Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

start of mota two wit h Ba yle, Kal a s a nd Bradsha w sha do wi ng him as th e pack exited the first turn . Ba yle took control of the point position on la p th ree, whi le Bradshaw forced hi s way past Kala s o ne lap la ter. O nce int o first, Bayle p ulled a wa y wh ile Stanton enjoyed a com fortabl e margin over Bradshaw, who had passed Kal a s. Ward also motored past Ka los and assu med fourth , but sudd enl y foun d himself in third when Bradshaw fell in th e same turn that clai med Ward in m oto on e. "T he fro m end j us t slid ou t a nd the bike tipped down th e drop-o ff," said a di sappo int ed Bradsha w'. " It wo uld n't hav e been that bad, bu t whe n I got up, the throttle body was twisted a nd stu ck wid e open." After s to p ping in th e mech an ic's area to have his throttle fixed , Bradshaw mou nted a fur io us cha rge bu t started getting stomach pa ins a few laps la ter a nd dropped off the pace, Meanwhi le, Stanton had steadily closed th e ga p on Bayle a nd cha llenged him for the lead , Sta nton mo tor ed past wi th fo ur la ps to go , but Bayle struck back on th e next la p . Stanton p ut Bayle aw a y for good a few tu rn s la ter, a nd ope ned up a fo ur -seco nd lead that he would keep unt il th e finis h, '" just tried to ride co ns isten t a nd steadv," said Stanton. '" rod e hard the whol~ .race a nd did n 't ge t tired. That was the d ifference." '" go t tired at th e end of th e race," sa id Bay le. " When ' go t tir ed , I mad e littl e mi stakes tha t slowed me.down." Ward rode a co nsi stent, steady pace to finish th ird a nd fo urth overa ll, a lth ough he did have a few clos e ca lls. '" came up sho rt on a doub le jump a nd to re m y toena il off," said Ward , who has a n no u nce d he's retiring from MX com pe tition at the end of the year. '" th ou gh t that sin ce thi s was my last seaso n, 1 was going to be safe and not get hurt . Boy, for tryi ng to not get hu rt, I'm sure getti ng beat u p." Kiedro wki's fo urth -pl ace ri de was rat her u nevent ful , as he crossed ' the finis h li n e we ll a h ead o f No lee n Racin g 's Larry Broo ks a nd Cra ig. '" start ed to ca tch Wa rdy to wards th e end, but he seemed to ge t a seco nd wind and pu lled ba ck a way," said Kiedrowski . ''I'm happy with th ird o vera ll , and 1 expect to get stro nge r as the seaso n goes on. " Du bac h suffered a terr ibl e start in moto two and co u ld only muster a seven th -p lace finish, bu t rounded o u t th e top five overa ll. I25cc Nati o nal Former factory Suzu ki rider Ro n T iche nor grabbe d th e holesho t in the openi ng l25cc mo to a hea d o f 1990 125cc cha m p Cooper, LaRocco , Peak Antifreeze/ Pro Circu it H onda' s Mik e Bro wn a nd th e rest o f th e fie ld. Tich enor proved he's quite familiar with his ho me-sta te track as he rep ea ted ly th warted th e passing a tte mp ts of Cooper a nd LaRocco, wh o eac h too k tu rns in the ru n ne r-u p positio n during th e ea rly part of th e 30-m in u te plus two- lap moto, .Brown ra n fou rt h for nearl y half th e race befor e dropping back to seventh a t the mo re 's end. " I' ve raced here qui te a bit a nd ' felt good, but m y side sta rted to cramp u p a nd ' had to slow down, " said Brow n. '" thin k I'll wear a kidney belt next mota." Find ing th eir way past Brown were T ea m Suzu ki 's ' Ezra Lusk, Brown 's Pea k teammate J erem y McGrath , and Yamaha 's Jeff Emig. U p fro nt, Cooper fin ally fou nd a way arou