Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMOTOCROSS e AMAN ationalChampionship l25/25Occ M XSeries:Rounds III ,....., ,....., Ron Tichenor (23) led 125cc class overall winner Mike LaRocco (7) and the rest of the pack through Gainesville's high-speed first tum at the start of moto one, Stanton, LaRocco grab Gainesville gold By Donn Maeda GAINESVILLE, n , M I AR. on da 's j eff Stanton and Kaw asaki ' s Mike La Rocco e merged victorious at th e ope n in g rounds of th e AMA National Championship MX Seri es at Catorback Cycle Park. Sta n to n turned in co n sistent 2-1 mota fini sh es to top th e 250cc class, while La Ro cco wr apped up the 125cc class overa ll win with 1-2 performances. Stanton 's victory marked th e first of th e season for th e tw o-time 250cc National Champion a nd broke th e dom in ance of Yamaha' s teen age sensa tio n Damon Bradshaw. Bradshaw, wh o has won five stra igh t rounds o f th e Ca me l Supercross Seri es, won th e openi ng mota but was relegat ed to sixth overa ll by a cras h in th e seco nd mo ta . " It feels good 10 fin ally win a race," sa id Stanton . " It's been a fru strating year up until now. " . Seco nd overall in th e 250cc class went 10 Sta nton's teammate, defending 250cc N ati on al Ch ampi o n j ean Mich el Ba yle. The Fren chman survived a first mot a cras h 10 fin ish fifth , a nd led much of th e seco n d mot o before Sta nton muscled hi s way pas t. '" was happy to return to this track . ' won my first National here th ree years ago ," sa id Bayle. '" just didn't rid e as good tod a y, , lost co nce nt ra tio n and go t a lill ie bit ti red.': T eam Kaw a saki ' s 1991 125cc' Na tio na l Cha m p io n Mike Kied ro wski moved u p 10 th e 250cc cla ss a nd fini shed third overa ll in h is debut per form ance, via 3-4 mot o scor es. L a Rocco 's fourt h- career 125cc Nati o nal win marked th e seco nd tim e th is vear th a t the newes t member o f T eariJ Ka wa sak i has wo n a seri es ope ne r. The Ind ia na rider scor ed the H 6 ' win a t th e o pe n ing round of this yea r's Ca me l Supercross Seri es at Orlando in january. " No w, if , ca n j u st keep it up, I' ll be ok ay," said LaRocco . '" kn ew th at I'd be co m pe titive co m ing into th e race, so , guess I'm happy. , wanted to win both motos, th ough." Pr eventing L aRocco fro m swee p ing both motos wa s th e win ner o f last yea r's mudd y H ari gt o wn 125 c c Nation al , Doug H enry. The Downer's Grove Yamaha-backed r ider fo ugh t o ff repeated a ttac ks by LaRocco to win th e secon d moto , but a ninth in th e firs t rn oto dropped him 10 fourth o vera ll. '" felt really stro ng in the seco nd mot o , but' ro de a lit tle tight in mota one," sa id H enry, wh o ha ils fro m Co n nec ticu t. Team Suzu ki 's Guy Cooper p u t a pe rso na l traged y ou t of h is m ind a nd co llec ted seco nd overa ll laurels wi th tw o third -pl ace fin ishes. T hree days befor e the race, Cooper's parent s were hospitalized a fter sufferi ng extensi ve injuries in a car acc ident. " It was hard 10 co n centrate at tim es, a nd it showed," sa id Co oper. " Bu t ' was a ble to'dig down deep a nd ge t it go ing... Local favor it e Ro n n ie Ti cheno r ro u nded o u t th e 10 1' three ab oard hi s T u f Racin g-b acked Suzuki with 2-5 mo ta sco res. Sta n to n loo k $1600 of th e $15,000 250cc p ur se home to Michi ga n , whi le LaRocco received th e sa me a mo u nt from the $12,500 I25cc purse. P lea sa nt , warm weather gr eet ed th e 7480 spectators tha t lined the co urse, that wi nds its way in to , th ro u gh a nd o u t o f an aba ndoned quarry. 250cc National H ol esh ot artist Dou g D u b a c h blasted off th e line fastest aboard h is factory Yamaha in the first moto to lead Kaw asaki's j eff Ward, Noleen Racin g-backed Shaun Kalos and Bay le th ro ugh the first turn. '" h aven't been gelling th e starts th at I used to ," sa id Dubach. " It was ni ce 10 sta rt o ut front aga in ." On la p three, Ka la s bl asted past Ward a nd closed 10 th e rear fender of Dubach . Ward tipped over in an o ffca m ber turn a few seco nds lat er a nd dropped 10 an event ual sevent h -p lace fin ish . '" wa s rid in g a little tight a nd just lost m y balance," sa id Ward , a threetime Ga ines ville Na tiona l winner . " It was hard to ge t goi ng agai n a fter th a t." Bradsh a w go t o ff to a medi ocre sta rt a nd by the lO-minute mark of th e 30minu te p lus two -lap mot a h e had worked his way into fifth behind leader Dubach, Kal a s, Bayle a nd Kied rowski . " It was easy to pass th e slo wer guys, bu t as soon as , ca ugh t up to th e top few guys it was a lot harder because the tra ck wa s so o ne- l ine d ," sai d Bradsha w. Li ke Bradshaw , Stanto n a lso su ffered a so-so sta n but was set furth er ba ck wh en Kaw asaki's Mich ael Cr ai g la h ded on his rea r fender o n th e fir st lap. " I do n't know wha t happen ed , 'just found m yself on the grou n d," sa id Sta nton. '" j u st go t up a nd sta rted p lugging away." Dubach , meanwhi le, had opelied u p a seven-second advantage o n Kal a s, wh o began to s low with stomach cram ps. '" knew ' could run with th ose guys; I've beaten th em a ll before," said Ka las, who faded to sixth. "I felt strong unti l my stomach started to cra m p up, I think I al e too late." j ust after passing the ailing Kalas , Bayle lost control of his Honda and crashed back to fifth . " It was nothing big,' just fell over ," said Bayl e. " Bu t by th e time I got up, th e lead ers wer e lo n g gone. The race is long, , was waiting to mak e m y move, bu t I cra shed." After hi s opening lap fall , Stanton methodicall y pi cked o ff his co m pe titors but reall y began to co me 10 life near the halfway p oint wh en he closed o n Bradshaw 's tail. Stanton blast ed past hi s adversary 10 m ove into fourth an d th en h is momentum carried him p ast Kied row ski , Bayle a nd Dubach an d into th e lead . Not to be ou tdone, Brad sh aw turned up th e wi ck an d followed Stanton 's cha rge into secon d . Aft er sta lking S ta nton for a few laps, Brad sh aw forced h is way past th ree laps from th e finish . Brad shaw flew across th e finish line four seconds a hea d of Sta nton a nd Kiedrowski, who p assed Dubach on th e last lap. "T h e race went as well a s , p la n ned it 10, " said Bradsh a w. " O nce ' go t in to fifth , kn ew th at I'd hav e 20 more minutes to work m y way p ast. " Wh en as ked if his recent string o f su perc ross wins added to hi s co n fidence , Brad sh a w humbl y rep li ed, "Th is is a tot ally d ifferen t series, th ose win s'don 't mean a thing here." '" felt reall y smooth o u t there," said Kied ro wski . " T h e track wa s p ret ty good. bu t a lilli e on e-lined ." Sta n ton timed th e ga te best a t the

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