Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127585
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MOTOCROSS
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way back. I jus t kep t trying the w hole
way, through."
Brooks was the las t rid er to fall victim
to Dowd ' s cha rge, and finished fifth
ahead of Cooper, Law ren ce and Keller.
"To be honest, I d idn't exp ect anyth ing h ere tod ay, " sa id Keller, qu it e
p lea sed with h is performances. " I' m a
little too heavy for 2505, but I rea lly hope
to get so me thing going for the 500 series.
lbat's when I'll rea lly go fast. "
Ma tiase vich and Lewis rounded out
the top 10.
125cc National
The dusty conditions wreaked hav oc
on the 125cc class, evidenced by the large
number of riders who could be seen pushing their seized machin es back to the pits.
Suzuki ' s Ezra Lu sk p e gg e d th e
holesh ot in the first moto and led Team
Green/Fox Racing's Scott She ak, Emig,
McGrath, Hond a of Troy' s Todd
Del-loop, Suzuki's Larry Ward and Dobb
through the first tum. Emig we n t d own
in the third tum and remounted 12th.
"I wa s jus t tr ying too h ard. I went
insi de of Sheak and slam med in to h im
and fell; it was a bad mo ve," said Emig.
"Then wh en I go t up I had so me terr ible
lines and couldn't ge t going."
Meanwhile, Lusk began to open an
im med iate lea d over Dobb, who sli the red th rou gh the field on the wacky
opening lap to nail down second. Sheak
held third, five seconds ahead of Henry,
Ward and McGrath.
"I felt good," said New Yorker Sheak.
"I' ve always d one pretty good at th is
track, and I'm getting more used to running up front in the Nationals."
6
125/250ccMX Series: Rounds 6/6
Unfortunat ely for Sheak, he wou ld
become the first victim of the dust as he
ground to a stop on lap seven.
"I was going high in the berms and
they're really thick," said a d isap pointed
Sheak. " I gues s m y a ir fil te r g o t
clogged."
Lusk appeared to have thin gs well in
hand, but on lap seven spun ou t in the
mechanics' tum and found himself second behind Dobb when he rem ounted.
''I'm not su re exac tly wha t h appened," said Lusk. "I jus t lost the front
end."
"I was beginning to pick up the pace
after I got comfortable with the course,"
said Dobb, "Bu t then Ezra made a big
m istake and saved me th e tr ouble of
catching him."
Once into the lead, Dobb wa s gone .
Lusk kept th e Englishma n h on est for
four laps before screeching to a halt with
a blown motor and handing second to
McGrath, who enjoyed a seve n-second
lead over Ward.
"I rod e real tight for the first half of
the race," sai d McGra th . "I was scared
because I couldn 't see the bumps in the
dust. But after I sta rted to ge t comfortable I went pret ty fast. I think I would've
pa ssed Ezra anyway."
Dobb greeted the checke red flag 12
seconds ahead of McGrath an d Ward,
while Emig w orked back up to fou rth
after his first-lap spill.
After running as h igh as fourth ,
Henry began to sl o w with a n ailing
motor a nd eve nt ua lly dropped ou t on
the 10th lap, another victim of the d ust.
"It started slowing down gradually,"
sa id Hen ry. "I knew tha t so mething was
goi ng wrong, and my heart sa nk when
the bike quit."
He nry's team Honda mechanic Pete
Stei nb rec he r with help from the other
crew m emb ers, changed motors in
Henry's machine between races in hopes
of salvaging so me points in the final.
McGrath blew the field away at the
start of the second moto and led Dobb,
Henry, Keh oe a nd Emi g th rough tu rn
one. Ernig hustled in the first few turns,
and as he flew ou t of Gra vity Ca vity,
held down second behind McGrath.
Togeth er, McGrath, Ernig, Henry and
Dobb qu ickly began to pull awa y from
the rest of the field , with McGrath and
Emig inc hi ng away from Henry and
Dobb in the early going.
