Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Bs~~ro~~~~_m_~_ss_m_'~_:R_OO_~_5 ~_ e Frenchman Mickael Pichon topped the 12Sec class in his third-ever Camel Supercross. and Team Honda's Steve Lamson placed fourth. "The lap before, they gave me the flag, and I thought I saw white," said Craig. "1 felt like an idiot. Next time I 'won't pull off till someone guides me off the track." "I just wondered what the hell he (Craig) was doing," said Stanton. "I've done that before myself, and you just learn never to pull off until you see black and white." As it turned out, Craig was lucky the race wasn't any longer. "One side of a strut on my suspension's linkage system broke, and when I thought the race was over I was pulling off to tell my mechanic," said the 24year-old Craig, 'Tin lucky it held on to the fin ish." Swink's heat time was the fastest by five seconds (aided in no small part by Craig's pause before the last lap), so a win in the main would earn the Michigan resident an extra $5000. 250cc Semis 8 With three of the top factory riders Bradshaw, Kiedrowski and McGrath still not having transferred to the main event, the normally boring semis promised plenty of action. That promise was unfortunately not kept, however, as Bradshaw and McGrath romped to wins in their respective races, each of which transferred five riders to the main. Bradshaw was eager to better his heat-race performance in the first six-lap semi, and blasted his Brian Lunnisstuned Yamaha YZ250 into the lead off the start and easily won the race. Behind Bradshaw, Honda privateer Buddy Antunez and Tuf Racing Suzuki rider Mike Healey battled for second, just ahead of Kawasaki-mounted Aussie Peter Melton. The pack quickly began to spread out, as Bradshaw circulated the , track mistake-free and scored the win. Antunez finished a distant second and Healey held off a lap-four charge by Melton to nab third. Suzuki support rider Denny Stephenson finished fifth for the last transfer. "I've been having a bit of sickness lately, but I don't think it's reallyeffecting me," said Bradshaw, not wanting to give the competition a mental advantage. "I'll be in there in the main." In semi number two, McGrath gave a preview of the main event, leading the way from start to finish. Kiedrowski gated sixth, but sliced his way through a battle involving Team KTM's Cliff Palmer, Noleen teammates Brooks and Shaun Kalos. Two-time 125cc National MX Champion Kiedrowski eventually settled into second place midway through the race. McGrath was long gone, however, and scored a seemingly easy win. Kiedrowski was the runner-up ahead of Palmer, Kalos and Yamaha privateer Jeromy Buehl. Brooks slid out during lap three and moved on to the last chance qualifier. "It's'not the greatest to ride in the semi," admitted McGrath. "But there's a lot of lines on this track and I got a chance to look at them." 250ccLCQ Brooks grabbed the early lead in the six-lap last chance qualifier, which transferred the top two riders to the main. Kehoe, who had suffered a starting-straight fall in his semi, was a close second, but slipped sideways in a tum on the second lap and was nearly over- Mickael Pichon (112) and Jimmy Gaddis (69) battled early in the 125cc main event. taken by Honda-mounted Japanese rider Kiyoshi SaaL Kehoe again closed in on Brooks by doubling the two jumps before the finish, then made the pass for the lead two turns later. Once in front, Kehoe stayed there, though Brooks made a final-lap bid for the lead in the long whoop section. "I've been on the ground all night," said Kehoe. "I just wanted to be conservative and make the main. I knew Larry was riding good, but he made a mistake and I got by." "My knee is starting to feel better," said Brooks, who is recovering from surgery. 250ccMain When the pack of 20 riders exited the first turn in the night's 20-lap .feature race, McGrath's Skip Norfolk-tuned Honda CR250 was in the lead, closely pursued by Craig, Swink and Stanton. Bradshaw and Kiedrowski had lessthan-ste11ar starts and were running seventh and ninth, respectively. Kiedrowski immediately mounted a charge, blasting his Shane Nalley-tuned Kawasaki I

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