Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

the break in my arm righ t away. I've broken it twice before but this time it looks pretty serious. The d octors here told me 1 could expect to be out until Christmas." . When the main event field departed the starting gate, Brown exploded from the middle inside with the holeshot and Pederson, Australian Cameron Taylor, Team Green's Jim Neese and Decker were in the early chase positions. Sheak, Yezek and Dowd were ne xt to follow while California's Tony Amaradio had the misfortune of getting knocked down in the first tum. After four lap s Brown was already s t r e tchin g his lead, using the same thrilling leaps of th e two trip le-ju mp sets that he u sed to leav e the pack behind on Saturday night. He had also sta r ted lappin g fo rei gn competitors, some of whom appeare d slightly overwhelmed b y th e " Big Show" tha t is American s u perc ross . Pe derson and Ne ese co n ti n ue d to ba ttle for second while Yezek , Decker, Ferry, Sheak and Dowd rod e in a line behind them. North Carolina's Neese fell and gave up his high position nea r the halfway mark. At the same time, Yezek made a play for second on the long straight to go past Pederson, but Decker triplejumped o ver both o f them. The Yezek/Ferry battle cost each of them another position when they touched in a comer and allowed Ferry to sweep past both at once. Ferry fell a lap later in the middle of a rutted-out jump combo and lost about 10 positions before getting back into the race. Dowd replaced him as the man most successfully climbing through the pack, and by the end of the 10th lap he was up to third place. Brown, however, was long gone and Decker was doing a good job of riding fast and consistently in his first-ever visit to the Silverdome. "The lappers were really bad today," said Brown after taking the checkered flag wi th room to spare. "They were taking the smooth lines and that made me go out into the rough places too many times. 1 didn't want to crash, but 1 had to get by those guys. I guess getting tha t good s ta r t was really important today." "We just don't have ruts like this in California," admitted Decker, who had to sit out the Saturda y night race because he 's designated as a We stern Regional 12Sec competitor. "I felt like 1 was getting used to it as the da y went on, but 1 had a bad start and d idn't get going until towards the end. Maybe if 1 had a little more time 1 m ight have caught Brown, but he had a big lead early." " I was ma ybe eighth or 10th on the start, but 1 just kept working my way through, trying not to get tangled with anyone," said Dowd, a native of Massachusetts. "Th e track had ruts everywhere, but the jumps were a little more rounded off than they were last night. It was all right for passing." "It was as tough as I expected," said Melton, the Australian. "The American supercross riders are the toughest in the world. Everyone is very competitive out there and you have to be ready to attack and be attacked." Wh en asked if he w o u ld like to ha ve see n the likes of McGrath and Mike laRocco in this race, Melton answered, "Sure, why not? The more racing we get and the more competition we get, the more it will help us improve . At leas t then, we wou ld all know where we stan d against the very best of the best. " 250CC ALL STAR CHALLENGE The Pan Pacific 12Scc race lost the (Right) Riders from eight nati ons bordering the Pacific Ocean co mpeted In the Pan Pacif ic Supercross. but It was the Americans who dominated. (Below righ t) As he had done the prev ious night In the 250cc Camel Supercross feature , Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe grabbed the holeshot In the 250cc All-Star main event; he went on to finish third_ spotlight to a fierce thr ee-way 250cc All. Star Challenge. Stephen son, Brooks, Kehoe and DeHoop all took turns leadin g th e 20-lap ma in e vent . Making numerous lead ch ang es, Stephenson and Brooks turned th e exciting multibike battle into a two- man duel. Stephenson and Team DGY's 'Pederson shared the holeshot in the first 250cc hea t, but in the third comer Stephenson end ed up in a heap wi th Honda p rivateer James Eckel. The two riders - along w ith the nea rb y D on Stephenson, Denny's mechanic - exchanged words as they were remounting at the back of the pack. A later excha nge took place in the pits before tempers cooled. As Stephenson tried in vain to recover to a qu alifying spot of fou rth place or better, Pederson rode away wi th th e win, follow ed by New Mexico's Travis Hodges, Florida p rivateer Gene Naumec and Hond a-mounted Rich Ta yl or. Stephenson w ould later m a ke the $20,000 main even t line-up by winning his semi. Heat two was led by supercross veterans Kehoe, Brooks and DeH oop, all of whom transferred d irectly to the ma in event. Kehoe ended up winning w ith room to spare over Brooks and Honda Of Troy teammate DeHoop. One surprise non-qualifier was Team Noleen/SizzIer's Kyle Lew is, who had the mi sfortune of be in g pa rt of ea rl y pile-ups in every round of qualifying. When the 250cc ma in event eru pted from the ga te down t h e long start stretch, Kehoe grabbed the holeshot over everyone, jus t as he did Saturday night, even though he was using a stock engine and a stock pipe. "I smashed my Pro Circuit pipe in a ru t yesterday and 1 didn't have another to rep lace it, so 1 had to go to the stock one," said Kehoe. "To be honest, 1 was as excited