Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eSUPERCROSS AMA Camel Supercross Series: Round 8 e j eff Ward (6) led jeff Matiasevich (9), Jeff Stanton (2), Larry Ward (10) and the rest of the p ack to C ha rlo tte's first turn at th e start of the main even t. Defending Camel Su p ercross Champion J ean- Mich el Bayle (1) held off Sta nton 's attacks late in th e ra ce and scored h is first win of the year. 'B lestorms back at Charlotte ay By Henny Ray Ab rams CHARLOTTE. NC,MAR, 1 4 ef e n d i n g Cam el Super cros s , Champ ion j ean-M ich el Ba yle gave Hond a its seco nd co nsecutive win by top p ing tea m mat e J eff Sta nton in the Coors Li gh t Cha llenge befor e a sell out cro wd or 45,232 on a . ch illy night in Cha rlo tte Mem orial Stadium. Su~uki ' s L arry Ward was a d ista nt th ir d in the 20-la p race in front or D 6 Ka wasaki's M ik e Ki edro w sk i a n d Suzu ki 's Guy Coo per. It was Bayle's first Ca mel Supercros s win sin ce la st year 's series-fina le in . J u ne a t th e Lo s An geles Mem oria l Co liseum a nd, with it , he erased a n y doubt th at he is coasting th rough th e Su perc ro ss sea so n , ruH ill in g h is co n tract befor e begin ning h is road race career n ex t yea r. " It reels very 'good to wi n this race," said the Fre nc hma n , who was warm ly received by the cro wd. " 1 didn 't h ave a good start to th e season, but no w . I' m ha ppy." The season had begu n so poorly for H onda that a rumor bega n to circu la te th at th ey h ad been riding la st year's machi nes, a rumor tea m manager Dave Arnold was q ui ck to sq uelch . " It's a co m p letely new bike a nd it ta kes so me tim e to so rt out ," Arnold sa id . " It was a maj or model cha nge." Arnold sai d th e team mak es "small ch a nges week to wee k. O ne o r th e b ig ch a n ge s," thi s wee k, Arno ld said , " . . . was (Da mon ) Bradsh aw Ia lling in the firs t tu rn." In deed , it was n 't a good ni gh t tor North Caro li na's favorite so n. Arter win ning th e seco nd , a nd raster , o r th e two hea ts, Brad sh aw sta rte d badl y a n d ran in to teammate j eff Em ig , fa lling in th e first turn. H e rem o unted a n d began a cro wd-p leasin g cha rge th a t ca rr ied h im to six th p lace. " Ii's th e best I co u ld do ," th e 19year -old residen t o r n earby Mooresville sa id . After he Iell, Bradsh aw sa id h e wa s .. . .. thin k in g a bo u t g e tting points. I los t 10 points . . ." to Bayle, but h e sti ll lea ds th e Camel Supercross Seri es poi nt sta ndi ngs a t the halfwa y point or the 16-race season. Bradshaw , wit h rive wi ns . has 180 points, Ba yle (o ne win ) ha s 164, a n d Stanton , last week 's Day to na Supercross win ner . has 161. T he win netted Bayle $5000 from th e $30,000 250cc class pu rse wit h Stanton ea rn ing 3500 a nd Wa rd $2000 . DGY Raci ng's Jimmy Bu tton ended th e win n ing streak o r defending 125cc Eas tern Reg ion a l Champi on Bri a n Sw ink at rive. predi cti ng he' d do it just befor e the race, th en ha ckin g it u p co nvi nci ngly. T hi rd a t the end or the fir st of 15 la p s, Butto n ; using a cl ea ner lin e through a sa ndy sectio n , made hi s wa y to the front o n the fourth la p , whi le Suzuk i's ' Swi nk was busy ma king up for a bad sta rt . T he 19-year-ol d Swi n k moved into th ird o n th e 11th la p , but was too far behi nd runner-u p , an d teamma te Ezra L us k to cha llenge. Kaw a sak i T eam Green's Ti m Ferry was fourth with DGY Racing 's Cha d Pedersen fig ht ing o rr Peak /Pro Cir cu it 's Mi ke Bro wn for firth . "T ha t sa nd p it is rea lly trick y an d p u t m y tea m mate (Do ug H enry) on the groun d in th e h eat :' sa id th e I9-yearo ld Button o f Co rn ing, New York. " I go t it (the sa nd p it) perfectly, ro de m y own race, kept m y head down, and was th ere a t the end." . Button ,' who ea rned $2000 fro m th e $ 10,000 125cc p urse for the win, moved into th ird i n t h e 125cc Eas te rn Reg ional poi nt sta nd ings w ith th e win. With 79 p oi nts he trai ls Swink,' first wit h 120, a n d teammat e Henry, seco nd with 82. T h e tempera tu re dropped throughout the eveni ng, fa lling into the 30s by the time th e first 250cc heat go t underwa y ju st before 8:00 p .m . It lel l below 30 degr ees befor e th e rac ing was over. 250cc In the firs t o f two eig h t-lap heat races i n whi ch the top fo ur fi ni sh e rs a dva n ced to t h e mai n , Ka wa saki tea m mat es Jeff Ma tiasevich and j eff Ward too k cha rge at th e fro n t. Bayle cra shed on th e first la p a nd remounted in last p lace. The two got away from the p ack a nd ro de together to th e end , Ma tiasevich taki ng th e wi n over Ward by j ust over 2.5 seco nds. _ "T he track 's in prett y good conditio n : ' Mariasevi ch said. "There ar e some pretty good p laces to p ass . For the ma in event yo u ' ll ha ve to be rea l aggressive." Thi rd p la ce, a bou t rive seco nds beh in d Wa rd , went to Su zu ki 's G uy

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