Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eSUPERCROS S e C'i C'1 >... ro ~ C ro ~ 1992 predictions tried to'ride the fir st two rounds of last year 's series with injured wrists but then was forced to sit out four rounds to let them heal. H e should 've finished hi g h er -than n in th in th e fina l sta ndi ngs . Follo wing th e Ca mel Supercross Series a n d th e 250cc o u tdo o r Nationals, LaRocco joined the 125cc class and blew everybody away at two events and was a top contender at many others. T his ma de LaRocco one of the hottest riders on the track at the end of the 1991 MX season. If he can carry that momentum he had last year into '92 Ca mel Supercross Series, he cou ld very well give th e top conte nders a series- lo ng head ache. Du rin g th e off-sea so n La Rocco swi tched from Suzuki to Kawasa ki, a nd durin g pres ea son test i n g h e repor tedly had the fastest lap ti mes on the team. Kawasaki team man ager Roy Turner said LaRocco is working hard to im prove h is starts. If he does in fact improve on hi s starts, look for LaRocco to pl ant himself in to the top five at the end of the series. he descri bes as " hitti ng the wall," in o ther words - fatigue. Matiasevich is also known for hi s aggres sive riding an d som e of hi s ri vals hav e accussed him of bei ng a dirt y rider. Dirty rider or no t, Mat iasevich is one of the spo rt's most exci ting riders and isn 't afraid of doing wh at it takes to win, which unfort una tely for him didn 't hap pen often enough. Followi ng the Supercross series, Matiasevich's alrea dy gloomy year was capped off in n ig htmare fash ion when he broke his th igh in a hea t race crash a t a 500cc Na tional in Au g us t. Altho ug h he was q uickly back on his feet a nd did well in a preseason supercross even t, hi s leg, stamina and confidence ha ven 't been tested agains t all the best. That leaves a big questio n mark on Matiasevich 's season. H e's determined to put his inj ury beh ind him , and if he's going to move up he'll hav e to return to th e fo rm that gave him consisten tly good finishes in 1990. 6. Guy Cooper #5 8. Mike Fisher #14 Hometown: Santee, California he Fish , as the 25-year-old rider is som etimes referred to, surprised everyon e wh en h e rose from rela tive obscu rity and rode his factory KTM to six top-five finis hes in 1991, although he was never abl e to reach his goa l of sta nding on the podium. A seasoned vetera n, Fisher is a fast starter and is o ne of the strongest riders on th e circuit. Fisher is back with KT M for 1992 and will no do ubt pu t all h is effort into a tta in ing tha t goal of finish ing ' at least one main event on the podium. But he will have to overco me recurring sho u lder problem s from an inj ury suffered lat e last year and the turmoil of KTM 's fin ancial problems. He's got th e ab ility , and if he can overcome those potential problems he can climb a position or two in the standi ngs. T 6. Jeff Matiasevich #9 Hometown: La Habra Heights, California fter a stellar rookie seaso n in 1990 when he was in contention for the Camel Su pe rcross Champio n shi p, j eff "Ch icken " Matiasevich , 22, dr opped off th e pace slightly in 1991. His consistency was gone, prim ari ly due to cras hes, an d a foot injury in the middle of the season knock ed him back several p laces in the sta ndings and left him tied for sixth. H istory has proven that Matiasevich has the speed to win on any given night, bu t h istory has also shown that Ma tiasevich has a dark clo ud that follo ws h im - his stamina or lack thereof. More tha n once, Matiasevich has led a main event or was a frontrunner only to dr op back due to what A 22 Hometown: Stillwater, Oklahoma uy Cooper came close to winn ing hi s first-ever su percross twice last year. A crash in the rain cost h im victory in Charlotte, and a las t-lap colli sio n with Matiasevich robbed him in San jose. Coo per ha s a reputation for cras h ing, but is perh aps bette r kn ow n for hi s determ ination. You can always count o n Coo per to put a ll h is effort in to the race, and th at's what ten ds to put him on the gr ound. If Coo per backed off sligh tly a t times, he could do better. But that 's no t Cooper's style. H e kn ows wh at it takes to win, and with the 29-year-old's career win ding do wn , he'll be as determin ed as ever to get a supercross victo ry. Cooper could easily pu ll off that elu sive firs t win, but he won 't go an y higher in the final standings. G 5. Jeff Ward #6 Hometown: San Juan Capistrano, California ith pl ans to retire fro m fu ll-time compe titio n at th e end of the year , two- time Super cr oss Ch ampion j eff War d would like to go out a winner. He'd al so like to ad d an eig h th cha mpionship to hi s collectio n to break out of the tie wi th Rick j ohnson for the mo st career National titles. Las t year , he overcam e in juries early in the season to preserve an eigh t-year streak of winning at least one su percross per season with his victory in O kla homa City, and he finished in th e to p three on six o ther occasions. . But when Ward wasn 't near the front . of the pa ck, he seemed to lack the d rive to mak e a cha rge through the field. If Ward is to go ou t on top, he'll need a good sta rt to the season, as well as good starts in each ma in event. The crafty 30-year-old veteran can never be cou nted out at any race, but if he doesn't start