Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·.S P R series S Round 7: Daytona International Speedway U E C O. S R ..U .S.Supercross By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones DAYfONA BEAOi, FL, MAR. 11 ven th ou gh Mike Kiedrowski had won the two previou s runnin gs of the Daytona Supercross b y Hond a, the Team Kawasaki rider wasn't look ed upon as a heavy favorite en tering this year's event. Instead, most of th e a tten tion w as focused on twotim e Supercro ss Ch ampion Jeremy McGrath and Kiedrowski's teammate, Mike LaRocco. With fiv e consecutive supercross wins and the first-ever 250cc National win of hi s career under h is belt, McGrath came to Dayt ona on fire a nd ready to do b attl e. And LaRocco w a s a lso o n a roll o f so rts, ha vin g stopped the McGrath supercross freight train at the previous round . But wha t abou t Kiedrowski? Thou gh the MX "Kied" finish ed second at the Orl ando season opener, the fo rm e r 125, 250 a n d 500cc National Champion had yet to d isplay enough raw speed to attract the sam e am ount of attention as his two main rivals. Until Dayton a, that is. "For some reason, my season always seems to sta rt her e," sai d Kiedrowsk i. "This is where I got my first-ever supercross wi n, and this is also where I won m y firs t ra ce o f th e season la st year. Something about the pla ce - the peo ple they tum me on." Kied rowski g ra bbed the spotligh t early in the 25-lap main, running do wn early leader Dou g Henry and racing to a solid victo ry aboard his Brian Lun nisstuned KX250. Once in fron t, Kiedrowski prove d that his previou s two wins at the facility were no fluke, and hammered his way around the brutally rou gh track with the same intensity, lap after lap . Not even LaRocco - the man man y consider to be the hard est-charger on the circuit - could match his teammate's pace and deny him of his third stra ight Daytona Supercross w in . Th ou gh he worked into the lea d pack early in the race, LaRocco failed to produce the moves needed to sneak into 8 sec- the lead, instead settling for a dis tan t ond-place finish. "I was right where I wan ted to be, but 1 was making too many mistakes," sai d Lakocco. "I was tryin g to hurry up and get going, but instead it ended pu tting me wa y back." Third went to Honda/1 -80G-Collect rider Henry . The two-time 125cc National Champion and former 125cc main event winner at Daytona led the early laps, but was no match for either of the Kaw asaki pil ot s. As th e ra ce w ore on, H enry ' seemed to tire and eventually dropped to third , several seconds behind LaRocco. "I kept trying to think about the year I won the 125cc class here," said Henry. "But it didn't work. This is the first time I've eve r been on a 250 podium, so I'm excited." Unfortu nately, the man most anxio us to prove himself at Daytona was stru ck d own in a multi-rider firs t-tu rn cras h . McGrath got off to his usu al quick start, led into tum one by only one rider - Team Yama ha's John Dowd . Track desig ne r Gary Bailey didn't wai t long to throw the first obstacle at the rid ers, and a stee pfaced step-up ju m p gree ted the field a few feet after they rounded the first corner. This jump, and the adrenaline rus h of getting the holeshot, proved to be Dow d's downfall. Dowd did a perfect endo as he led the field, and the back of his machine cleaned McGra th off his factory Honda . Several other riders also fell victim to the pil eu p , but Henry, Kie drowski and LaRocco were not amongs t them . "Dowd did a sideways endo right into me," said McG ra th . ~' I kn ow th at I could've won today , I felt it. Now 1 just have to come back next year and answer those same qu estions all over again." McGrath worked from 30th to seventh at the checkered flag. The 22-time supercross winner continues to control the lead in the series point standings, altho ugh his seventh at Daytona allowed his pursuers to catch up a bit. With seven rounds of the IS race series run, McGrath enjoys