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/127406
GREVIEW 1991 AMAE_rof_ess_ioD_al_M_X_sea_so_D _ e The year of the FrenchmanBy Kit P almer and N ate Rauba ea n -M ich el Ba yle a ccomplished more th an he ever dreamed o f this year a n d in do in g so he mad e th e 199 1 season a n i gh tmare for hi s Ame rica n rival s. Wh en Bayle left h is nat ive city o f Manosq ue , in the south of France, to take u p residen ce in southe rn Ca lifor nia's Redo ndo Beach two years ago, h e dreamed of winning th e Ca me l Su percross Series tit le. T hat drea m was fulfilled on a dam p J une n ight in O kl ahoma City, when he fin ish ed seco n d o n his C liff White- tuned Hon da CR250 with two ro u n ds o f th e IS-race Camel Su percross Series still to be run. O nce Bayle h ad achieved hi s ultim a te goa l of ea r n i ng th e C am el Supercross titl e, he said th e 250 and 500cc Na tiona l Ch a m pionship s were of little pe rso nal im portance. Bu t h e k new th ey were importa nt to hi s em ployer, America n H onda, a n d tea m ma nager Da ve Arnol d. The 22-year-o ld French m an wrapped up th e 250cc Na tional cro wn despi te not scoring a n overall win in th e seven ro u nd series. But he more than made u p for that during the six-ro u nd 500cc MX Series wher e he scored three overa ll win s to earn an unprecedented three champi onsh ips in one season. " It feels good to wi n a ll three championships, but my goal was th e Su pe rcross Cham pionshi p," sa id a less-than -en th usiastic Bayle after th e J 6 seaso n en ded . " It's ju s t m o r e champ io ns hi ps ." Kawasaki 's Mike Kiedrowski , with th e help of tuner Sha ne Na lley, was the o n lyAmerica n mo tocrosser to wi n a Nat iona l Ch ampionship in 199 1, as th e Californian sna tche d th e 125cc crown from G uy ' Cooper, who had ta ken th e title from Kiedro wski the previo us year. Cooper surpassed Kied rowski in o verall wins duri ng the eigh t-mo nth long, 13-ro u nd series, but it was Kiedro wski 's relentless consisten cy that ga ve h im th e titl e, mu ch to th e liking o f Kiedrowski's race team man ager Roy T u rne r. Cooper scored five overall wins to Kiedro wski's th ree. Camel S upercr o ss Series Bayle's strategy to come a way with th e cha m p ions h ip was simple - win wh en th e circu ms tances were righ t or fin ish in th e top three at every ro u n d o f th e IS-race serie s. Sticki ng to hi s ga me plan, Bayle missed a spot on th e podi u m a t o n ly fo ur events. H e won a record eig ht times during the seaso n , finish ed seco nd four times, and was th ird twice. Hi s wor st fini sh was 12th p la ce , aft er h e h a d cli n c he d th e cha m pions h ip . Wh en th e seaso n began o n Jan uary 12 in Orland o, Florida, defending two- ' time Camel Supercross Cha mpion J eff Sta nton, Ba yle's teammate, came ou t swin gin g, domina tin g th e o pe n in g ro u nd. Ba yle struck back by winnin g th e follow in g week in th e H ouston Astrod ome, a nd th e ti tle race was o n. Th e two 'rider s swa p pe d v ictories th ro ughout th e fir st five ro u nds, with Bayle gain ing a slight edge o n Stanton p rior to th e first brea k in th e series, win n in g two stra igh t in th e .Sea ttle Ki n g d om e and Sa n Di eg o ' s J a ck Murphy Stadi u m. " T he H ondas ar e working great; we 're a step a hea d of everybo dy else right now, " Stanton sa id . " P lus , Bayle wa nts to wi n h is fir st title an d I wa nt to win another." Yam aha 's Dam on Bradsh aw , who pe rhaps trained a nd tested a littl e too mu ch durin g th e o ff-seaso n a nd ente red th e Ca mel Supe rcross Series more weary tha n rested, fin all y lived u p to everyo ne 's expec ta t io ns b y win ning in Atla n ta following a o ne week brea k in the series, b u t the n Sta nton ca me ba ck a nd won hi s thi rd straigh t Daytona Supercross. It wo u ld be h is last win for severa l weeks. Bayle won another two in a ro w in Tempe, Arizon a, a nd St. Petersburg , Florida, befor e heading into th e seco nd half o f the series with the Pontiac Silverd ome doubleh ead er. Wh at was shaping up to be a close race to th e en d between Bayle and Stanton was bl own ou t the Silverd ome's doors on day one wh en Stanton cra she d in a hea t race and separated hi s sho u lder. Bayle cr uised to anothe r victory a nd a fter fin ishing second to Brad sh aw on day two , left Mich igan wi th a huge lead in th e poi nt sta n di ngs. Not on ly was th e Pon tiac doublehead er th e tu rn ing point o f th e seaso n. it was a lso th e low point o f th e seaso n as tempers flar ed , bo th o n a nd o ff the track. On th e first ni ght, Brad sh aw had some hea ted words in the p its with Jeff Matiasevich a fter a close heat -r ace bat tle en ded when Bradsh aw went 'o ff the track. Ma riasevich 's mech anic and Kaw asaki teamma te J eff Ward go t into th e sho u ting ma tch as well , bu t on ly words were thrown. T he foll o wing d a y th ere were punch es. The first fight occu rred in a stad iu m tu n nel between Larry Ward a nd Ron T ich en or. They fought over a no ther h eat-race in cident. Th en , Mike LaRocco sho ved J eff Em ig in front o f everyone after they crashed together in the middle of the tra ck. After Pontiac, a ll Bayl e had to do was avoid trouble in the seven remaining l rou n ds a nd let th e o thers ch ase him , which is exac tly wha t he did. But fir st he won th e Charlotte Su percross in a torrential do wn po u r. T he win in North Ca ro lin a would be hi s last u ntil th e series fin a le at th e Los Angeles Mem oria l Col iseum. In be twe en Charlotte a n d L.A., Bradsha w a nd Stanton pi cked up a win a piece, with Bradshaw edging Sta nt on ' for seco nd in the final standings by o ne point. LaRocco and Doug Dubach