Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

fourth lap with Bolley also ho t on the t rail. The top five at th e finish read : Swink, Ward, Hughes, Broo ks and Bolley. The Last Chance Qualifier would be the final opportunity for Phil Lawrence to make the main, and he did jus t that. Though Jeff Demen t and the factory K1M we re the firs t to en ter turn one, it was Lawrence and his p ri v a tee r Kawasaki who exited first. From there it was no con test as Lawrence ran away to victory. Dement d id, however, manage to get the K1M int o the featu re by securing the 20th and fina l starting spot. 250cc FINAL After all the pomp and circumstance, the 250cc final go t underway followi ng one fina l pre-r ac e sho wer. Wh en th e gate dropped , it was Emig wi th the best reacti on an d he led th e 20-r ider fie ld int o turn one. But that lead was sho rt, li ved' as h e lo st the fro nt en d on th e Yamaha and cras hed hard. "I h ad th e h ol esho t - I was th ere, darnm it," Emig sai d lat er. " I go t in to tum one pret ty hot, but they gr aded the fi rs t turn and th e ru t was gone . I've d on e that three times in a row now at this race." Emig rem ounted , but his chances for victory were shot. Still, he managed to fig h t throu gh to fi n is h n inth: " I just knew that I had to start passing guys. It was hard to pass because it was su per rutted, but I felt good . I'm happy with my rid ing." Su rprisingly, it was Lusk with the lead following the Em ig melee in turn one. DeH oop w as th e n ext to depart, cra sh in g off the track throu gh the first triple-jump section; he wou ld rem ount to finish an eventual 18th . The second rider to lead befo re a single lap had been com p leted was Lewis, but soo n it w as yo u-kn ow-who out front - Mr. McGrath. The Cali fornian took over p rior to the end of the ope ning lap and he was never head ed. He quickl y opened up a 2.7-second gap on Lew is on the s e co n d lap and th at lead , w a s stretched to 6.15 se con ds by th e time LaRocco took ove r the runner-up spot on the fourth lap. "A couple of guys were falling on the firs t lap: ' McGr ath sa id. " I just stayed u p. laRocco started to ge t a little closer, but th en th e pit bo ard sa id ' p lu s-16.' The n I ju s t s ta rte d cruising . I wasn' t worried abo ut the rain - I knew we'd ge t at least 10 good laps in even if it did rain. I'd like to make this a hab it." That' s 'the las t thing LaRocco wants. Just whe n it seemed as thou gh laRocco wo u ld begin to mo unt a charg e on his Honda-mounted rival, trou ble struck as he cras hed in a slow left-hand comer. "A hay ba le string go t in th e b ack b rak e a nd melted in the pa ds," sai d Mike LaRocco Sr., Lakocco's father an d mech ani c. "It was fading and I had no bra ke off th e finis h -line jump," LaR o cco sa id. "Th at's why I cras hed. The secon d half is my half of the race . I'd like to think I cou ld h a ve ca ugh t him (McG ra th). I didn't want h im to start the season on a high. It's definitely d isappointing." With LaRocco pickin g up his bike, Kiedrowski mo ved by to take over second place. From then on his rid e would be an uneventful one; excep t for a broken knee brace that left him feeling some w h a t vu lne rab le: "I 'm not up to speed," Kiedro w ski sai d . "But I w as faster in the end . I was luck y to get second with Mike go ing down, but at least I wa s up there with the runners toni ght. I'll do better at so me of the othe r tracks; this one's a little sandy. It's a series and I look mo re at the championship than jus t this race. I feel good, I know wha t I need to wo rk on ." . While Kiedrowski's ri de to secon d p lace was ra th er uneven tfu l. Ward's charge tho ugh the p ack was anythi ng but, afte r getti ng caught up in the Emig m ess at the start: 12t h, 10th , seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth an d then 'third - all in 12 la ps. No t bad for a man not known for his late-race strength, tho ug h a new training regi me n wi th team owner Oark Jon es may have chan ged that. "I got s tuck on a hay bale:' Ward sai d of the tum-on e incide nt. "I gassed it an d it (the bale) fell apart - I think I was about 18th or 19th. The first couple of laps I was having tro uble. I was using the clutch too m uch a nd it got some play in it. Then things started go ing my way . I was really fast through the whoops. Last year I led for seven laps, looped out and en ded up 17th, so this is a m uch better start." LaRocco was Ward's final hurdle en The rise·and fall 9f Greg Alberty ~n Perhaps the biggest question mark