Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

";:SAGameISupercrossS!ries R d1: C'Itrus B UE C O P R R SS': OU" ,A M owl (Above) Ezra Lusk (17) easily walked away with the win in the 125cc class. Jimmy Button (34) was a distant second, and crowd favorite Tim Ferry (28) placed th ird. (Below) Larry Ward, here chased by Jeff Stanton, was very Impressive at Orlando. He holeshot the main event and led for several laps. Only a crash prevented him from a top finish. Team Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski wa s also a surprise, but unfortunately not a good one. The four-time National MX Champion looked shaky during practice, and never d id d isplay the speed that won him two main events last year. He wa s haunted by poor starts all night, finishing fifth in his heat, third in h is sem i, a n d eighth in the ma in even t. " I' v e felt better," repli ed a g r im Kiedrowski, when asked if he was simply the victim of an off night. "I just had a lot of bad breaks. I got bad starts and got hung up with rid ers I shouldn't be with, which made it hard for me to get going. I hop e I'll do better in Houston." N ot eve ryo ne was re d-not or icecol d, however. Som e we re rel atively ~ neutral - Tea m Yamaha's Mik e Cra ig 0\ and Jeff Emig amon g them. rl "I had a hard time falling asleep last ni ght," sai d Crai g, who finish ed an uneventful sixth in his first race as a factory rider. "I wasn't nervou s, but I jus t d id n 't r id e li ke I sho uld . It ' s ha rd packed where I practice, and it's so ft and wet here. I think Houston will be a lot better for my sty le." "1 had trouble off the star t," said the seventh-place finis hing Emig. "Th a t's 8 kind of a bummer, but on Monday, I'll be out there practicing my starts for next week." In round one of the 125cc easte rn division title chase, Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk won at O rlando for the second straigh t year. This time, however, there was no ques tioning Lusk 's dominance, as he crossed the finish line with a margin of well over 20 seconds on his teammate, Jimm y Button. Riding in front of his home-state crowd, Team RRP's Tim Fe r ry turned in an inspired p erformance, winning his heat and completing the rostrum in the main event. Competing in only h is second su percros s, Kawasaki's Rob bie Reynard p ut on a com e- from-beh in d charge to fi ni sh fourth. 250CC The fi rst 250cc heat race provided some of th e best racing of the night, with Stan ton and Ward the two main co n te n ders . Ward led the fir st half before Stanton moved by and put on an unc haracteristic di sp lay of aerial onehanders and clickers. McGrath had an easier time of it in his heat, even taking the time over a long triple to show off his latest maneuver: in the air, McGrath pulls his right leg back, up by the rear fender, almost to the left side of the bike, and tu rns his body towards the crowd. McGrath and Guy Cooper first came up with that trick at a European supercross. "Skip (Norfolk, McGrath's mechanic) got kind of mad when I did that, so I couldn't do it in the main," said McGrath afterwards. "It's really not that hard." Emig easily won the first semi, and Jeff Matiasevich came out on top of semi number two. In the last chance qualifi er, Honda of Troy's Todd DeHo op led from star t to finish, while Jeromy Buehl got the be tter of a race- long sla m-da nce with Gene Na umec to secu re the final transfer to the main. . In the mai n, Ward na iled d own his second holes h o t of the ni ght, was passed brie fly by .McG r a tn, th en . regained the lead over the finis h-line jump . Henry, Sta n to n a n d Team Honda /1-800-CO LLECT's Steve Lamson were running third, fourt h and fifth, respectively, while LaRocco wa s m idpack and Kiedrowski nea r the back. On lap five, McGrath again moved by Ward for the lead. "I actu ally let him by," sa id Ward. "We had 15 laps left, and I knew he was faster than me. He's the guy to beat, so I figured I cou ld learn from him. Besides, it's a lot easier to follow than to lead." "I was surprised how good Ward wa s r idi ng," said McGrath. "He wa s fast, and he d idn 't look like he was riding over his head, either." Henry passed Ward over the finishline double, and Ward then found himself battling Stanton. The two swapped positions several times, in an aggressive di splay of passing th at insp ired th e quote of the night from race announcer Larry Naston. "Somebody had better tell Stanton and Ward it' s not Th anksgiving," scre amed Na ston at the 36,714 bewildered spect ators. "There ' s an awful lot of stuf fing out ther e!" The du el ended with Ward crash ing, which occurred when he and Stanton crossed lines in the air and mad e contact upon landin g. Ward looped out spectacularly, sending his bike flying into Stanton's back. "I'm not su re wha t happened after we touched," said Ward . "I landed right on my tail bone, which wa s alread y hurt, so tha t wa sn't th e greatest. My handlebar was bent straigh t up, but I rode around for points and finished 17th." Phil Lawrence, who was the victim of a poor start, dropped out of the race after a hard crash on lap eight. "I came up short over the triple, so I jumped off my bike while I was in the air," said the lanky Suzuki rider. "I can't believe I didn 't break my ankles, because I landed right on the face of the jump. Man, that hurt! " With Ward no longer a front runner, Honda/1-800-COLLECT ride rs held down the top four spots, with McGrath en joying a comfortable cushion on Henry, Stanton and Lams on. Lalcocco had other id eas, th ou gh, and he wa s clearly the fastest rider on the track as he shredded his way towards the front. LaRoc co zapped Lamson, Henry and Stanton on lap s 14, 15 and 16, respectively, and was faced with a six-second deficit to McGrath and four laps remaining. The Kawasak i rid er rapidl y narrowed the margin, but ran out of time and finished two seconds after McGrath. "That's a go od w ay to get things started," said McGrath. "I was kind of stiff, so I didn't ride the greatest, but I think I'll do better in Houston . Lakocco was catching me towa rds the end , and I couldn't go any faster ." "I knew what I had to do to beat him, and 1didn't do it, so that's why I'm a little disappointed in myself," said Lakocco. "I'm riding good, though. I was confident going in, but it always helps to see things working out on the track. I've just got to get a better start." "I made a few mistakes and started going backwards," said the third-placed Stanton. "I'm not super-happy with my finish, but I think things will get better, and consist ency is what's going to win the championship." Henry finished fourth, his best-ever result in the 250cc class (last year, Henry contested the final three rounds on a 250 after sewing up the eastern region 12Sec title). Lamson was fif th, wi th Craig, Emi g, Kiedrow sk i, Swin k and Te a m KTM' s Cliff Pa lmer ro und ing out the top 10. . 125CC Lusk easily controlled the first hea t race, and Ferry styled for the crowd on his way to the win in heat number two. Scott Sheak topped the LCQ for Team Boyesen/ Yamaha / Penske. In the main, Lusk blitzed to the lead and im mediately began to pull away . After a fou rt h-p lace ga te Button soo n

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