The fi rs t 10 laps of th e race w e re
ra ther uneve ntfu l as th e four rid ers
freigh t-trained around the track, but the
sparks bega n to fly on lap 11. Emig suddenly turned up the wick and began to
hou nd McGrath for the lead, and at the
same time Henry came to life and closed
th e dis tance between h im self and the
two front -runners. Dobb seemed content
to sit fourth.
"I was basically waiting," said Emig .
"I knew that Jere my wo uld start to get
tired and I cou ld pass him in the end ."
Emig made his move on the ins ide of
a loamy left-hander and passed McGrath
with ease, but suddenly found himself
under attack from Henry, who followed
suit later tha t same lap.
"When I saw Jeff pass Jeremy, I knew
I had to ma ke my move," sai d Henry.
"Otherwise he would h a ve pulled
away."
Henry sha dowed Ernig on the next lap
an d performed a brilliant pass by jumping in to the ou tside of a sweeping lefthander whil e Emig rolled to the inside .
"I knew I could pa ss McGrath, but I
sure wasn't expecting 01' Henry to come
alon g," said Emig. "No excuses, he was
jus t haulin' ass."
Henry was never again challenged
and raced home the moto winner ahead
of Emig, who stayed close, and a d ista nt
McGra th, wh o appeared to give up once
his rivals motored past.
"This is probably o ne of m y leas t
favo rite tracks," sa id McGrath. "I jus t go t
tired. "
Dobb , thou gh, di dn't tire and rod e to
a s tea d y fou rth-place fi nis h, good
enoug h for the overall win.
"The othe r guys simp ly went faster
th an I d id in th e secon d race, " said
Dobb. "But I saw that Doug had passed
Jeff and I kn ew the ov erall wa s mine.
lbat's what counts."
0\
Results
125 M OTO 1: 1. Jam es Dobb ( Kaw) ; 2. Jerem y
McGrath (H en); 3. Larry Wan:! (Suz); 4. [eff Emig (Yam);
5. Brian Swi nk (5uz); 6. Eric Kehoe (Hon ); 7. Tim ft>rry
(Yam); 8. Jimm y Button (Suz); 9. Mike Trea dwell (Yam );
10. Doug Dubach (Ya m) ; 11. Jeff Dem ent (Yam); 12.
Da m on H uffm an (5uz); 13. Barry Carste n (5uz); 14.
Kev in Crine (Ho n); 15. Davey Yezek (Kaw); 16. Todd
Dehcop (Hen); 17. Iason Krem pin (Ho n); 18. Ray Cru mb
(Ka w); 19. Dam ian .Plott!' (Suz) ; 20. [ern es Mcll vain e
(Hon); 21. Carter Gurnee (Yam); 22. Ca rlo Coen (Kaw);
23. Scott Car te r (Su z); 24. Pedro Go nz.-.lez (Ka w); 25.
Nat han Ram sey (Suz ); 26. Ke n Cla rk (lion); 27. Eric
Reilly (Suz) ; 28. Timothy Beacha k (Kaw); 29. Jeff rey
Brownlee (Suz ); 30. Etta Lusk (Suz); 31. Brian Deeg an
(l(aw); 32. Doug Henry (Hon); 33. Dana WiJ;hin!\ (Ho n);
34. Wally Silva (Suz); 35. Scott Sheak (Kaw); 36. Ch ad
Lough (Suz ); 37. Keith Trocrolo (Kaw); 38. Josh Kellogg
(Kaw ); 39. Chad Pederson (Yam); 40. Dou g 51""" (Kawl .
Tim e 36 minu tes, 31 seconds.
125 MOTO 2: l.Hrnry; 2. Em ig; 3. McG ra lh; 4.
Dobb; 5. Kehoe; 6. Ferry ; 7. Trea dwell; 8. Hu ffm.ln; 9.
Ward; 10. Crine; 11. Swink; 12. Dement; 13. Ca rter; 14.
Deegan; IS. Ca,,;!on; 16. Gu."..; 17. Lough; 18 Ram.""!,,
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