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/127676
< Cavity. Emig appeared to be struggling, , 'a s he was passed firs t by H enry a nd 'then by Dobb. Hughes was rid ing flaw lessly, and he p ulled a w ay from the National champ at the ra te of approximately two seconds a lap . Tea m Suz uki ' s Damon Huffman was recoverin g from a ba d start, and h e worked h is way by Emig be fo r e I na iling a bump after Gravity Cavity on lap 10, and looping out. "I had a good line going down in there, so I figured ': I'd jump a litt le farther coming out:' said the 125cc Western Regional Supercros s Champion . "I saw it (the bump) when I was in the air, and sa id, ' Oh, no. This is going to hurt: I hit it perfe c t, with m y susp ension all com"l ressed , and it ca ta p u lt ed my front p end into the air:' Huffman was slow to rejoin the race, and went off the track yet again while working his wa y forwa rd . The lap had spe lled disaster for Team Suzuki, as Ezra Lusk was forced to drop out with a blown shock. Dobb closed on a fad ing Henry, passing for second at the start of lap 12. The top four positions remained the sa me to the finish, with Hughes winning com,/ortably oyer teamma te Dob b, Henry and Emig. "I wanted to get ou t there an d hold a smooth pace," sai d Hug hes. " I like the track when it gets rough like this. I just tried to keep my lap times abo u t the same. " Hughes appa rently liked the taste of his first career moto win, and while the ot her rid er s we re s till restin g in their box vans, the Escondido, California, resident could be found preparing his start- (Top) Jeff Stanton (5) leads Mike laRocco (7) Into Gravity Cavity. laRocco won both 250cc motos . (Above) Despite this moto-two mishap, Brian Swink finished third overa ll In the 250cc class. Jeremy McGrath (2) crashed out of moto one. ing spot for moto two by himself. His efforts rewa rded him w ith a fourthplace gate, behind Emig, Suzuki privateer David Pingree an d Henry . When a big pileup occurred in turn two, Hughes advanced to second . Lusk injured his lower back in the pileup, and said, "Hughes took ou t Pingree, and I hit his bike and went down. I was getting back up when two guys hit me." Suzuki ' riders aga in seemed to be cursed, as Huffman was near last after clipping a rider and going down on lap one. "There were a couple of lines between me and my bike, and it took me a while to ge t over to it," said H uffman. Emig a nd H u g h es swapped the lead several tim es on laps two and three, with H ughes usi ng a nice move to d ou ble by Emig for good on one of the top s tra igh ts. Emig agai n appeared to be struggling, an d soo n fell prey to H enry a t th e bo ttom of the valley. Reynard was riding like a man possessed, disp atch in g Emig a t th e en d of la p fo ur. "I kind of felt like shit all da y long," said Emig. "I'd like to ap ologize to my fans for having a shitty day. We all have .them:' Still, the likab le Californian finished third overall. Henry made a charge an d closed the gap on H ughes, bu t aga in started fading and was passed by Reyn ard on the 10th go- around . Th ree laps la ter , Emig got around Henry as well. Hughes co n tinued his imp ressive ride, wi nning by ap p roxima tely 17 seconds over Reyn a r d , w ho h a d b ee n slowed by a flat rea r tire. "I wo n both motos and pulled away," sa id Hughes. "I didn't just squeak by - I won by a bit. I'm really looking forward to the rest of (Top) Jeff Emig (6) leads runner-up Robbie Reynard (33)in the second 125cc moto. Emlg was third overall. (Middle above) Steve Lamson walks away from the crash that cost him the 125cc series pionts lead. (Above) Mike Kiedrowski was probably wishing he had these handguards during practice, when an airborne rock broke his finger and ended his season. 15