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/127654
/S P R SeriesS . Round 5: Tampa Stadium U E C O' .. R S :,~rt' $U~ross falls. "It took the pressure off me because you have to ride real defensivelyon a track like this. It gave me a chance to charge forward without them trying to block me or anything:' KTM's Palmer was also running near the front of the second group of riders, but his bike began to sputter badly with what appeared to be a fouled spark plug. With McGrath no longer a threat and the field thinning behind him, laRocco moved up to Kiedrowski's rear fender and tried pushing his teammate along. "I was hoping that Mike would get going because he was letting Craig get away," said LaRocco. "I felt that I could have given Craig a race if 1 could have gotten around Kiedrowski, but it's hard to race with a teammate ona track like this . The only way to pass is to force it. If 1 did something stupid and took us both out it wouldn't have looked good for the team - we all try to avoid tha t:' When the effects of his cold started to set in during the latter stages, laRocco's pressure on Kiedrowski started to wane. "I just wasn't able to give 110 % tonight," said a frustrated laRocco, the man man y had pegged to be the one to end McGrath's win streak. The Kawasaki rider was still recovering from a fairly serio us cold that kept him from training throughout the week. "I just didn't feel very comfo rt able out there, especially near the end:' laRocco added that he was glad that someone besides McGrath won, "but 1 wish it coul d have been me. I've had a tough time the last couple of weeks, so it's real import ant for me to win some races:' " I caught a couple of lappers around the halfway mark and it allowed Craig to so r t o f get away from me while LaRocco got right up on me," said Kiedrowski. "I almost went down a couple of times trying to pass those guys and that really made me tense. 1 started worrying too much about laRocco being behind me. Craig had the flow going all night, and he deserved to win:' "With about two laps to go 1 almost crashed in the tu m after the finish line and 1 said to myself, 'Co me on, don't d o something stupid now!'" sai d Craig. "I over-jumped it and landed in the pocke t at the bottom. That threw me up into the tum and I almost lost it . But I knew I was going to win - my pit board was just counting the laps d own. The last time through I raised my hand off the bars because I knew tha t we had won:' Compared to the last-lap tricks that McGrath usually performs on his way to victory, the one-handed wave that Craig did over the triples was rather tame. But after he crossed the finish line his celebration was much more dramatic than those of McGrath. Craig rode around the starting area in a slow circle before stepping off the side of his bike and looking up into the night sky. Both Stanton and Antunez came over to' congratulate the ecstatic winner, as did several members of the Yamaha camp. Then Craig had mechanic Brian Lunniss climb aboard for a slow victory lap. "I just can't believe it!" shouted Craig in the winner's circle. "The whole time I was out there 1 kept thinking, 'Man I can do it: This is the best team that I have ever worked with. Now I get a week off to celebrate this win a nd the who le (Top) Series points leader Jeremy McGrath battled back from a flfth-lap crash to finish fIfth.(LefI) The three Mikes: (left to right) LaRocco, Kiedrowski and Craig celebrate on the rostrum In Tampa StadIum. Yamaha tea m gets to go home hap p y. This win is for Brian and the rest of the team. We earned it!" "I'm really glad a guy like Mike won," said McGrath back in the pits . "I'd rather see Mike win now than someone like Kiedrowski. I know that Mike's not going to win every race, but Kiedrowski is the kind of guy who gets stronger as the season goes along. I wouldn't be too happy if he had won. " "Everyone blames a slow start on the season on something that has changed you r life, " explained the rejuvenated Kiedrowski, wh o appears to be his old self again after a poor start to this series. 'They always say, 'Oh, it's the money: or 'Oh, it's the attitude: or whatever. It's the same shit that drove (Damon) Bradshaw away. I had a couple of bad weekends of -ra cin g, that's it . When that happens maybe it's because we 're just thinking about something else or something else is happening around us. Now that I'm better, people are asking, 'Wha t did you do differently?' Sometimes we just have bad races and there' s no explanation." "I'm pr etty happy with fourth but I wish 1 could have gotten past Henry and Lamson earlier, because once I d id I s tar ted catching th e Kawasakis, " said Swink, w ho se fou rt h-p lace fin ish was the highest of the season for a 250cc class Suzuki rider this year. "If I could have started with Kiedr owski and laRocco I think it would 've been a good race for second." " I ' m rea lly happy for h im ." said Swink of Craig's win. "He's been riding good for a long time, but he just makes a lot of mistakes . Now he's not making those mistakes and it's pa ying off. I've alwa ys felt that I was as fast as him, so this helps me think that I can win one of these things, too. The bad luck seems to be over and things are starting to come around for me:' "I know 1 finished sixth again, but 1 don 't want to be a steady fifth and sixthplace rider: ' said Matiasevich. "Doing it on my own like this is really ha rd. If 1 could get a works bike under me agai n I'd be pr etty happy. It would make this job a little easier. My mechanic Ron Heben has been working his ass off; I've been working really har d . We' re n ot happy w ith sixth. I'm gaining more confidence in my bike and myself and 1 know I can get on the podium:' "I was kind of surprised that everyone faded as much as they d id ," said Hughes. "I tho ugh they wo uld all be a littl e stronger. 1 tried to ride my own race an d 1 came ou t seventh, even afte r falling once. Maybe if I hadn't gone d own 1 co u ld ' ve finished in the to p five." "I know 1 didn't get th ird (like a t Anaheim) but I'm really happy with the way 1 rode," said eighth-place finisher Larry Ward. "After going through the se mi and the LCQ and th en doing 20 laps of the main 1 feel good about my condition. It wasn't my best night but 1 hung in there and kept charging." Afte r two falls, Yamaha's Jeff Emig finished ninth for the second week in a row while Buddy Antunez completed the top 10. . 125cc The dominance o f Tea m Suzuki 's Lusk an d Button in the first two Easter Regional 12SecSupercross Series rounds m ad e them the ob v ious pre-r ace favori tesat Tampa . However, in the first heat race Tea m Kawasak i' s Reynard dominated from start to finish as Button fell on a long triple jump. "I'm finally over that flu that ha d me do wn for so lon g," said Reynard after. his win.