl e's triumph , in front of an estima ted 15,000 spec tators, in creased his cha m pio ns hip poin ts lead to 21 over second-p laced J eff Ward , 235-214. " O bvio us ly we (the Amer ica ns ) would like to win ," said Ward, who finished second overa ll with 2-3 rno to fini shes, " bu t everything has just been go ing righ t for him." And for Bayle, who doesn 't seem 10 care too much how ot her people view h im, the 500cc ti tle cou ld be hi s after the first moto of next week 's final National in New Berlin, New York. If Bayle wins the first rn oto and Ward doesn 't fini sh any higher than third, the titl e will go to the Fren chman . For th e seco nd week in a ro w, Suzuki's Guy Cooper of Stillwater, Oklahoma, man ag ed 10 gain valuabl e champ ions hip points by scoring the overall win, this tim e with 1-3 finishing positions. The 29-year-old defending cham- T 8 pion charged from [ourth 10 firs t in rn oto one to beat J eff Emig, T allon Vohland and series poi nt lead er Mike Kiedro wski. Ho wever, in the second rn oto Kiedrows ki made up for some lost po ints by overta king early race leader Emig to take the win. Emi g fini shed second, wh ile Cooper' s thi rd-place finish was g~od eno ug h 10 give him the overall WIn . . ''I' m just happy I'm gell ing som e good, strong finis hes, " said Cooper, who ga ined two points on Kiedrowski bu t still trails by 28 with o ne round remaini ng in the 13-race series. " I put a good cha rge on Em ig in the second m oto and reeled him in a little, -bu t "knew th at th ird was good eno ug h for the overa ll. 1 would have liked second, th ou gh , fo r the (ch a m p io n sh ip ) po ints." 500cc National A total of 69 riders turned out for the 500cc National after the field was shru n k down to 40 men following qualifiers for all those but the top 10 ranked riders. With gra y skies and temperatures in th e low 60s, the first moto began with Stanton gelling th e early drop o n the gate to lead Ward, Bayle. Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, KTM 's Mike Fisher