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/127528
eSUPERCROSS 1992 Camel Su ercrossSeries ~ Big hopes for the big buck s O"l O"l ,...., By Nate R au ba Photos by Ken Fau gh t and Henny R ay Abrams ow the year flies by when you 're racing! It seems o nly weeks have p a ssed si nce Jeff St anton stormed to victory in Orlando's Ci tru s Bow I to begin the 1991 Camel Supercross, bu t it's been a whole year: Now it' s 1992, and once again the opening ro und was held in the Citrus Bow I (see coverage of th e series opener elsewh ere in th is issue). A who le new season of racin g lies befor e the racers, who are filled wi th fresh hopes and optimism for the new year. T hey all start o n eq ual terms in their quest for the most lucrative motocross crown in th e world - th e Camel Supercross Champio nshi p . The 16ro und series provides racers wit h the op po rtunity to compete for big purses, lo ts of cont inge ncy mon ey, in front of big crowds and for worldwide med ia expos ure. T he Came l Supercross Series has perhaps become the mo st prestigious mot ocross series in the world. That point was streng thened wh en Frenchman J ean -Michel Bayle came to America in 1990 after winning the 125 and 250cc ยท World Ch ampi onsh ip s. Altho ugh he was on top of the Worl d Ch ampionsh ip s, he didn 't feel like the bes t rider in th e worl d u nt il h e captured th e 1991 Camel Supercross crown. This year, American 250cc G P ca m p a ig n ers Mi cky Dymond a nd World Cha mpion Trampas Parker, as well as I 25cc Wor ld Champio n Stefa n Ever ts of Belgiu m, will also com pete in early rounds to tune up for the seaso n. Wh at makes th e Camel Supercross Series so prestigious is the am ount of mo ney the ride rs can earn. There is more than $700,000 in purse money alone, wi th a min imum of $5000 going to the winner a t most event s. An additional $2.3 million in cont ingen cies is also up for grabs, with the series ' major sponsor, R.]. Reynolds Tobacco Co . Camel brand , co n tr ib u ti n g $200,000 of that into the series' point fun d. At the end of the series, the Camel Supercross Ch am p ion will walk away wi th $100,000 from that fund. H e'll also likely recieve a bonus from hi s em p loyer that will at least match that amo unt, plus bonuses from clothing and o ther con tingency spo nso rs. But that's not a ll. T he Coo rs Brewing Co. co nti n ues it s su p port o f su percross th rough the Coors Lig h t bran d and will be the titl e sponsor of all but the Daytona Supercross by H on da. Each event is actually called the Coors Li ght Ch all enge, and for the second yea r i n a ro w Coors will sponsor the Coors Li gh t Sil ver Bull et Showdown. At every ro und, excep t Daytona, there wi ll be a .$1000 bonus paid to the main event winner if he also won his heat race and recorded the fastest heat time in the process. If th e winner of the main didn 't win the fastest heat, the mon ey rolls over to th e next ro und. At th e fin al ro und, J un e 20 in the Los Angeles Mem orial Coliseu m, the award, pl us any balance carr ied over . fro m previous ro u nds. , will go to th e night's fastest heat race winner wh o has the highest fini sh in the ma in. Coo rs will also pay a .$25,000 bonus to the rider wh o accu mula tes the most fastest heat race wins th roughou t the season (Jeff Mat iasevich collected the H 18 award las t year). Each round fea tures two eig h t-lap heat races of 20 ride rs wh ere th e top four fin ishers tra nsfer di rectly to the mai n. Two lfi-ride r, sixlap semis give the top five riders to cross the fin ish line in each race a ticket to the mai n , an d th e top two fin ishers in the six-lap Last Ch ance Qualifier co mplete the 20-rider ma in even t lineup. There will also be a sup po rt ing 125cc class , whi ch often features some of the closest racing of the night. The class is split into two separa te series consisting of the Eastern and Western At most rounds of the Camel Supercross Series, th e riders will compete for a $45,000 purse. Some events have a larger purse. The following is a breakdown of a $45,000 purse. 250cc class - $30,000 I. $5000 2. $3500 3. $2000 4. $ 1750 5. $ 1500 6. $ 1280 7. .$11 60 8. $1140 9. $Il 20 10. $ 1100 II. $ 1090 12. $ 1080 13. $ 1070 14. $1060 15. $ 1050 16. $1040 17.$1030 18. $1020 19. $1010 20. $1000 250cc LCQ - $5000 3. $900 4. $600 5. $400 125cc class - $10,000 I. $2000 2. $1000 3. $750 4.$500 5. $350 Regional divi sions. These divi sions feat ur e the top up-and-comin g ProAm riders from each regi on and gi ves th em a chance to prepare for th e prem ier 250cc class. A 125cc class rider recieves advancement po int s based on his finish in the heats and ma in , and after he accumulates a speci fied number of points he must move up to the 250cc class. It 's common for many riders who will surpass the mark during the season to compete in the 250cc class at event s o ut of hi s region. There are eigh t 'Eastern Regional events, six Western Regional races a nd two co m bine d meetings . The AMA-sanctioned Camel Supercross Series makes 16 sto p s a t 15 different venues, with a traditi onal doubleheader even t taking place at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. The series has two rounds less th an the previous two years because the AMA granted the manufacturers' request for a shorter seaso n. One new venue, .Indianapolis' Hoosierdorne, has been ad ded . whi le event s in Arizona, New York-New J ersey, Oklahoma and New Engla nd wer e d ropped from th e schedule. Fans attendi ng each race sho uld be in for q ui te a sho w. The promoters will be loo king for ways to add to th e excitement of the rela tively short race action and wi ll likely add fireworks a nd sp eci al h alftime races to the program. Many event s will also like ly have a special tribute honoring Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward , who plans to retire from full -time competition at th e end of the year aft er 14 seasons of professiona l supercros s com petition . For th ose wh o can't attend in person, the supercross promoters are currently negotiating to have weekly , hour-long programs of the com pleted series aired o n cable network ESPN . Last year the series wa s sold in syn d ica tio n to independent network s a n d wasn't shown in many areas. And if o ur predictions hold tru e. th is year's series shou ld be more interesting to wat ch sin ce several ride rs are likely to be in conten tion for the cha mpionship . Last year , Bayle stole the sho w from the American s with his precise, fast riding style. T wo-ti me defending cha m p J eff Stanton kept th e titl e race interesting until he was injured near the halfway point of th e series, but from then on Bayle wrapped up th e tit le with littl e threat fr om hi s pursuers. Bayle also set a single-season supercross win record wh en he won the final ro un d in Los Angeles. Bayle's eigh t victories du rin g the season surpa ssed