Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS' . AMA 125/250cc National C hampionship Motocross Series ' Round 1: Gatorback Cycle Park ers . Until lap six. A lou d so un d when he landed fro m the table to p jump in th e rock quarry was all LaRocco ha d as a warning before his fro nt w hee l turned sideways and se nt hi m to the grou nd . The wo rks aluminum billet hub on his KX had exploded, and lef t th e cham p strande d. "The front wh eel we n t sideways and I kind a slid out and wen t over the bars:' sa id La Rocco, w ho wa s su rp risi ngly upbea t after the race. "I was riding good and I'm happy ab ou t th at. It 's a long se ries, and it sho ul d be goo d ." Albertyn 's si milar demise began as ea rly as the second lap . "I felt the rear wheel begin to slide: ' said Albertyn . "Then I realized tha t I ha d bro ken the rear wheel. To have such big jumps wi th such ha rd land ings on an ou tdoor race track is crazy, rea lly . I' m op timis tic abo u t the se ries, th ou gh. It's long and now I kn ow w he re I sta nd against my com peti tion." Albe r ty n b a tt led fo r secon d w it h Hen ry until lap eigh t, wh en his rear tire we nt com pletely flat. Kied rowski came on s trong la te in th e race and pas sed Hen ry for seco nd in the moto. and overall. Henry held on for third, w hile Emig worked in to fou rth after suffe ring a m isera ble start. "I like the 250cc class:' said two-time 125cc Na tio nal champ Henry, h appy with h is thi rd- p lace 250cc debut. " It's definitely a lot different, bu t it's fu n." He nry re po rted tha t h is no w -famou s stomach ailme nt was not a problem, an d he needed no in traveno us injections. 125cc Suz uki's Huffman lined up on the far ' inside for the start of the firs t mot o, and p roceeded to pu ll a n imp re s s iv e h o le sh ot a boa rd h is fact ory RM125. "Roge r DeCoster poi n ted ou t the line:' sa id H uffma n. "They d is ced up the starting stra ight, but on the inside gate there was a rea l narrow groove of hardpacked ground . I stayed on it , and it worked." . Huffman led Lamson, Hughes, Mike Brown, Kevin Wind ham, Pichon and Reynard thro u g h turn one. Happy, ed to ge t rea lly tired a t th e end, bu t I kept on push in g . Tha t was har d, but I w is h I could a lways r id e th at g ood w he n I'm sick." Em ig also su ffe red a ter rible s tart, . a n d a lon g w ith McG ra th, s pe n t th e entir e race ma kin g up fo r it. "Je re my and I hooked up and worked our way u p:' sai d Emig, who ended up fourth . "He go t by me in the supercross sectio n near the grandstands. Tha t never sho ul d have happen ed ." Henry had a rath er uneven tfu l ride and fin ish ed close beh in d Em ig, while Kiedrowski was ha mpered by a pa ir of cras hes and finishe d a close sixth. "I was hed out my front end down in the rock qua rry:' sa id Kiedrowski, who was ru n ning fou rth at the time. "The n after I caug ht back u p I crashe d in the back sect ion at the end." Honda of Troy's Tod d DeHoop led McGrath, H en ry , Ronnie Tichen or, Albe rtyn and KTM's Tony Ama ra dio at the sta rt of th e second m ot o. LaRocco started abo ut 11th , but w as qu ickly up to six th be hind Amaradi o by lap two. . McGrath , m e a nwhil e , displaced DeH oop with a spectacu lar midair pass on th e "E leva tor" on the opening lap , awesome! I'm feeling rea lly strong th is year. O nce I go t into th e lea d I se ttle d in to a pace. I cou ld've go ne fast er if I needed to, but I just wan ted to m ake sure I didn't ma ke any mistakes . Come to think of it, I don' t think I mad e any ." Huffm an momen ta rily d ropped to third wh en Hu ghes cha rged past, bu t he kep t his coo l and we nt on to re take second place by th e rnoto's end . . ':1 just p la yed it s ma rt, an d w hen Ryan go t tired I passed him ba ck:' said Huffman. "I sta rted to catch Lamson at the en d, but I case d it on the last lap and dropped back a little." . Hu gh es fad ed w it h arm p ump and finis hed an eventual fou rth behind th e recently healed Reynard . "I felt good:' said Reyna rd. "I star ted to get tired at the ha lfway poin t, bu t I picked it back up ." Pichon ran as high as fou rth, but w as a d ista n t fifth at the finish. "This was my first National," sai d the visiting Frenchm an . "I was a little n e rv ous and m y arms and bod y we re very tired ." H uffma n failed to d uplicate his firstmoto holeshot in the seco nd race, as he was hampered by blu rred vision for the firs t h a lf la p . " W hen I w as p o uring water on my back, it go t sp lashe d on my goggles:' said H uff ma n. "My mechanic tr ied to wipe th em d ry , but the water go t be tween the tearoffs, I pulled them a ll o n the first la p, b ut th en th e dust made it hard to see later in the race." Huffm a n' s Suzu ki teamma te C raig Decker picked up w here Hu ffm an left off and led the field through turn one. Lamson, Ti m Ferry, Guy Cooper a nd Rey nard gave chase. Ferry st uffed hi s way past Lamson on the first lap, but h igh -Sid ed a few turns la ter . Lamso n then za p ped Decker for th e lea d a nd hoped to se t sail like he had done in the first moto. But things fell apart - literally - for Lam so n on the secon d lap . "I came u p sho rt on th e big tab letop on the second lap a nd I h e ard some spokes snap:' said Lamson. '~ I tho ught, 'Oh great,' and after tha t I was scared to jump anyth ing or h it the bu m ps hard. My mechanic saw th at it was my fro nt w heel and signaled me to come in for a healthy and co nfi den t, th e re w as n o de ny ing Lamson in the firs t mo to and he zipped past Huff man on the opening lap. Once in fro nt , La mson was never headed . "Braaaapl Th at was awesome:' said a pumped-up La m so n, imi tatin g th e sound of his fact ory Honda. "My bike is w heel change." Decker also came to a grin di ng hal t, as a ro ck smashed h is Su zuki' s cases near the wa ter p ump and left him w ith a seized machine. This left the doo r wide open for Reyn a rd , who be rse rk ed h is wa y to the front of the pack wi th a wild seco nd lap. (Above) Suzuki's Damon used 2-4 moto fi nishes to cla im second overa ll in the 125cc class. (Right) Tim Ferry (23), here fighting for the holeshot in the second 125cc National, had a less-than-stellar day , go ing 10-11 for ninth overall. and set sai l. "I wanted to get out fro nt as q uick as I co uld and conce ntra te on riding s moo th," said McGra th. "I never looked b a ck a n d I didn ' t even get ti red that time . Act ua lly, I didn' t even know that I had wo n the overall unt il I pulled my helmet off an d Skip (Norfolk) told me. I'm so stoked!" Hen ry took control of second early in the race, followed by Albertyn, Kied rowski, Amarad io an d LaRocco. Th ou gh he usu ally has little trouble working towards the front of the pack, LaRocco stru gg led with A ma ra dio for severa l laps. By the time he wo rked into fifth, laRocco wa s com forta ble and confide nt tha t he could still catch the lead -

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