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/127588
~M orDeROSS AMA National Championship 125/250(( MX Series: Round SlFinal round ~ Mike laRocco (5) won his heat race an d went on to score his first 250cc National w in. Doug Henry (16) handily topped the 125ccdivisi on, and reassumed the series po ints lead. LaRocco, Henry bum 'em up at Glen Helen By Chris Jonnum Photos by Kinney Jones SAN BERNARDINO, CA, AUG. I t was no surprise that a Kawasaki rider stood atop the 250cc class victory podium at the end of the hot and smoggy day at Glen Helen Cycle Park. Af ter all , th e green tea m ' s Mike Kied rowski had won all but one of the first seven rounds, and had clinched the tit le th e previous wee ke n d in Troy, Ohio. A little less expected, however, was the fact that the winning rider was not Kiedrowski, but instead his soft-spoken teammate Mike laRocco. LaRocco had fin ished secon d to Kiedrowski at the previous three rounds, but took over the reins when his cohort crashed hard in practice and was I 12 unable to co mpete. Kiedrowski was taken to the hospital for treatment of a concussion, a wrenched back and a lacerated tongu e. In his absence, La kocco easily won his heat rac e and th en the sing le-moto main event to earn his firstever overall victory in a 250cc National that for the first time featured a supercross-type format. "Finally!" said LaRo cco, w ho this season was competing in the 250cc d ivision for th e first tim e. "I ac tu ally fel t faster chasing Kiedrowski these last few w eeks, but it felt good to finally ge t one." Following LaRocco across the line was Honda factory rider Steve Lamso n, who led early on but faded when his brea th ing was eff ec ted by th e smog. Suz uki's Phil Lawrence was an impressive third , with Tuf Racing -bac ked priva teer John Dow d and Suzuki hero Guy Cooper completing the top five. Cooper, 31, was con testing his fina l Nation al of the year, as Su zuki has op te d not to move the Oklahoman to the 125cc class ' for th e fi nal four rou nds . Tho ugh Coo pe r has "retired," he will race several over seas supercrosses after the season, and hopes to compete in selec t Na tiona l MX rounds and off-road even ts next year. "I'm going to take four or five weeks off and move into my new house; this mig ht be my las t National this year, but you'll still see me around," said Cooper. laRocco's win gave him a grand total of 305 po ints, and secured second place in the fina l point standings. His point total was 34 less than Kied rowski's 339. Lamson finished th e se ries th ird with 281. Dowd was a respec table fourth and Cooper ended fifth. O f th e $15,000 250cc class purse, $2000 wen t to Lakocco, whi le Lamso n earned a $1200 share. The 125cc Na tional MX Series, which still has four rou nd s remaining, saw its thi rd lead er cha nge of th e year w hen Honda's Dou g Henry ea rned his second w in o f th e se ries. Th e 1993 125cc Eas tern Regiona l Supercross Champion ha d lost his points lead one week earlier to Yama ha's Jeff Emig, b ut Emi g, the defendi ng cha mp , suffered mechanical g remlins and fi nished four th. Separating the tw o were Suzuki riders Ezra Lusk and Damon Huffman, who