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/127768
w hen I w as in th e air ov er th e trip le, though. I could have picked up the pace if I needed to." And just wh o were "those gu ys" tha t McGrath referred to? They we re Yamaha's Damon Brad sh aw, Suzuki's M ike La Rocco a n d H o n d a of T ro y ' s Mike Cra ig , w h o all ba ttl ed tooth and na il over the runner-up posi tion right to the bitter end . After Brad sh aw finis hed thi rd at the Orlando season opener last week, some claimed th a t h is performance w a s a fluke, pointing out the bad luck suffered by many of his competitors . Tho ugh the o rth Carolinian still lacks his u lt raaggressive, way over-the-bars style of old, the recen tly unretired Yamaha rider silenced his remainin g do ub ters with yet another top finish. This tim e, Bradshaw worked up from a sixth-p lace start , passing riders like 125cc National Champion Steve Lamson, three-time Worl d Champion Gre g Alb ertyn, Ryan Hughes an d Craig en rou te to his runner-up finish: "I'm excited to be up fron t; the racing was good," said Brad shaw. "It's a hell of a lot more com petitive now than it was w hen I retired - I had to ride my hardest the whole time. I'm still not as strong as I could be, though, so I know that there's some room for improvement." An ot h er 'ri d e r so me d oub ted was Suzuk i's newest recrui t, forme r 250 an d 500cc National Champion LaRocco. Finis h in g fif th a t th e se ries opene r was enough to p ro ve his de sire to win followi ng a pain ful off-season knee su rgery (Above) Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw (28) raced to second in the Metradome, . tu rni ng in hi s best performance since returning from ear ly retirement. Ryan Hughes (5) and Mike laRocco (8) finished fifth and thi rd , respectively. (Left) Phil Lawrence (13) started 14th , but at one po int in the race passed " Presi dent" Mike laRocco (8) fo r fourth. Law rence dropped to sixth at th e fi ni sh. and a switchjn machinery, but LaRocco's third-place fini sh in th e Dome serves further noti ce that the Ind ianan is still a force to be reckoned with . laRocco suffe red his usu al poor start but wo rked u p quickly and spent the final 12 laps of the race chasing after third-placed Craig - ye t an other rider w h o some felt was past his p rime. A last-lap ru n-in with a lappe d rid er cause d Craig to bobble eve r so sl ig htly, an d th a t was all LaRocco needed to pounce his way onto the podium. "Thi rd is better than fifth, and I' m happy to be impro ving. But yo u kno w me - I'm not really happy unl ess I get to race with McGrath," sai d LaRocco . "1 did m y us u a l bad -st a rt -an d -catch -u p deal, and let him get away again. Craig was riding well and if it hadn ' t been for the lapper I don 't know if I w ould ha ve go tte n h im . Time wa s ru nn ing ou t." Craig wa s fu rio us wh en he firs t cro sse d th e fin is h line and threw his hel met to the g rou nd, bu t a fter some thou g ht, de cide d tha t he wa s p roud of th e fine ride th at he turned in . The HoT rid er started well an d controll ed seco nd for over ha lf of the race before suc cum bing to Bradshaw, b ut he fough t b ack and stayed glued to the Yamaha rider's rear fende r and rema ined in con tention for second until the aforementioned last-lap run-in w ith a slowe r rider tha t left him in fourth. "1 was ridi ng stro ng, not even getting t ir ed , ". sai d Craig. "My bike is awesome, and everything wa s goi ng good. I w as so upset when LaRocco got by me - it was like I had done all tha t hard wo rk and lost it in the end ." A few b ike len g ths b eh in d the tr io ca me Kaw asaki's Hu ghes in fifth, an d Great West ern Ban k ' s Ph il Law ren ce - th e pri vateer wh o shocke d the masses wit h a second -place finish at the series opener the week Hu gh es and b e fore. Lawren ce were righ t in the th ick of th ings with Brad sha w, laRocco and Craig at seve ral po ints d uring the race, but in the end were spaced apart a few seconds back. Lawrence backed up his previous showing wi th a credible ride that saw him start 14th and move up to as high as fourth before being stuffed violently by Hughes and dropping to sixth at the finis h. "1 w a s o n fire, " said Law rence, pleased with his ride . "1 came from way back, and I actuall y had laRocco passed for fourth for about three seconds, but I bobbled a bit and let Hughes get by me, too. That's just Ryno - he's an aggressive guy. lwou ld 've stuffed h im too in the sam e situ ation, there's no hard feelings." Jeff Emig, Brian Swin k, Damon Huffman and Ezra Lusk roun ded out the top 10 at a distance. As is usu a l for th is ti m e o f ye a r, McGr ath lea d s th e p oints rac e w ith a perfect SO. Bradsha w is second wit h 42, Lawrence is third with 37. In the fir s t com bi ne d Ea stern a n d Western Regional 125cc Series event of th e ye ar, Ya m ah a 's Ke v in W indham dea lt defend ing Eastern Regiona l Cha mpion Mickael Pichon a heavy b low by beati ng him in a flat-out, elbow-to-elbow battle. Fresh off his runaway win at the season opener, Pich on looked ever so confident as he stuffed Windh am out of 5