the season quickly near W the top of the poin ts tab le, count him o ut of the title race. 4. M ikeKiedrowski #3 Hometown: Acton, California h e two -ti me 125cc Na tiona l Champ ion o nly fini shed ou t of the top seven once during the 1991 Camel Su percro ss Seri es. Hi s consistency also carr ied him to the 125cc National ti tle. Kiedrowski, 22, is still looking for h is first su percross win , and to do that he needs to im pro ve hi s starts. He consistently runs near .the leaders, but has yet to find the speed to reach the fron t. Moving up to the 250cc class in the Nationals should help him find that speed since he won 't have to switc h back and forth between testing a 125. He sho uld get his first supercross win in 1992 and will be a conte nder for the ti tle. Alt ho ug h the cro wn will elude him , he'll end up in the to p five. T 3. Jeff Stanton #2 Hometown: Sherwood, Michigan ast year, th e two- tim e Cam el Su percross Ch ampion was j ean Michel Bayle's main cha lle nger for the cro wn until he cras hed and sepa rated his sho u lder in Pontiac. Three weeks later he was back in actio n and fin ished in the top five, with one victory , in the six rema ini ng rounds. Som e peo p le h av e written th e dethroned cha mp off, becau se after he return ed to ac tion foll owin g h is injuries, which were 100% healed, he just wasn 't up to hi s usual form. His problem is tha t if he 's not in cont ention for a champ ions hip titl e, he loses incent ive and that extra drive needed to win , especially against com pe tition . like Bayle. Now that the slate was been wiped clean, Stanton will shoo t out of the gate breathing fire at th e series opener and will give his teammate and defending champ Bayle a run for hi s money. Having been stri pped of hi s titles (he also passed the 250cc Nation al Cham- ' pionship to Bayle), Stanton will be determined to get them back in 1992. But as far as the 1992Camel Supercross Series is concern ed, Stanton will be a contender down to the last race of the series, and we predict th at he 'll be dicing for the number o ne pl ate with Damon Bradsha w, not Bayle. L 2. Damon B radshaw #4 Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina T he o nly reason Damon Bradshaw , 19, wasn't in conte nt io n for last year's titl e was becau se he bea t h i mself at the begi nn ing of the year. H e stretched himself too far with offseason co mmitments and took to o much ad vice from to o many p eople whe n pr epa ri n g for th e seaso n. Alth ou gh h e fini sh ed third in three o f th e fir st fiv e eve n ts, he wa s m en tall y bea t and cou ld n' t keep up th e pressure o n th e lead er s. Alt ho ugh he wo n ro u nd six in Atl a nta , it wasn 't unt il he wo n hi s thi rd and fin a l ra ce of the season at ro u nd 13 in Dallas tha t he seem ed to ha ve fu ll y reg ained his co n fidence. Fr om th en o n h e fin is he d i n th e to p fo ur in all bu t o ne of the last five rounds . An encou n ter with a ha y bal e at th e fin al ro u n d in L os An gel es left h im wit h a six th -p lace fin ish . N o w th at Brad shaw h a s h ad ano ther yea r to mature, he kn ows whose adv ice to ta ke and what h e needs to do in o rde r to become ch a m p ion . Bradshaw has mechanic Brian Lunniss, who h as been behind many p ast cha m p io n s, to g u ide him. H e ha s th at yo u th fu l, coc ky attitude th at mak es him feel he's invincible and tha t he can beat anyo ne, and h e see m s to have ga ine d th e determination to be the o ne to do th e beating. H e' s aggressive an d is q u ick to bump bars with hi s op po ne nts . T h is will be th e yea r Damon Brad sh aw co mes o f age a n d do es what everyo ne h as ex pected him to do for th e past th ree yea rs. Bradshaw will be th e o ne wh o dethrones Ba yle a n d takes th e Camel Su pe rc ross Champ ion sh ip h om e to N orth Ca rol ina. 1. Jean·Michel B le ay #1 Hometown: Manosque, France ha t j ean -Mi chel Bayle d id in 1991 was amazing. H e won eig h t ro u nds o f th e IS-round Camel Supercross Seri es, th e most a n yo ne has ever won in a seas o n . H e won th e 250 and 500cc National Championships to becom e th e onl y rider to ever win three titles in one seaso n . And he did it all with seemingl y little effor t. Bad starts didn't deter Bayl e; in Arizo n a h e cha rged from last to win his fourth event of th e sea son. Wh en things weren' t goi n g hi s way, Bayle was co ntent to settle fo r a spo t o n the podium, and th er e were o n ly four times when he wasn't a part o f th e victory ce lebra tio n . Ba yle wa s o n a mission in 1991 to fulfill a life-l ong dream o f proving he wa s th e best riderin the world by co m in g to th e U.S. and beat ing th e A meri ca ns. N ow th a t h e ' s accomplished that, hi s next goa l is to go ro ad racin g. With the origina l dr eam fulfull ed , Ba yle ha s extinguished the £la m e tha t dro ve hi m toward hi s goal. H e's like ly to lose th e in sp ira tio n necessary to win th e ti tle , bu t none o f hi s speed. H e' s lik el y to be th inkin g more abo u t secu rin g a dea l wi th a road race tea m for '93 ra th er than winning an oth er MX ti tle . Ba yle wi ll win several more races bef ore he leaves mo tocro ss behind. H e'll be in co n ten tion for th e tit le, but he ' ll fa ll behi nd Bradshaw and Sta n ton a t the end o f th e season. eN W

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