Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

and jump across the inside of the comer; nearly landing on a hay bale that marked the edge of the course. By the seventh lap, LaRocco was already in seventh place, and he moved up two more positions over the next two laps, passing a fading Craig and Kehoe for fifth. Bradshaw was fourth, but he began to feel the pressure from LaRocco about midway through the race. As the two riders exited a turn before a set of triples, Bradshaw got a bad drive and chose to double the jumps instead of tripling them, and LaRocco sailed past "I was passing people real easy until I got to fourth," said LaRocco. "Then there was a big gap and I couldn't move up anymore." Cooper was slowly but surely working his way up, and sat in 12th place on the 11th lap when he suddenly upped the pace and began picking off one rider after another for the rest of the race. Between the two sets of triple jumps wa!' a long section of whoops that had been giving riders troubles all night, but Cooper began clearing the section in only two leaps. He would launch off the first hump, slam into a large whoop that was about halfway through, and rebound up and over the remaining whoops. Cooper's line over a jump immediately preceding the next triple was equally impressive. Most riders opted to brake over the jump in order to allow ample time for accelerating to the triple, but Cooper sailed off the jump and landed near the base of the take-off ramp, then gassed it up the face and cleared, the triple. The battle of the leaders was temporarily ignored, as the crowd roared its encouragement to Cooper. "I was barely clearing the triple, but I think my lines were helping (my charge) a lot," sajd Cooper. "They (the riders) could hear my engine when I was jumping beside them, and they could also hear the crowd yelling, and I think they got kind of scared." Cooper used the aerial maneuvers to pass a total of four riders in a span of six laps, at a time of the race when the pack was relatively spread out. At the head of the pack, McGrath began to encounter lapped traffic in the latter stages of the race, but he negotiated it without any problems and even cushioned his lead on Stanton. McGrath cruised unchallenged to the win, and styled over the finish-line jump. "I'm feeling higher than I ever have in my life," said an elated McGrath. "This is the ultimate dream, and it feels good to win in front of my hometown fans, I'm going to give it my best to _make it happen as many times as possible in the future, but who knows; It might be a while before I can do it again. I'm sure it will take a lot more time before I can do this every week." Stanton cruised in for second place, his best finish so far this season. "I just wasn't riding good enough; I'm not going to make any excuses," said the defending champ. "I thought I could win, but it didn't really surprise me when (McGrath) went by. I know he's been going fast in practice, and he's a good rider. I didn't try to think about whether or not he was nervous when he got in the lead - I just rode my own race. There's a lot more races to go, so I didn't want to push it too much and get hurt. I'm just going to take it week by week." Kiedrowski fmished third, a distance behind the front-runners, LaRocco was fourth, and Bradshaw crossed the finish Line in fifth place. "I rode tight all night, and couldn't pass. I guess I'd better just not comment," said Bradshaw, who won at Anaheim last year. Matiasevich had an uneventful race, riding almost the entire way in sixth position and finishing there for his best finish of the young season. Cooper was seventh, Craig was eighth, and Ward and Lamson rounded out the top 10. Emig finished a disappointing 11th. "I just rode around," said Emig. "I wasn't taking any chances. I couldn't believe how fast LaRocco and Cooper were going when they passed me. They were gone within a couple of turns." Kehoe faded to 12th and Swink could only move up as high as 11th. ''I'm riding good, but I just can't get the starts," said Swink. "I think if I got a good start I could run in the top three or win." 12Sce Heat race winners Phil Lawrence and The Brothers of Bremerton, Washingtonbacked Lance Smail were the odds-on favorites going into the IS-lap 12Scc Western Regional main event, but it was last week's winner Gaddis who pulled the holeshot off the start. Gaddis led for over two laps before Huffman passed him in an 5-tum section. "I wasn't riding well, and my arms pumped up," said Gaddis. "1 was nervous, and 1 was holding on too tight. 