Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

#6 Jeff Emig - Team Yamaha Highland, Cali fornia Riding a 12Sec bike on an outdoor track, one of the fastest riders in the world, but 't lip ear nearly as comfortable on a quarterIillle or n a stadium course. This will be his , ailOlUnthe prestigious 250cc class, and we exp ect him to imp rove h is 10th-place showing, but not b y much . Las t year, he was hampe r ed by a strange virus in the early part of the season, but was still able to register two impressive runner-up finish es. We would n't be surprised to see Jeff finish cons id erably highe r than our ninth-place prediction, but to do so he'll ha ve to cease his on-aga in, off-aga in performances, an d cons istently ach ieve the qu ickness he onl y hinted at last year . #12 Oiff Palmer - Team KTM Oklahoma City, Okl aho ma He' ll never be accused of hogging the limeli t, ut Cliff Palme r has proven that a mot ' c. . ilt p !1 ~q.. of the Orient can be competitive ercross clrcuit. Palm er has yet to make the ard hi s Austrian-b uilt KTM, but he was consistent eno ugh to place eighth in last year's poin t sta ndings. We've got him pegged for 10th in '94, but just as in Lamso n's case, that's more du e to stiff 'competition than anything else. Cliff claims to be very pleased wi th his new bike set-up, an d now has more access to factory parts. If he is able to maintain his focus on racing, we think this could be his year to make the top three in a ~ain event. #18 Phil La~rence Wild Team Suzuki II Cali Card Menifee, Phil"fornia be com pe ting in his first "Factory will .Wild #11 Larry Ward - Team SizzlerlNoleenl XtremelYamaha Floren ce, Sou th Carolina Card Despite competing as a p rivateer, Larry Ward finished a creditable 11th in last year's supercross series. For '94, the former factory Suz uki rider has picked up a ride with Noleen, and should be even faster . Ward is a consistent rider who is rarely sidelined by injuries, and he knows what it's like to win . If he adapts well to his new Yamaha ride, he could br eak into the top 10 in the series stand ings . full year in the 250cc class, and we exp ect him to feel righ t at home aboard the bigger bikes. The lank y rider competed in several eastern regi on 250cc rounds last year, finishing 17th ove rall in the series standi ng s. He came close to winning the 12Sec class' western d ivision last year, and is no t easily intimid ated . Lawrence will be even more effective if he wo rks on his training program, and like Swink, he wo uld benefit from more focused personal support from Suzuki 125 u - - - 1Q~;ti?~ #20 Damon Huffman - Team Suzuki Saugus, California We' re p icking " th e other Damon" as the d ethrone the po wer ful Pro Circu it-backed n the w es te rn d ivi sion. Jeremy McGra th the Ct'Q" for Team Peak in 1991 and '92, and Jirnm Gaddis , wo n for Team Sp litFire in '93 , but Damon Huffman stands a good chance of givin g the title to Suzu ki for the first tim e since Willie Surratt won in '87. Huffman got off to a slow start last year and eventua lly finished third in the point standings, but he won more main events than any of his competitors. A natural rider with a smooth, fluid sty le, Damon says he'd like to win all eight rounds in '94. He has the speed, but a perfect season req uires a fair amount of luck; we think he'll win the title with plenty of room to spare, bu t we doubt he'll w in eve ry race. #22 Ryan Hughes - Team SplitFirelHot WheelslKawasaki Escondido, California Each year Ryan Hugh es is touted as for the western division crown, but true poten tial is th warted by U\Juo r, a br ok en leg an d wound ed thumb were his impairments. Still, "Ryno" is a mentally strong rider who is not easily disco u raged by misfortune, and he is anxio us to prove his worth. For '94, Hu ghes has reques ted a switch from Team Kawasaki , wh ere 250ee machines are the priori ty, to the 12Sec orientated Team SplitFire squad, where he will be the number-one rider. With more support focus ed in his direction, Ryan 's chances for a longoverdue success story are probably as good as they'll ever be. ,.