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/127719
Mista ke number two. Lik e McGrath, Reynard ca me from off the pa ce to finis h an eventual th ird in the fir st go-r ound . p re -ra ce favorites Steve Lams o n and Damon Hu ff man delivered the goods expected of th em by finishing first and second, respectivel y, but bo th wo uld be hamper ed by freak problems in the final race. Lamson took control of the second mota on the opening lap and looked set to kick off his season in grand style, but he too fell prey to a wheel-related failu re . Lamson came up short on a large tab letop jump wh ile leading and sna pped sev eral spokes in his fr on t wheel. Though his m echanic p erfo rmed a fro nt wheel change that would ma ke next week's Daytona 200 competi tors jealous, Lamson was ou t of the runnin g . Huffman, m eanw h il e, struggled in the dusty conditions with goggle trouble and was u nable to match his torrid first-mote pace. And all the while, guess w ho was leading? Ju s t as h e ha d done a t las t year's Gatorback ra ce, Reyn ard assumed control early on and raced away with a runaway win . Th is tim e, though, he wo u ld be rewarded for his efforts with the o verall win. Frenchma n Mickael Pichon of th e Sp litfire / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki team and teamma te Ryan H u gh es were secon d and th ir d across the finis h line, but it was fourthplace finis he r Huffman who nabbed secon d overa ll. Pic hon was th ird o n the day. "Who wou ld h a ve ev e r g uessed?" sa id Kaw asaki ma nager Roy Turner o f the youngest ri der o n his team. " Who eve r h e a rd o f co mi ng off s ho ul der . su rge ry and w inn in g yo u r firs t race back? That kid is incredible." As a result of their o peni ng ro u nd wi ns, McGrath an d Reynard si t a to p their respective series point sta nd ings. (Above)Just like last year, Kawasaki's Robbie Reynard won the second moto at Gainesville, but this time he walked away with the overall win. (left) Greg Albertyn (1 11) led most of the first 250Cc moto before Mike laRocco passed him on th!! last lap. Here, he leads M Kiedrowski. ike McGr ath leads Kiedrow ski 45-37 in the 250cc class, w hile Reynard lead s H uffman 45-40 in the 125cc di vision . 250cc Team No leen/ Sizzler /Yamaha rider Larry Ward h ol eshot th e o peni ng 30minute -plu s- tw o-l a p rna to a head of Albe r ty n, Kyl e Le wis, Ezra Lusk an d LaRocco. Ward's moment in th e ou tdoor spo tligh t would be short-live d, however, as h e d ro pped off the pace rat her qui ckly an d finishe d an eventual eigh th . A s n a p pe d rod during the m ornin g practice ses.sion resu lted in a scary crash and left Ward with on ly a few warm up lap s arou nd the circuit. " 1 o n ly go t abou t o ne good lap o f practi ce in," sai d Wa rd . "I was ri di ng bad - real tight - and my arms pu mped up ." Insult was ad ded to injury w hen Ward' s silence r bro ke late in th e rna to and he was left wi th a raspy-soundin g machine . By the secon d lap, A lbertyn h a d ta ken over th e lead a n d p u lled o ut a fou r-second advantage over th e rest of th e pack. Th ou gh he had sp un out in a comer on the first lap and d ropped from fifth to ninth, LaRocco tu rned in anothe r o ne of hi s trad em ar k charges th ro u gh the field and rou nded the track in th ird by the th ird lap. The crowd cheered in anticipation of a showdown between last year' s seemingly invincible LaRocco a nd the highly to uted South African World Cha m pion. A nd they got exac tly wha t they wanted . Alber tyn m ainta ine d a slim lead over LaRocco throughout the mota - so me ti m es it g rew, someti mes it shru nk. Albertyn appeared to be more comfortable working past lap ped riders, bu t several missed sh ifts ' a llowed LaRocco to close back in. "1 was feeling go od w h ile leading, but I knew that Mike was coming," said Albertyn. "He had reeled me in pretty quickly, and I started to get nervou s and make m istakes. Tha t only lasted for a bit, thou gh; an d I reali zed that I needed to relax." It was the humid Florida conditions, however, that proved to be th e likable rider's downfall. " T' rn n o t used to th is h u m id it y, " admitted Albertyn. "1 beg an to get tired towards th e end . Th at's m y fault - no t bein g we ll en o ugh prepa red ." In his defense. rAlbertyn's bike jumped out of gear a fe w turns a fte r LaRocco had taken over the lead, and prevented him from sta ying close eno u gh to re taliate. "1 saw Greg getting away a bit at the start of the race , so I wanted to get up fron t quick, " said LaRocco . "1 caught u p to him fairly easy, so lknew th at I cou ld get him. He was making a lo t of mistakes - one time I we nt to pa ss him and he dorked out and we nt into my line," LaRocco ma de the pa ss on the nextto-last la p in th e o utsi de of a fast right-hander. "It w as pretty coo l to at least d ice for the lead ," he said . Meanwhile, McGrath had work ed into a di stan t third, putting legitima te passes on such notable ride rs as Jeff Emig, Henry, Kiedrowski, Lusk and Ward after complet ing th e first lap in 15th . "I got a crappy sta rt and had to come fro m way back," sai d McGrath. "I start-