abou t hol eshotting ov er all the Yamahas as I was abou t beating the facto ry bikes." Brooks, Pennsylvan ia's Mike Jones and DeHoop filled out the chase positions as the riders began their 2Q-Iap feature race. Stephenson held fifth ahead of Honda privateer Rich Taylor. "I was just trying to pace myself at the beginning and keep an eye on everybody," said Stephenson. " I started about eighth or ninth and th en ju st started looking for lines and wa iting to see what happened. At one po int, Kehoe got around Brooks and looked like he was going to take off, so I really had to get going. " On the third lap, DeHoop rushed up to second and mad e a perfect outsi de-in move on Kehoe as they exited the las t comer into the startin g line area . The two Hondas swa p ped a little black and red paint in the next comer bu t neither seemed to be in an y real jeopardy of falling. A shor t time later Kehoe trie d to move in beside DeH oop going through a long, infield stretch of step-up jumps, and then tried a block pass in th e following right-hander. Howe ver, Keh oe lost his drive exiting the turn and paid the price for his volley by losing second place to a closely following Brooks. Within a few more laps, Brooks was able to get by DeHoop and take the lead for the first time. It seems that DeHoop was suffering from cra mpin g, and the p op u la r Michigan resident sta rted a slow fade tha t would land him back in fifth by the checkered flag. "To d d came out stro ng th os e firs t couple of lap s so 1 settled in behind him to watch h is lin es, " s ai d Kehoe of DeHoop. "He just sta rted making some mistakes and going backwards, pretty much the same thing that happened to me later!" Brooks' time in th e lead d idn't last long as Kehoe made an offensi ve move in fron t of the main gra ndsta nds th at brought a roar from the crowd. The veteran Honda rider cut in under Brooks in a banked righ t-ha nd er a nd then o u tjumped the Yamaha d own the ju mpfilled straight that led into the up-down bleacher sectio n. . "I was d oing great early in the race an d right up un til about five laps to go," said Kehoe. "But my arms got tense and 1 sort of died ou t there. 1 started making mistakes and 1 couldn' t sta y rela xed . I cased a jump, screwed up th roug h the whoops, and that was m y tu rn in g point." On the 13th lap Brooks use d the same up -down e xcu rs ion into the grandstands to pass Kehoe back before a lon g section of washboa r d whoops . Brooks ha d a better drive th rough th e ob s ta cles , and hi s move might h av e dropped Ke hoe' s co nfiden ce le ve l s li g h tly, as Stephenso n a lso went around the California n on the same lap. Tha t set the stage for the frantic laterace battle that saw Brooks and Stephenson jumping side by side on numerous occasions and banging in th e tu rns. It finall y came down to the very last corner, a 18O-degree switch-back at the end of some rolling whoops. Brooks was on the inside and appeared to have the race in hand, but Stephenson's frantic drive alo ng th e outside might ha ve spooked Brooks. He took too much momentum in to the tight in si d e berm and the Noleen Yamaha rider tipped o ver against the hay bal es, momentarily stopping himself and allowing Stephenson to cha rge past to the checkered flag. . "He had the inside, so 1 was going to tr y and sli ngs hot around o n the outsi de," sa id Stephenson of his original p la n . " Bu t then he just went too far inside trying to block me and 1 was able to just ride around him to the win." "I came into that last rut and 1 knew 1 had th e race won," sa id a frus trated Brooks. "I guess 1 just ove r-accelerated more th an 1 shoul d have and 1 tipped over in the hay bales. It was a good race and 1 sh ould've wo n it:' Brooks recovered in time to bea t Kehoe to the finish line . A co nsisten t Jones had m oved around DeHoop for fourth. The rest of -th e top 10 we re Ta yl or, double-cla ss - compet it or Peder so n, Pennsylvania' s Dag Boyesen, Kawasaki-mounted Doug Stone and Prin ceton Honda pilot James Eickel. 11'1 Pontiac Silverdome Auburn Hills, Michigan Results: April 10, 1994 (Round 1 of 7) 125 PAN PAOFlC sx CHAMPIONSH IP: I. Mike Brown (Han /USA); 2. Cra ig Decker (Han/USA); 3. john Dowd (y am/ USA); 4. Chad Pederson (Yam /USA); 5. Davey Yezek (Hon /USA); 6. Kev in Cr ine (Honl USA); 7. Scott Sheak (Yam/USA); 8. Cameron Tay lor (Ho n / Aus trali a); 9. Jim Neese (Kaw IUSA); 10. Peter Melton (Suzl Australia): 11. Tony Armaradio (Kaw / USA); 12. Tim Ferry (Han/USA); 13. jos hua Co ppins (Suz/New Zealand); 14. Yuichiro Kawashima (Honl japan); IS. Peter Aldridge (Suz / Ne w Zea la n d ); 16. Kenta Oklna (Hanllapan); 17. Tan Pie An (Yaml Ind on es ia); 18 . Siam Tiancharoenpal (Hon / Thailand); 19. Owl Sugihartc (Yam / Ind onesia); 20. Chanacha i Suktauee (Kaw / Th a ila nd ); 21. Pratop Bhagwat (Suz/ lnd ia); 22. Shyam Kothari (Suz/lndia). Tune: 16:31.03. _ 250 ALL STAR CHA LLEN G E: I. Denny Stephenson (Suz); 2. Larry Brooks (Yam); 3. Erik Kehoe (Han); 4. Mike JON>S (Suz); 5. Todd DeHoo p (Ha n); 6. Rich Tay lor (Ho n); 7. Ch ad Ped erso n (Yam); 8. Oag 80yese n (Yam); 9. Doug Stone (Kaw); 10. James Ekkel (Ho n) ; 11. Travis Hodges (Kaw); 12. Mark Mor ri s (Yam); 13. Doug DeHaan (5=); 14. Axel Holvoet (Yam); IS. Mark Morris (Yam); 16. Gen e Naum ec (Yam); 17. Dan IaRnette (Ka w) ; 18. Gaylon Dickson (Yam); 19. Mike Karin (Kaw) ; 20. Mike Tread well (Hon) . Time: 21:37.87. . -l-o ~ 19

• Cover