nd T ichenor o n la p seven a nd bega n to pull away. La Rocco also forced h is way past a few laps lat er a nd bega n to reel Cooper in. ,.......; ,.......; J eff Stanton (2) charged a head of jean-Michel Bayle (I) and the rest of the 250cc pack at the start of the second moto. The two riders en gaged in a do g figh t tha t saw rep eat ed lead cha nges and ca rr ied them a way fro m Ti chen or. But Cooper 's luck ran out with two laps to go when he fell in a turn. '" rode a lot bett er whe n 1 had someone to chase; when I wou ld get ou t fro nt, I wo uld lo se m y co ncen tration ," sa id Cooper. '" was pro tecting my in side line a nd ca ug h t a rut fu n ny. I think I twea ked m y sho ulder a bit, but I' ll live." Coo per 's spill wa s a ll La Rocco needed to notch the fir st moto wi n, while Tiche nor sn uck by Cooper for seco nd . Cooper regro uped to salvage third , a lt hough Georgi an Lusk closed the gap o n the fi na l la p. " T he track was fast a nd a little bit d us ty, but I guess I sho u ld n ' t co m p lai n, since I wo n," said LaRocco. " As soo n as I sta rted thi rd, I kn ew ' had a good chance a t winning. " . '" couldn't ask for mor e, I got a gr eat hol esh o t and rod e well ," sa id T ich enor. '" just made a co u p le o f stu p id mi stake s tha t go t' me passed. Fortun at el y, Gu y mad e o n e to o , th ough. " '" was su rp rised to ca tch G uy a t th e end ," sa id Lu sk, wh o had his hands fu ll with a hard -ch ar g in g McGra th . " I was so bu sy trying to hol d o ff McG ra th that ', didn 't not ice it." '" go t a crappy start, but I got go ing goo d ," said a co nfident McGrath . '" gu arantee by m idseason I'll be mu ch more competitive o utdoor s." Anothe r Team Peak H onda rider , Buddy Ant un ez, grabbed th e second mo to hol esh o t. Su zuki 's Larry .Wa rd. Dou g Henry, Montgomeryville Suzuki's Barry Carsten , Lusk a nd th e res t o f th e pac k gave c ha se . Co ope r, La Rocco and Tichenor suff ered m id pack starts and wer e forced to figh t th eir way towards the fron t, Ant u nez led the Iieldfo r two laps before Ward stormed past. Once out front, War d opene d up a seem ingly in surmo unta ble lead . Antunez fo ugh t off Henr y's advances for six laps before he dr o p ped off the pace a nd fini shed 10th. Dou g H enry (19) held off LaRocco's late-race charges to win the secondlzscc moto. Wh en H en ry mo ved into seco nd. Ward enjo yed a IS-seco nd lead , bu t withi n fou r laps it was reduced to zero. '" cras he d in my quali fier a nd hurt my sho ulder ," said Wa rd, who slowed drastica lly an d finished 29th . '" started to ha ve muscle spasms in my shoulder a nd 1 co uld n 't ho ld on. " Cooper. La Rocco a nd Ti che nor worked their way throug h th e field a nd joined th e front-runners, when su dden ly Co oper dropped four positio ns and loo ked to be o u t of co n ten tio n . . " I was sla m m ing through a high- spe ed sweeper an d m y foo tpegs got hung u p ," expla ined Cooper. " Both my feet (lew o ff the pegs and over my head and I a lmost lost it. " La Roc co was happy to pass the outo f-co ntro l Cooper, and he quick ly bega n to reel in H en ry. Wi th Suzuki's Bria n Sw ink, T ichen or an d McGra th p ushi ng h im, La Ro cco began to pressure H enry. Th e tw o rid e rs engaged ,in a kn ock-down, drag-o u t. batt le that carried th em awa v fro m th e field in th e closing la ps, bu t La Rocco co u ld never find th e ri ght line to pass. 7

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