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/127716
·SUPERCROSS u.s. Supercross Series . Round 5: Jack Murphy.Stadium By Chris Jonnum • Photos by Kinney Jones and Scott Hoffman SAN DIEGO, CA, FEB. 11 ...Or the sixth, depending on how you look at it. ~ 0\ ...... For the fifth time in as many weeks, Tea m Ho nda /l-800-Co llec t rid er Jeremy McGrath led the pack across the finis h line in a s u percross main even t. That' s right, folks, one-th ird of the u.s. Su percross Series is al ready com p lete, at least on paper. In reality, yo u might say that the series is all but over. After all, McGrath is the on ly rider to have won a 250cc supercross main this year. Bu t the two- ti m e ch amp' s acc ompli shm en ts don' t sto p th ere. Th e San Di e go even t a lso ma rked McGrath' s sixth Ll.S. Supe rcro ss victory in a row , moving h im in to a tie with Bob Hannah and Rick Johnson for most consecutive wins. How can McGrath have s ix s t ra ig h t wins w hen there have only been five rac es? He also won the final ro und of the '94 season in Las Vegas, whil e Ha nnah and Johns on b oth reached the ma rk in a single season. But w e wouldn't want to bet against him b reaking the mark in A tlanta in tw o weeks . Heck, we wo uld n' t wager agains t h im w in ni ng next week - and there isn' t even a race! " I' m ridi ng rea lly stro ng and I fee l goo d, " sa id McGra th . "I take it race by race and the records come. Everyone wa s h eckling me bef or e, bu t 1 didn 't w o rry a bo ut it. It does feel good thou gh , and I don't see an y reason why I can' t win in Atlanta ." McGra th's perfect po ints to tal now m atch es h is ' 91 racing number - 125. Th at makes for a p lu sh 21-p oin t lead over Tea m No leen /Sizz le r/Ya ma h a rid er Larry Ward - ru nne r-u p at Sa n Diego. Ward con tinued h is impressive late-career u psurge, riding confi de ntly and in telligently yet agai n. Despite the " d isa d va n tag e" of riding for a sho p team, Ward is the only rid er other than McGr ath to ha ve mad e every podiu m thus far, an d he has aH but one of the factory pil ots scratchi ng their collective head s. . "We're d e fin itel y h a pp y , " said Ward . "We' re wo rking hard, and who kn ow s ? Maybe one of these days I' ll beat that big, red Jerem y McGrath." The closest of the p retend ers is Team Kawasak i' s Mike LaRocco, who worked up from hi s u su al poor ga te to fin ish third . The frustra ted 250cc National MX cham p ca me to San Diego with an ent irely revised bike setu p, but not even th at co u ld overcome a bad start on a tra ck th at m any d e scribed as overly techni ca l. LaR oc co sits ano the r n in e points beh ind Ward, with 95. t 6 A startled Jeremy McGrath (1) looks ove r to see Michael Craig (19) passing him early in the main. Steve Lamson (5), John Dowd (14), Jeff Demen t (77) and Greg Albertyn (111) follow.