Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Defending Berey Champion Jeremy McGrath fell vIctim to a faulty clutch on the final night of racing. (Righ1) Team Honda 's Doug Henry scored his first 250cc Supercross win on Saturday nlghL (Below) Jimmy Button was Impressive, but crashed out on the final nlghL a pl anned 18, he stormed pas t theleader . McGra th in th e whoops. McG rath tried to re taliate with the same move a la p later, b ut momentarily lost second as he struggled for d rive on the slippery inside line at the end. It was ano ther th r ee la ps b ef ore La Rocco co uld m a ke seco nd h is o w n after his firs t attem p t to ma ke the move past McGrath through the w hoops backfired . It w as still anyone 's race between the tri o w ith eight laps remainin g, as Butto n, who had dropped only eigh t se conds on them in 10 la ps, crashed hard in the combina tion and the red flag w ent o u t during lap 12. It was an unsatisfa ctory conclusion the result w ould stand as more than half th e envisaged distance had been run'. Button kept his fourth, as FIM rules d eclare th e result on the lap befor e th e race is stopped . Huffman again had to come from last after a finish-jump cras h on the opening la p, the same ob stacle took Mike Craig o u t o f fifth after six laps . Block er Demaria limped away from the w hoop s. SUNDAY Button p racticed the n ext d ay, but d id not race, while Craig crashed again early in the p rogram a nd Everts a lso failed to appear, having hurt a knee when he hit the tunnel wall while running i n a hopeless position in the repeeharge the previous day. Four Frenchmen were the only opposi tion to the U.S.-based riders in the last . race of the three-day festival and three of them - Belley, Vialle and Demaria all crashed down together at the start. Ward needed less than a lap to move past fast-sta rter Jimmy Gaddis at the front, b u t McGrath was right there and as the race entered its second half, the series leader moved ahead at the end o f the whoops . Four laps later, McGrath suddenly - s lo w e d w ith cl u tc h problems which -w o u ld e v entually push h im back to 12th, and Ward was ba ck in command. La Rocco had spent most of the race battling H enry, but in the final stages ' s h o w ed h is s tr e n g th , s to r m in g past Ward to win by an incredible 14 seconds in the only feature race to go the full distance all weekend. Even the sixth-placed H uffm an, again from nearly last, was a lap down at the finish. LaRocco had no t 'se t th e fas tes t la p, he was one of five rid ers in the 44-secand bracket. The en ti re field m anaged s u b -48-se co n d lap t imes, bu t onl y LaRocco could maintain the pace for the fu ll d istance. And n e w to Tokyo for the fin a l ro u n d o f the world series - with the th ree current U.S. National champio ns separated by just eigh t points! ~ Berey Stadium Paris, France Results: November 11-13 OIl. : 1. Mike La Rocco ( Ka w ) 2·2 · 1; 2. Jeremy McGrath (Ha n) 1-:H2; 3. Doug Henry (Hon) (}O1-3; 4. Damon Huffman (Suz) 4-9-6; 5. Jimmy Cobb (Hon ) 11· 5-4; 6. Jimmy Butt on (Suz) 3-4-DNS; 7. Larry Ward (Yam) ll-6-2; B. Doug Dubach (Yam) f>.1 1l-9; 9. Frederi c Vialle (Kow ) 1(}O7-10; 10. Ryan Hughes (Ka w) 9-14-5. FRIDAY, I. Jeremy McGra th (Ho n) ; 2. Mike la Rocco (Kaw ); 3. Jimmy Button (5u z); 4. Da mo n Hu flman (So2); 5. Mike Craig (Ho n); 6. Doug Dubach (Yam); 7. Guy Cooper (502) ; 8. Yves Demaria (Hon); 9. Ryan H ug hes (Kow); 10. Frederic k Vialle (Kow) ; 11. James Dobb (Hon); 12. Jimmy Gaddis (Kow); 13. Jeff Maliasevich (yam); 14. Daniel Obelisco (Hon). SA T URDA Y, I. Doug Henry (Ho n); 2. Mike laRocco (Kow); 3. Jere my McG rath (Hon); 4. Jimm y Butt o n (5 uz) ; 5 . James Dob b (Hon) ; 6. Lury Ward (Yam); 7. Frederick Via lle (Kaw); 8. Jeff Matiase vich (Yam ); 9. Damon H uffman (Suz); 10. Do ug Du bach (Yam); 11. Thierry 8eth ys (Yam); 12. Mike jcoes (Suz); 13. Guy Cooper (Suz) ; 14. Ryan Hughes (Kaw) . SUNDAY, I , Mike laRocco (Ka w); 2. Larry Ward (Yam ); 3. Doug Hen ry (Hon); 4. James Dobb (Hon); 5. Ry an Hughes (Kaw ); 6. Damon Hu ffman (5 u·z); 7. Jimmy Gaddis (Kaw) ; 8. Guy Cooper (5uz); 9. Dou g Dubach (Yam) ; 10. Fred eri ck Vialle (Kaw); 11. Cyril Porte (Yam); 12. Jeremy McGrath (Hon); 13, Mike Jorei (So2). . WORLD SX CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (Alt er 5 of 7 rounds): 1. Jeremy McGra th (73 /l win) ; 2. Mike laRocco (n/ I); 3. Doug Henry (65/1 ); 4. Jimmy Butto n (48); 5. Larry Ward (45); 6. James Dobb (35); 7. Damon Hu ffman (35); 8. Ryan Hughes (30); 9. Frederick Vialle (26 ); 10. Frederic Bolley (24/ 1); 11. Guy Coope r (24); 12. Doug Duba ch (23 ); 13. M ike Cra ig (22) ; 14, Steve Lam son (20 /1); IS . Pe dro Go n zafez (18) ; 16 . Jeff Matiasev ich (17); 17. Jeff Emig (16); 18. Jimmy GaddUi (13);19. CTIE) Yves Demaria / Mi1cae1Maschio (8). UPCOMING ROUNDS: Round 6 - Tokyo, Japan, November 26 Final round - Tokyo, Ja pan, November 27 · . ' '.. ·· ·· .;:8 'r: .1'e' f ·I.