1 wasn't relaxed like last week." Lawrence had gated sixth, but he moved up to third early on, and the pack began to sort itself out. Huffman established a quick pace at the front, riding smoothly and pulling ahead of the pack slightly. "I got out front, and I felt pretty good," said Huffman. "I made one mistake, but 1 took a couple of deep breaths over the triples to settle back down." The top positions remained the same until the end of the fifth lap, when Lawrence passed Gaddis to take over second over the finish-line jump. Lawrence attempted to chase down his leading teammate, but Huffman already had a healthy lead. "I tried not to think about the guys behind me, but I knew Phil was back there," said Huffman. "There was this certain section of the track where I would watch him every lap, and he'd gain on me a little, but then I'd get it back on the next lap, so I wasn't too nervous." A good distance behind the top three, Tommy Clowers, who is sponsored by Escondido, California's North County Yamaha, rode at a steady pace, while further back in fifth was Kawasaki Team Green rider Craig Decker, who was competing in his first supercross. "I got kind of nervous, and my stomach started to cramp up during the race," said the Sinisalo/ AXO/ Renthal/Bill's Pipes/Enzo/VP-backed Decker. "I just tried to concentrate on my riding and stay smooth." Huffman stretched his lead to nearly 10 seconds, and began giving the thumbs-up signal to the crowd over the triples on the final lap, then pitched his bike sideways over the finish-line jump and looked back over his shoulder. Lawrence followed him home in the runner-up spot for the second-straight week. "It took me a while to get into second, and when I got there, Damon was gone," said Lawrence. "I decided to just cruise, since the championship is more important to me than winning a race. I feel like things are clicking, but I just need a good start. Damon was riding good. 1 accidentally hit him kind of hard during our heat race, and 1 felt kind of bad." Gaddis was third, and maintained his points lead in the series. "I just let the pressure get to me," said Gaddis. "Those guys were fast, and Mike Kiedrowski (3), shown here dicing with Michael Craig, finished a distant third. I just started to pump up. I liked the technical track, but it was kind of slippery in the turns." Clowers kept a steady pace for fourth place, and Decker turned in an impressive debut performance for fifth. Rounding out the the top 10 were Grayson Goodman, French 12Scc Champion Mickael Pichon, Mexican Champion Pedro Gonzalez, Team Green rider Ray Crumb and Smail. tN Results %SO HEAT 1: 1. Mike Kiedrowslci (Kaw); 2. Jeremy MtGrath (Hon); 3. Shaun Kalos (Yam); 4. Milce LaRocco (Kaw); S. Jelf Emig (Vam); 6. Stove La....on (Hon); 7. Jeromy Buehl (Yarn); 8. Cliff Palmer (KTM); 9. Keith Johnoon (KTM); 10. Larry Brooks (Vom); 11. Kohii Ohkowara (Vam); 12. Gordon Ward (Kaw); 13. Dag Boyexn (Yam); 14. Mats Ni]580n (Kaw); IS. ShigeJd Hmada (Kaw); 16. Takoyulci MiJ'auchi (Hon); 17. Ouis Voung (Suz); 18. Mark Easley (Vam); 19. Brian Carroll (Suz); 20, Gliedard Yann (Kaw). nme:9:1Ul 250 HEAT 2: I. Guy Cooper (Suz); 2. Brian Swink (Suz); 3. Jefl Stanton (Hon); 4. Michael Craig (Kaw); 5. Jeff Matiaoevich (Suz); 6. Larry Ward (Suz); 7, Erik Kehoe (Hon); 8. Damon Brachhaw (Yam); 9. jimmy Button (Suz); 10. Ray Sommo (Yam); 11. Butch Smith (Yam); 12. Steven Andrew (Kaw); 13. Tadakazu Ohtsuka (Hon); 14. KiY9Shi Saai (Hon); ]5. Mitsuo Fujishiro (Kaw); 16. Denny Stephenson (Suz); 17. Buddy Antunez (Hon); 18. Anthony Amaradio (Kaw); 19. Jason Higgs (Kaw); 20. Ryukhiro Taxahama (Hon). Time: 9:14.34 2SD SEMI I: 1. Ernig; 2. Larr15on; 3, Palmer; 4. Buehl; 5. Brooks; 6. Voung; 7, Johnson; 8, Hanada; 9. Nilsoon; 10. G. Ward; 11. Miyauchi (Hon); 12. Eaoley; 13. Carroll; 14. Ohkawara; 15. Boyesen; 16. Yann. Time: 6:49.04 250 SEMI 2: 1. Bradshaw; 2. Antunez; 3. Stephenson; 4. Kehoe; 5. Matiasevich; 6. Butlon; 7. Somma; 8. T:a-xahama; .9. Higg.~; 1;0. Ohtsuka; 11. L. Ward; 12. Smith; 13. Saal; 14. Fu,iohiro; 15. Andrew; 16. Amaradio. Time: 7:00.18 250 LeQ: 1. Young; 2. L. Ward; 3. Somma; 4. Button; 5. Ohkawara; 6. Taxahama; 7. Easley; 8. Higgs; 9. Miyauchi; 10. Ohtsuku; 11. Saai; 12. Hanada;-f3. 80yesen; 14. Nilsson; 15. Smith; 16. Amaradio; 17. Andrew; 18. C. Ward; 19. Carroll; 20. Fujishiro; 21. Johnson; 22. Yann. Time: 7:07.74 %SO MAIN: 1. Jemny MtGrath (Hon); 2. Jell Stanton (Hon); 3. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw); 4. Mike laRocco (Kaw); 5. Damon Bradshaw (Yam); 6. Jeff Matiasevich (5uz); 7. Guy Cooper (Suz); 8. Michael Craig (Kaw); 9. larry Word (Suz); 10. Steve Lamoon (Hon); 11. Jeff £mig (Vom); 12. Erik Kehoe (Hon); 13. Brian Swink (Suz); 14. om P.Lmer (KTM); IS. Jeromy Buehl (Yam)~ 16. Denny Stephenoon (Suz); 17. Shoun Kal'" (Vam); 18, Chris Voung (Suz); 19. Buddy Antunez (Hon); 20. Larry Brooica (Yam). Time: 22:32.05 250 CAMEL SUPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1, Domon Bradshaw (61/1 win); 2. Milce Kiedrowski (60); 3. Jeremy MtGrath (59/1 win); 4. (TIE) Milce LaRocco (1 win)/Jeff Stanton (58); 6. Guy Cooper (S1); 7. Michael Crai~ (Kaw); 6. Milce Metzger (Suz); 7. Joel AlbTecht (Yam); 8. Craig Canoy (Yam); 9. David Pingree (5uz); 10. Tommy Clowers (Yam); 11. Jason Krempin (Hon); 12 Cyril Pone (Hon); 13. Tony Graves (Vam); 14. Shane Eaposito (!

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