a 15-p oint lead over LaR occo, 157-142. Tea m Noleen / Sizz ler /Yamaha ri de r ' Larry Ward - fifth at Daytona - continues to ho ld d own thi rd w ith 135, but Kied row ski is nipping at his heels with 132. Flori da's own Timmy Ferry was the man on the move in the Eastern Regional 12Sec main event. Ferry suffered a miserable start, but charged harder with each p assing lap . Not even a cloth ha y bal e cover caught in his rear wh eel could slow him, and he raced to an overwhelmingly popular win aboard his Lee McCo llumtuned factory Suzuki RMl25 . Frenchman Mickael Pichon stole the lead early in the rac e a n d pulled ou t t o a s ee m ing ly unbeatable le ad, but abo u t 50 feet o f Honda track banners caug h t in his rear whee l left him without brakes. Pichon did a ll he co u ld but was unable to re s ist Ferry's relentless attack. Team Yamaha 's Kevin Windham started the IS-Iap main even t hot , but severe sto mach cr am ps m id w ay through th e race slowed hi s charge and forced him to settle for a distant third. "I felt stro ng all d ay," sai d Ferry . "I had a big cheering section in the crow d, and that's wha t helped me kee p go ing whe n I got su ch a crappy start. Actuall y, I didn't eve n kn ow that I had so me thing caugh t in my rear wheel until the race was over." . It is Pichon, thou gh, that sits atop the Eastern Regional point standi ngs with 89 points. Ferry is close behind with 85, as is Wind ham with 82. ' 250Cc Unlike a "trad itional" supercross that features a 2G-ride r main even t, the Daytona Supercross by Honda allows 30 riders to com plete the field in the feature. Three 10-lap heat races offered five dir ect transfers to the main, followed by tw o eigh t-lap semis that trans fer the top five. The LCQ reward s the top three. Hond a teamsters Henry an d Steve ' Lamson raced into the top two pos itions in the first of th ree IO-lap heat races, but Ward quickly slapped them back to second and third. On ce in to the lead, Ward pull ed ou t a l O-sec o nd le ad tha t h e wou ld hold until th e end . Henry an d Lamson scrapped for sev eral laps, with Henry even tu ally br eaking free of hi s teammate . Suzuki' s Ezra Lusk and p rivateer Cliff Palmer fini sh ed a di stant fourth and fifth, earning the last direct transfer positions. Dowd led the wa y at the start of heat two, but a procession of mi stakes saw him drop out of qualifying position . "I'm just having a hard time with this track today," he admitted . "I can't seem to find my rhythm on this track. 1usually like Daytona because it's so rough." LaRocco was qu ick to tak e over, and raced to an easy win over Yamaha's Jeff Emig, Kawasaki privateer Phil Lawrence, Noleen' s Ky le Le wi s and Suzu ki's Damon Hu ffman. The Su zuki rider hounded Emig through the first half of the race, but a sp ill in a comer just before the wh oop section allowed Lawr ence and Lewis to sneak past. Three-time World Champion Greg Albertyn holesh ot the third and final heat race and led Kiedrowski an d McGrath. The factory Suzuki rider's lead was sho rtlived, however, as he dropped his bike in a rutted comer before one of the numerous whoop sections. " It was a silly crash," said Albertyn. "There were three ruts in the comer, and I failed to choose any of them and washed out." Kied rowski took over from there, but McGrath matched his every move. On lap three, McG rath blitzed past Kied rowski in the center whoop section and took over th e lea d , and fro m th at mo men t o n, Kiedrow ski seemed to give up. "He wasn' t goi ng fa st at all," sa id McG rath . "I wa s w aitin g there be hi nd him, but then I decided it was time to go. Th e tra ck is mor e techni cal th is yea r more my sty le." "When McGr ath go t by me, I deci d ed to save myself for the main and use the tim e on the track to fin d so me new lin es," sa id Kiedrowski. "I eased up a bit. " Kiedrowski w ould lat er.a d m it that he w as di scouraged by McGrath's pass.

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