· . . .•. . '.. ." a~iich would consider to the GPs 'next year.. '"1gotllropped IrPm Suzuki'when theysign'ed.. . . . .. , Albertyn," said Button. "We had a deal , it was .-"..., - . - ' - . - " , ,;. . .: - y .. . .'-.; .--" . . ' only a matter 01 signing It: And when that ; ,The .line up lor the Be·rcy.rol.ll d' of. the World '. , happe ned n~too late tei g~ta factory'ride SX.Championship Series lacked several star ' wnh.anyone .else;·The Beechls brothers and , name s . Barcelona competitors Sieve L8m~ ' : Dan.ny·LaPorte have both shown interest in 's o n and Jeff Emlgwere requ Ired by their .. . liringing ·me .~o Europe; but I would prefer to:. tacto rtes to' compete in the Osaka,;J apan, .:.stay In Amenca 11 .1 can. My dad told. me .on. SX; aswas' Mike.Kiedrowski , wnols report-'. , the phone that Roger. De Coster had tri6j:l to .edly not interested in racing European $)(: ., ; '" :caUme, so. I am hoping !here is something for. '. . .. me at Suzuki alter all .~ . ' ".. " . 'That ~It Bercy;;"nh just liVe olthe 1994 'top 10 > . .. . . . '. . .' '. . supererossstars,.as Jeff StantOn lias retired '. .Guy Cooper. was once .aga in.the most 'i-egu-' and contractual ccn tlictspreverited Brlan · lar acrobatic.e nte rtaine r in Bercy, pulling .Swlnk from racing. Pedro Gonzalez also had " stuntsat every opportunity both.in 'practice , i~miss. Bercy to ride' tha MonterreySX.. '; .: .',.' a.nd racing: The obstacles iri the tinyarena . . . . seemedto leave'little scope for the most out- : Two-tlma ·25 0c·c Worl d' Cha mpfori Greg . ' rageous jumps; and even Jeremy McGrath Albertyn was a s pectator in Berey; his .Ieft: declined to attempt the riac-nac over the fin; 'hand still strapped upas the scaphoid bone . ' islt jump, though he did do nonce in his heat he 'broke in.South Africa last month heals. "I ' " race on Saturday over the preced ing triple. . will definitelY be back for the start o(the U.'S .'·· ': '. ' . ' . ". " .". . season. lndeed, i'waS hoping to ride Geneva ' GIIy Cooper was not to.be outdone, though, on the first weekend of December," he sa id.. .'and in the've iy'next race pulled the trickover . "X-rays taken in Holland show that I will have . the finish jump, While J immy Button theri got to wait for Bologna a week later now.". ...really outrageoUs in his semi: pulling his right, · . .. . , ",leg through between his lelt ami and leg over Mike laRocco was much' happier in Be~ ' the same jump wnh the suspect landirig strlp, than at Barcelona:.-Illlways.needa few min- ' .s adly without' a major crowd reactl on. -Tha" utss to warm : up. and the 't a ces ' the re ' . fears that the landing there was unrelia ble; (Barcelona) were so short that thecneckered . 'w as .eonnrmeo 'late r that eve ning \vhen Huff-. flag was going out as I got ready to charge," . ma n and Craig fell victim there even without . laRocco said. . '. .. '.. ., .: .. '. . . pulling ant es ,'. . '....". " .. ..,... .. ' ". 0\ 0\ Dou~ .He~;Y· ~~e~t 'a'n' ~~j~ya~l~ w~e~ ··· .~~ ~~:h Oy;:. iS j~S; a~ ;i;,~ria~i' ln' ~erc;,~s : o 'i ,,:'. .be twee n Barce.lona and Paris riding tr ials ' " the rac ing:itself and this' year. the promoters lilkils with s ix-time' World Champ ion JordJ.·· ' were giltedtwo .lInked themes for their pre- . -. ;. ". . .' race presentation. 1994 is of course the 50th ' Tarres: . ., ·. ' . ' .' . . ....: . ' '. ann iversary of the D-Day landings and the : No"!"ally".Ryan ~ughes Would be one of the ":, U.S . contingent;was accompantedlntcthe . stars of video footage , but . In ' Be r'cy. the. "a re na by the Pom-Pom girls In U.S .:Army : ',Kawasa ki rider was .doingthe .filming hirnself " jaepsy with ' J e n! my McGrath ·arid Mike ' 'during the riders' preSentation. , .: . . : ". . '.'LaRoccO on MP ·bikes . The openirig' night ., : : , wa s 'a ls o a pub lic hol iday in France . · . ' . . ,.' .'., '.: .·J lmmy Bution:a'dmi'tted:iri Paris that .he · .' Armistice Day, NovembElr 11. '.':: . . : ". . ".,' .: . . . . ... ", . ." ... . . . . .. , " .' " " ,,"' " ~ ~ (() l-< OJ "S OJ > ~ 11

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