-- - - - -- --, #141 Craig Decker - Team Honda of Troy Corona, California With the H onda fac tory opting to ous e 12Sec team for stadium racing, ro~ns stepping up to the plate with r igmecker in the western di vision. Though he has contested a few super crosses, a broken leg brought an ab rupt end to his efforts last year. We're taking a bit of a chance by picking th e relatively ine xp erien ced 18-year-old to place third, but he's a strong rider with something to prove. Under th e guidance of veteran teammate Erik Kehoe, Craig should quickly adjust to th e in tense competition of supercross. - - - - - erhaps the only thing more d ifficult than predicting wha t will happen in the Camel Supercross Series, is trying to forecast the 12Sec "support" class. Each year, the tiddIer division is sw amped with a fresh batch of youn g talent, all eager to prove their skills. It can be difficul t keeping track of the unfamiliar names and face s, not to me ntion guessin g who among them will be the fastest. Nonetheless, here are our picks for the 125ee class. P E~;ti?~ #17 Ezra Lusk - Team Suzuki Bainbridge, Georgia Suzuki's p ractice of hiring fast 125cc riders could well this season. Not only have we picked Huffman to win est, bu t we've pegged Ezra Lusk as the top rider in the ea EZra won the opener in Orl ando last year, but m istakes held-him to thiid place at the end of the year . Still, he turned in an impressive top -five finis h at the final 250cc round of the yea r in Las Vegas, ac tually leading the ma in ev en t be fore crashing. Crashes ha ve been Lusk's downfall in the past, bu t his speed is unquestioned. Now that he 's got some exp erience, we expec t "Yogi" to ride wit h more control. #33 Robbie Reynard - Team Kawasak i Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Wh ile we 've chosen him as the runner-up, many pit pundits "are assuming that Robbie Reynard will man-handle the eas tern d i ision in ~t full season as a p ro. Reynard won the final round of the 25cc ational MX series in '93, and was nam ed AMA Rookie of th Year. 1o\t '16, Reyna rd is the mo st highly touted yo un g rider since Damon Bradshaw, but he's shown a tendency to try too hard. He' ll ha ve even more p ressure now that he's a facto ry pilot, but he shou ld quickly develop into a top-notch rider. We expect him to really come into his own after he's gotten a full year of experience under his belt, but success may come as early as this year if he can avo id crashin g. #51 Ch ad Pederson - Team Downers Gro ve Yamaha Fort Dodge, Iowa Chad Pederson was the only ride r to stay within eyesight.of Honda's Dou g Henry in last year's eastern d ivis ion battle. H ~on in Tampa an d finished as the runner-up despite sittin g out Daytona ., ewon't have Henry to con tend with in '94, tho ugh he WilLhave ,Reynard and Lusk to d eal wi th. Pederson wan ts to p rove he 's fast, in hopes that he'll get a factory ride like former DGY rid er Doug Henry did. At 22, Chad is a little old for the 12Sec division, but that also means he's more experienced . He'll be a threa t. - Hot James Dobb - Team W.ld # 30 Wheels/Kawasaki SplitFirel Corona, California Card Now in his second year racing in the States for the SplitFire team , James Dobb is eager to prove that Brits can win in stadiums. He sat ou t much of last season with a wrist injury, but returned in time to put in so me impressive rides in the 125cc Nationals, actually winning at Unadilla. Dobb's indoor inexperience will hurt him in supercross, but we expect him to do well on the National circuit. #56 Jeff CurryW·l! d Team TuflKawasaki II Sag Card We inaw, Michigantw een Jeff Curry, Da vey were s plit be Yezek an d Tim Ferry for our wild card pick on the east coast, but went wi th Cu rry by virtu e of his perfo rma nce las t year. In '93, Jeff finis hed fourth in the point standings d espit e m issing the firs t three rounds with a n inju ry. He ha d two top-three fin ishes, both comi ng in fron t of his home crowd at the Pontiac double-head er. Curry should increase his speed for '94, and will probably win at least one round. 19

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