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/127767
(Left) McGrath grabbed the holes hotln the 250cc feature, but Honda of Troy's Mike Brown (9) gave him a race for one lap before McGrath took off. (Below) Mickael Pichon cruised to victory in the 125cc feature on his chromed SplitFirelPro Circuit/Kawasaki KX125. undoubtedly the best ride of his career and, for it, wa s rewarded with a har dfought and well-deserved second-place finish. His previous best SX finish was a fourth. "I guess I'm tired of getting sho ved a rou nd," sa id a jubilant Lawren ce. "I know 1 have the speed and the talent to hang with th ose guy s, but something alwa ys seems to happen. I've had more confidence lately and I'm not going to let anyone shove me aro u nd anymo re." Lawrence d id n't jus t "luck" into second place, either. Lawrence, rid ing his team 's all-white Kaw asak i, completed ~he first lap of the feature in fifth place and clawe d and scrat ched his way into seco nd pl ace after passin g Honda of Tro y' s Mik e Cra ig, Bro wn and Team Yama ha 's Dam on Brad shaw. The Californian moved into second place on the eig h th lap and would go on to finish th ere ju st in ch es ahea d o f Brad sh aw, another rider wh o placed much higher than most people had expec ted. Brad shaw sta rted off in third and ran second for a few lap s beforecorning up sho r t over a trip le, whic h g ave Lawrence jus t eno ugh roo m to squeeze by him. Brad shaw held his gro und and pr essu red Lawrence to th e finish bu t could never make the pass. In what was his first su percross race since 1993, this was Brad sh aw ' s most im p ressive ride since coming ou t of retirement last May. "I' m happy," sai d Bradsh a w, who quali fied for the main event via a fifthplace finish in the sem i, "(and), yes, I'm a littl e surprised to finis h on th e pod ium. Mainly because I ha dn't had a good start all night, and third place is the best I've ever d one here (at Orlando). I felt really good, my bod y is 100 percent and this really boosts my confidence." And what ab out Team Su zu ki ' s newest member Mike LaRocco, Honda's Steve Lamson and Kawa saki's Dam on Huffman, Ryan Hughes and Jeff Emig? None of th es e recentl y much-talkedabout factory-backed racers got the start the y had hoped for. Instead , they spen t the enti re race making up for their poor getaways . LaRocco, w ho rounded the firs t lap in ninth, ran int o m ore problems on th e fourth lap w hile eyein g Team Suzuk i' s Ez r a Lusk for fif t h. LaRocco lost the front end of his Suz uki in a tight right-hand tum and su ddenly found himself in 14th. By the end of the 20-lap race, LaRocco had climb ed back up to fifth, one spot behind tw o-time West Coast 125cc SX Champion Dam on Huffman, who got off to a 10th -p lace start, two spo ts behind teammate Hughes. After mo ving u p to sixth, Hughes eventually tangled with Cra ig, an incident tha t wou ld later result in an offthe -track brawl involving a number of riders and mechanics momen ts after the race. Hughes wo uld end up eighth with a bent motorcycle. Emig failed to live up to h is high expe cta tions on th e night, simply say ing, "I just didn't feel too well tonight." Th e new Tea m Kawasaki member fin is h e d ninth a nd w as neve r a fac tor among the leaders. "For some reason, I was reall y ner vous tod ay and just felt tigh t. But I' ve always been a slo w sta rter, and I know th ings wi ll come togeth er." Not only did Brad sh aw give Tea m Yama ha an encouraging per forman ce, but so did l i -year-old Kevin Windham, . who competed in the 250cc class for the firs t time. Windham, w hose prim a ry concern will be the West Coast 125cc Series which gets under way at the Ana heim Supercross, January 2i , proved he can mix it up with the best of them on a 250. Windham started off the race way back in 16th place but picked off rider s one by one u ntil he had a lock on seven th place, fini shing right on Cr aig 's shirttails. "I started off a little slow but p ut on a ch a rge h alfway th rough," Wi ndham said. "I felt better tow ard s the end ." H onda of Troy's Brian Swink rounded out the top 10 after a lith-place start. Team Honda's Steve Lamson was one of many rid er s w ho com pl ained o f arm pump-up. The 125cc ou tdoor Na tional MX Ch ampion cou ldn ' t make ame nds for a po or s ta r t an d finished a d isappointing 11tho Kyle Lewis, the now sole member of Team Noleen, finished 12th, while early leade r Mike Brown faded all the way back to 13th, he too complaining o f arm pump. Larry Brooks, team manager / rider of th e new Chap arral ra cing team, too k 14th ahead o f la s t yea r' s se rie s runner-u p Larry War d. Ward, one of Honda of Troy' s newest recruits, wa s another