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Pichon only got to second late in the second race after Decker had provided the
ma in opposition for mos t of the race.
The 125s were out-powered from the
start in the Superfinais, as Hughes failed
to win the class each day. Pichon battled
25D-mounted Bolley to finish sixth overall on Friday.
Ka wasak i's teen-sensation Robbie
Re ynard h ad looked very u n hap py
throughout Friday, as his borrowed bike
continually fa iled to pick u p pow er
cleanly out of the tu rns, but he fina lly
scored a significant - if lucky - win in
Saturday' s LCQ after falls plagued
Tragter, Vialle and Gaddis.
A wonderful start in the Superfinal
saw Reynard third on lap one and he
was still holding fifth overall a few laps
from the end until his right shoulder
popped ou t in a fall. Hughes had been
the only other 125cc rider to start well,
and he had already gone do wn hard on
the triple, so Vialie was left to win the
class behin d seven 250s afte r a last corner block pass on Pichon.
Sunday afternoon was turnaround
day for the p reviously unbeaten
McGrath and Hughes.
Hu ghes started bad ly in the opening
race, then fell after reaching fourth and
ulti mately finished sixth as Pichon finally took a wi n fr om Decker. Hughes
bounced back to run away with the second qu alifier, whi le Pichon was strolling
to the overa ll class win as he ran second,
until a simple fall took him down three
la ps fro m the end. A grateful Decker
could not dislod ge Eric Kehoe from second, but th ird w as enough to lead
Hughes and Pichon by a point.
McGrath gated we ll fro m the unfavored ou tside line in his first heat, but
was treated to the same tacti cs he had
inflicted on Bolley the previous evening
as rugged Frenchman Jerome Belval
pushed him into the bales.
McGrath em erged fourth from the
turn, but Stanton went under him in
traffic. A lap later, McGrath unsuccessfully tried the same move, going down
in the process and remounting 10th.
This was proving to be the best race
of t he weekend, as 100 yards la te r
McGra th was eighth while the obs tructive Belval took challenger Everts d own,
ra ther than letting him past.
Lap three saw more drama as Cooper
and Cliff Palmer tangled in the whoops
and neither Bolley nor McGrath could
avo id them . Sixth place was the best that
was left for the previously unbeaten
McGrath, but Stanton still didn't w in.
Craig had head ed .the man from
Michigan once already on Saturday, and
showed fine form to notch a win aboard
his factory Yamaha.
McGra th made no mista kes in his
second ride, pass ing Craig earl y on. The
Yamaha ·tea mste r looked good for the
overall win as h e could even have
afforded the luxury of being passed by
Stanton, but a simple fall dropped him
down field and he did not race again.
The US contingent was looking fairly
battered by now. In addition to Craig,
Antunez and Reynard, Cooper had
wrenched his r ight sho ulder when he
was thrown off in th e tunnel and his
Suzuki la nd ed on top of h im . Matiasevich was nursing his left ankle after
catch in g it u n d er the footres t, a n d
Sund ay pra ctice had been stopped when
Chad Pederson crashed in the tunnel.
St a n ton h ad w on t he 250cc class
ov erall on Sunday, bu t a race win still
eluded him as 16 riders lined up for the
final 15-lapper.
Stanton gated second, with McGrath
in front of him. Stanton was not to be
denied , however . During lap two
through the series of jumps by the finish, Stanton lined up the leader a nd
rod e McGrath hig h into the bales in the
(Above) Jeff Matiasvich (21), Larry
Ward (9), Jeff Stanton (5), McGrath (1)
and Ste fan Everts (11) blast off the line.
(Rig ht) Former Supercross Champion
Jeff Stanton was the only rider to
de feat McGrath , doing so on the final
da y. (Below right) American rookie
Craig Decker raced to consistent
finishes in the 125cc class all weekend.
Decker wo n on day th ree.
tum at the end. McGrath tried to retaliate on the next lap and put in another
cha rge after 10 laps, but all to no ava il.
Stanton had his win, and it had come
wi th a pass - showing tha t he will once
again be a candidate for the blue and
yellow plate in '94.
Ward was a fairl y close third a nd
Albertyn finally stayed on his bike to
register a fourth. Hughes led the 125s
for almost all the race following an early
fall by Decker.
cv
Results
FRID AY
2SO: 1. Jeremy McGrath (Hon) 1·1 ; 2. Jeff Stanton
(Hon) 2-2; 3. Larry Ward (Yam) 3-3; 4. Mike Cra ig (Yam)
1-5 ; 5. Frederic Belle y (Yam) 5-7; 6. Jeff Matiasevich
(Suz ) 4-11; 7. Guy Coo pe r (Suz) /H;; 8. Yaon Guoda rd
(Kaw) 6-9; 9. Larry Brooks (Yam) ~; 10. Ste fan Even.
(Suz) 15-4; 11. Ya nnig Kervella (Kaw) 1()'12; 12. O ifl
Pa lmer (KTM) 14-10; 13. Christian Cha umard (Hu s) 12·
13; 14. G reg AIbertyn (Hon) 11-15; IS. Da rnel Obelisco
(Hon) 13-14.
125: I. Rya n H ugh es (Kaw) 1-1; 2. Mika el Pich on
(Hon) 4-2; 3. Craig Decker (Han) J.4; 4. Frederic Vialle
(!