Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ SUPERCR S 1992predictions OS the mark set by all-time supercross win leader Rick Johnson, who had planned to retire at the end of the year but was forced to step out early du e to recurring problems with a wrist injury he suffered in 1989. Bayle will be one of the dominant riders once again in 1992 as he heads up the two-man assault by Team Honda. With teammate Stanton , Team Honda, which has won th e supercross title in eight of the past II years, appears to be the dominant force. Although Jeremy McGrath will be defending his 125cc Western Regional Supercross Championship, the Peak Antifreeze/ Pro Circuit Honda support rider will also compete in the 250cc class at six eastern rounds of the ser ies. His Peak teammate, J ero my Buehl , who competes in the l25cc Eastern Regional Series, will also contest the 250cc class at som e western rounds. Yamaha appears to have the best chance of breaking Honda's stra nglehold with 19-year -old Damon Bradshaw. Many people have expected Bradshaw to win a title since he burst on the scene three years ago, but injuries, crashes and inconsistency have kept the title o ut of the North Carolinian's reach. -Bu t now that Bradshaw has matured, he could very well lead Yamaha to its first supercross title since Mike Bell gave the company the 1980 champ ionsh ip. Backing up Bradshaw at Yamaha is veteran Doug Dubach, who won his first supercross at San Jose last year , and Jeff Ernig, th e runner-up in the 125cc Western Regio nal Supercr oss Series. Team Kawasaki will also provide a formidable challenge for the championship with four riders . Heading up the team is 30-year-old veteran Jeff Ward, who plans to retire at the end of the year. Teammate Jeff Matiasevich , who led much of the 1990 Camel Supercross Series and is a close friend of Ward's, appears to have sufficiently recov ered from a broken th igh to be a threat. Two-time 125cc National Champion Mike Kie drowski has moved up to the 250cc class full time, and Kawasaki added Mike LaRocco to their rost er in the off-season. T here will also be a two-man Suzuki support team , consisti ng of for mer Suzuki factory riders Larry Ward an d 1990 125cc Eastern Regional Su pe rcross Cha m p io n Denny Step henson. Mike Fisher and Keith J ohnso n will once again make up the KT M team, plus there there will be the priva teer teams such as Tuf Ra cing, Down ers Ratingthe riders II I By Nate Rauba and Kit Palmer ....... ~ e made the righ t pi ck last year when we predicted that J eanMich el Bayle woul d be th e 1991 Ca mel Supercross Champion. Can we do it aga in in our an nua l assessment of th e to p 20 finishers in las t year 's series? It's goi ng to be di fficult. Bayle is o nce again a favo rite of man y to cap ture his second tit le, bu t th is year we think he'll be chased hard by a number of riders, two of wh om, in particu lar , could very well deth ro ne the cham p . Read on an d fin d ou t who we th ink ha s the best chances at th e tit le, who will move u p or down in the stan din gs , an d wha t are ea ch co n te n der 's strongest an d wea kest points . Once aga in we'll make o ur predictions, starti ng wit h the three riders wh o tied for 18th in the 1991 fina l point standings and wor ki ng o ur way to the defending champ, Bayle. W 1992 AMA Camel Supercros s Schedule Rnd I Rnd 2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6 Rnd 7 Rnd8 Rnd9 Rnd 10 Rnd II Rnd 12 Rnd 13 Rndl4 Rnd 15 January II January 18 January 25 February I 'February 8 February 22 March 7 March 14 March 21 March 28 April 11-1 2 April 25 May 30 J une 6 J une 20 Orlando, Florida Houston, Texas Anaheim, California Seattle, Washington San Diego, California Atlanta, Georgia Daytona Beach, Florida Charlotte, North Carolina Indianapolis, Indiana Ta mpa, Florida Pontiac, Michigan Las Vegas, Nevada Irving, Texas San Jose, California Los Angeles, California Citrus Bowl Astrodome Anaheim Stadium Kingdome Jack Murphy Stadium Fulton County Stadium Daytona International Speedway Grady Cole Memorial Stadium Hoosierdome Ta mpa Stadium Silverdome Sam Boyd Silver Bowl Texas Stadium Spartan Stadium L.A. Memorial Coliseum 18. Rick Johnson #55 Hometown: Encinitas, California ick J ohnson, the winningest rider in supercross, was supposed to retire at th e end of th e '9 1 season. But com p lications with h is right wrist, wh ich was brok en in 1989 an d was further debi litated when he broke h is right hand a year later, forced the two-t ime Supercross Cham pio n to han g up his helmet and boots after five supercross ro unds were com p leted. R Team Honda TeamKTM Team Man ager - Dave Arnol d Team Manager - Selvaraj Narayan a 250cc class 250cc class Jean-Miche l Bayle Jeff Sta nton #1 #2 12 5cc class Western Re gional Jeremy McGrath Buddy Antunez #17 #22 #36 #54 Team Kawasaki Grove Racing (DG Y), North Co unt y Yamaha (NCY), T eam Peak , Noleen Racing, Rad 'N' Bad/Rip Rock Wavewear and o thers to watch o ut for , al th ough some of th ese teams are concen tra ting on the 125cc cla ss. Look for close action on the tra ck. . Wi th the lar ge amoun t of mo ney and personal pride o n the li ne, there 's bound to be a lo t o f exciteme n t ..'L.-....n .... h O l1 f the vear. #3 #6 #7 #9 125cc class Wes tern Regional Ryan Hugh es Tommy Clowers #68 #178 Ea s t e rn Regiona l Scott Shea k Timmy Ferry Jason Edwards 250cc class G uy Cooper Steve Lamson #5 #16 12 5cc class Ea s te rn Re giona l #15 #117 2 5 0c-c Su pPOrt team 250cc class Suzuki also has four riders shooting for the championship: Veteran Guy Cooper leads the official " factory" team where he will be joined by new Suzuki signee Steve Lamson at all events. Brian Swink, who is also new to the Suzuki team, will defend his 125cc Eastern Regional Championship but will venture into th e 250cc class when the ' series is on the West Coast. Team Man ager - Ray Tetherton Brian Swink Ezra Lusk T eam Manager - Roy Turner Mik e Kiedrowski J eff Ward Mik e La Rocco Jeff Matiasevich #14 #29 Team Suzuki Eastern Re gional Jeromy Buehl Mike Brown Mike Fisher Keith J ohnson #60 #77 #121 Larry War d Denny Stephenson #10 #11 Team Yamaha Team Man ager - Kei th McCarty 250cc class Damo n Bradshaw J eff Em ig Doug Dubac h #4 #8 #12 125cc class Western Regional T yson Voh land Dana Wiggins ~ #27 #135. Eastern Regional Doug He nry J immy Button #19 #39 19

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