rider stricken by the d readed arm pump. "1 jus t pumped up," he said. "We ad juste d the rear suspension too stiff for this track, and it just beat m y arm s and I couldn't hold on . Other than th at , I love the bike, th e power and the way it feels. Overall, I - can't get too bummed . I'll be back." Ward fini sh ed ju st ahea d of Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk who had a promising seven th -p lace s tart. Bu t h is ride sta rted. going downh ill w hen he fell over all alone in a tum early on and jus t could never get his rhythm back. Denny Stephenson, a lon gtime Suz uk i ride rturned Kaw asa ki rid er fini shed l ith, jus t ah ead of hi s Grea t Wes tern teamm at e Buddy Antun ez . Yamaha ri der Gene Naumec went home in 19th, while ยท Jimmy Butt on , now competing on th e ne wly formed Xtr eme/PJ-1/A to m ic 22/ Burnsville Yamaha team , offici ally finish ed last after crashing hard on the firs t lap . Bu tton was slow to h is feet before climbing bac k on his bike and rid ing to the pits, wh er e he called it a night. In the 12~cc East Coast feature, there wer e plenty o f surprises as well, but n one of which had an ything to w ith defending champ Micka el Pichon w innin g . The team Sp lit Fire I Pr oCircuit / Kawasak i tea m rid er was untouchable, leading from start to finish, unscathed. "This is a nice win," said the Frenchm an. "What could be better than this ? New bike, new truck (referring to the team's new and bigger semi truck). winnin g the first race and carrying the number-one plate. I felt very stro ng, I didn' t get tired at all, and the bike is so good. I'm really happy." Finishing a d istant second was Team Yam aha 's John Dowd, who perhap s had the ride of the night afte r getting off to a LOth-place sta rt and w or king his w ay into second four laps from the end. He proved to many do ubters that a 30-yearold MXer can race a 125 competitively. "I was nervou s tod ay because I really d idn 't k now wh at to expec t," sa id Dowd, who was all smiles after the race. " I got a bad start bu t tha t seeme d to help me relax. 1 don' t know what it is, bu t I really seem to do well on 125s." The large crowd had h igh hopes for Flo ri d a's own Tim Ferry. Last ye ar's Orlando 125cc winner, Ferry finish ed a close second to Pichon in an earlier heat race but could finish no high er than third in the 15-lap feature . At one point in the race, Fer ry was withi n striki ng d ista nce of Pichon but sudd enly fell, wh ich all but ende d his chance for the all-important ope nin g-roun d w in. Ferry was soo n ba ck in second, bu t Pichon was long gone. Later in the race, th ough, Fer ry wa s d ef e n sel ess ag ain st th e adv ancing Dowd and surren de red third to the Yama ha pilot. Rounding ou t the top five in the race were Suzuki riders Nathan Ramsey and Barry Carsten. Perhaps the biggest di sappointment o f the night in volved Team Su zuki' s Greg Alberty n, the tw o- ti m e Wo rl d 250cc MX World Champion from South Africa. Aft er ha ving jus t re cuper at ed from a broken wrist that required reconstructive surgery, Albertyn crashed in a long section of whoop s th at stre tche d from one end of the stadium to the othe r in a semi race and d islocated his right sho ulder. The incide nt was rem arkably sim ila r to th at of las t ye ar' s Orlando Supercross wh er e he di sl oc ate d th e same shoul d er in th e same semi race. And, just like last year, Alberty n walked off th e track holdin g his inju re d ar m over his head. 250cc Ward proved tha t his reputation as a go od s ta r ter w ouldn't cha nge a fte r switch in g te ams, as h e o utg u n ne d everyone to th e fir st tu rn in th e first 250c c heat race. Unfortunatel y, Ward ca rried way too much s peed in to the turn and dri fted w id e, lettin g Team Chaparral' s Brooks, Lawrence and Huffman all di ve und erneath him . Brook s led for a lap befo re Law rence took over. Ward soon moved into second after pas sin g Br oo ks a n d w ould ch ase Law rence for the next four laps , but to no avai l. Hu ffm an, m eanwhile, took over third and was beginning to challenge Ward, wh o eventu ally succumbed to Hu ffman' s per sistence. A lap later, Huffman squared off a tight righ t-hand turn and squeezed b y Lawren ce an d moved into the lead. Hu ffman cru ised fro m th en on, winning th e first 250cc heat race of the year. LaRocco, who had gotten off to one of his typical midpack starts, spent the entire race working his way up throu gh th e pack. He fina lly zap ped Lawr en ce on th e las t lap , making the final finishing order H uffm an , LaRocco, Lawrence an d Ward . Those who failed to transfer included s u ch n o tables as Emi g, Craig a n d Brooks, who crashed back to 12th.