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/127766
.SUPERCROSS 1996AMASupercross Series Predictions su percross track, but inju ries and 'a lack of confidence have held him back in the past. Lamson wa s con sistently seco nd to McGrat h in the off-season European races, and if he can stay healthy, Lamson shou ld core his firs t-ever indoor win in '96. We expect him to round out the top three wh en the series comes to an end. 4. Jeff Emig Jeff Emig scored his first-ever supercross win at the controversy-marred Las Vegas season finale, and he's anxio us to back it up with a "real" win. Emig defin itely has the talent, but has a tendency to tighten up while lead ing. Emig sho uld win a few in 1996, but his lack ofconsistency will hold him to fourt h. , 5. Larry W a rd Larry Ward shocked the ma sses by finis hing second overall in last year's series aboard a pr ivateer Yamaha. Thi s year Ward mad e th e sw itch to Honda of Troy and feels tha t he has an even-better cha nce of beating Jeremy McGrath, now that he's on the same machine, but we feel that Ward' s compe tition will be mu ch stronger in 1996. With any luck, Ward will win score his second career supercross win , but we do n' t foresee him finish in g as hi gh as he did las t yea r. 6. Ry an Hughes After gai ning a rep u ta tion as one of th e hardestcharging 125cc pilots in the world, Ryan Hughes will race a 250 full time in 1996. Whi le his agg ressive r iding style complimented his speed in the 12Sec class, it mav set him on his head in the 250cc division. If Hughes can calm down a bit, he may be the sleeper of the season. Put him down for at least sixth . By Kit Pa lmer and Don n Maeda ur p red icti o ns last year, w ell , w ere nothin g to brag about. But all was not lost, w e did get one right. Last year we pred icted Jeremy McGrath w ould win h is third straight su percross title, but who d idn ' t? From second pl ace on back , w e d idn' t even come close. After a ll, who w ould h a ve g uessed that p ri v ateer Larry W ard w ould finish ou t the season as th e runner-up, finishin g ahead of a string of factory riders: Jeff Emig. M ike Kied r ow s ki, D oug H e n ry, M ike LaRocco and John D o w d . Th is just goes to sh o w that th e s p o rt o f su percross is anything b u t predictable . W e di dn't d o too b ad w ith the 125cc class. We got the West C o ast se r ies cha m p correct with D amo n Huffman, a n d o u r " w il d ca rd" pick of M ickael Pi ch on topp ed the East Coast series. Tim Ferry, our n umber-one pick to win the East series, fini s h ed fourth after g etting inj u red. H ere a re ou r supercross picks for '9 6, a n d, w hat a s u rprise, we' r e again g oing to pick M cG r ath to win h is four th s tr ai g h t titl e . But even with M cG r a th , th ere's no s u re thing in s u percross . W e also r andomly asked a few in dustry insiders for their picks, and as you can see, we aren't t h e only o nes predi cting McGrath will nab his fourth titl e. I # 1 J eremy McGrath Honda #6 Larry Ward Honda #17 Mike Craig Honda 2. Damon H u ffman Like Jeremy McGrath, Dam on Huffman will make his full-time 250cc-class debut with a pair of Western Regiona l 125cc Supercross Championships to his credit. And like McGrath , Hu ffman looks as if he's hardl y trying as he works hi s way over obs tacles that give others fits. If Hu ffm an can score a wi n ea r ly in the seaso n a nd gai n confi d ence, or if McGrath should get hurt, the tall California n could be the heir ap parent to the supercross throne. 3. Stev e Lamson Recen tly crowned 125cc National Champion Steve Lamson has always shown flashes of brilliance on a 8. G reg Alb ert y n Three-tim e World Champion Greg Albertyn looked like a fish out of water wh en the su percross series started last year, but he's made a vast im prove me nt in his su percross style since then. Thou gh his sty le still isn 't as fluid as those of his American counterparts, we feel that Albertyn will break into the series top 10 in 1996. If he doesn 't, it wo n't be for lack of trying. 9. D am o n Bradshaw Thou gh he was once one of the most dangerou s riders to set foot in a stad ium, Damon Bradshaw seems to have lost a bit of the edge tha t he once had. Bradshaw has missed two full supercross seasons, and we feel th at m uch time away m ay have been too mu ch. We hope he proves us wrong - it would be thrill ing to see Brad shaw resume his position at the front of the pack . M aeda 's picks: 1. Jeremy M cGrath With 29 career su percross wins and three consecutive champion ship titles to his credi t, the re's little d oubt that Jeremy McGrath is th e best rider the sport of supercross has ever seen. Following his first -ever 250cc Nati on al Cham pi on shi p, McGrath has found even more dri ve and de termina tion to train ha rd and p ush him self. Barring injury, we see no reaso n that Sh ow time will not ro mp to hi s record-setti ng fou rth conse cutive championship in 1996. 7. Mike LaRocco For several years, Mike laRocco has been the on ly ride r to p ressure Jeremy McGrath in the supercross series title chase. This year, LaRocco will have two things going against him - he's been sideli ned wi th injuries thro ughout the off-season, and he'll have to adjust to a new bike. Wh ile La Rocco is witho ut a doubt one of the hardest chargers in su percross, we feel that he w ill need about half of the indoor season to reach his full po tential. 10. D o ug H enry Because he suffered a serious back injury near the end of the 1995 season, Dou g Henry will be the big ques tion m ark in the 1996 supercross series . At the end of las t year's in door series, H enry showed incred ible promise and looked to be one of the only r id e rs w ho co ul d serio us ly threaten Jeremy McGrath. Can H en ry regain his former form and promise? We hope so, but time will tell. 125 East Coast 1. Tim Ferry Tim Fer ry w as leading the 125cc series last year before he got hu rt and he's only gotten stronger an d faster since then. Ferry w ill dominate the East. ~ ~ 125 West Coast #20 Tim Ferry Suzuki 1. Kevin W indham I think Kevin Windh am will surprise a lot of people this year. Windh am is no longe r a rookie and is bigger and stronger, and, no t to mention , has more confidence than ever. 7