going into the opening round of the U .S. Supercross Series was the one hanging over the head of Team Suzuki's Greg Albertyn (right) . After all , the South African had never before competed in a supercross race in the Ll.S; and had only a few supercrosses under his belt in Europe. Because of his inexperience indoors, not many were predicting that Albertyn would pose any kind of a threat to the supercross series regulars at Orlando, in spite of the fact he is a three-time World Champion. Albertyn took his U.S. supercross debut all in stride. He spent much of the day hanging out with fans and making new friends, and was obviously quite loose and relaxed . His easygoing character and amusing sense of humor made him an instant hit at Orlando, with fans and media alike. Still, his cool nature came as somewhat of a surprise, considering the fact that the cards were stacked heavily against him at Orlando. For one, he had never before seen the Citrus Bowl track (or any SX track in the U.s. for that matter). In addition, he was adjusting to an entirely different racing scene and lifestyle; he was undergoing the transition of going from one of the top motocross racers in Europe, to a supercross underdog in the U.s.; and to make matters worse, he had very little time to brush up on his supercross skiils during the off-season as a broken left wrist late last year put a serious dent in his training schedule. Accordi-ng to Roger DeCoster, the new race team manager at Suzuki, Albertyn had little time to practice before Orlando. "Greg had only one day of supercross practice before today:' said DeCoster. "Mainly because of his wrist, and we just finished building our supercross practice track - but it's TIm Ferry (23) nailed down the holeshot and was never headed in the 125cc Final. Kevin Windham (43) and Jim Neese (45) chase Ferry into the first comer. Windham finished third In his professional supercross debut; Neese finished seventh. been raining so much in California, we haven't been able to ride on it ." "I still feel pretty good:' sa id Albertyn. "Bu t I wish I had more time for preparation. My wrist is good now, and I think after a couple of races I'll be right there." During practice, Albertyn surprised many by going out and .quickly jumping all of the risky doubles and triples. "Yeah, I didn't feel too bad out there:' Albertyn said following practice. "It's just a matter of doing it for 20 laps, that's the question. Putting in a few good laps, no worries." "Albee" continued to surprise people by going out and winning his preliminary heat race, which is used to seat unseeded riders into the night's program. He continued to amaze everyone by going out in the first heat race and passing Doug Henry for the lead, then battling back and forth with teammate Ezra Lusk for the top spot. Eventually, Lusk broke free of Albertyn, who looked to be headed for a sure second-place finish . Albertyn was showing skeptics that he certainly has the speed to run with the leaders, though he did look as though he was riding on the ragged edge. On the fourth lap , however, things began taking a turn for the worse for Albertyn. He lost the front end of his Suzuki in a tum and dropped back, then disaster struck when, about a lap later, he landed short over a double jump, was sp it off his bike and his body slammed into the face of a jump. He quickly jumped to his feet but was in obvious pain, the result of a dislocated shoulder. Believe it or not. things got even worse for the series newcomer. According to Suzuki team member Ray Tetherton, "Greg went straight to the ambulance, but there were cars blocking the ambulance so we couldn't go anywhere. 50 we had to walk out of the stadium, across the street and wait for an ambulance to pick us up on the curb. He (Albertyn) couldn't believe this was happening, but he never lost his sense of humor. 'We're going to get bloody pneumonia out here: he joked. I assured him this wasn't normal. We waited about 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived and took us to the hospital. He, and his mechanic Ian (Anderson), joked around with the nurses and kept them - and me - laughing the whole time. He wanted to get back in time to watch the main." So what looked to be a brilliant and surprising start to Albertyn's new u.s. Supercross career ended.in the emergency room. But if those first few laps give any indication of what is to come from the likable South African, he could go a long way toward making this a very interesting year of supercross. 9

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