Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.S P R R S Round2:Metrodome UE C OS . AMA S upercrossS eries the way repea ted ly in th e ear ly lap s of the 15-lap contest. Bu t each tim e, th e Lou isian an responded with a block pass of his own, making it clear that he was not intimid ated by the number one on Pichon ' s machine. By the fifth lap, Windham had gained control of the lead for good and d id his best McGrath impression as he romped away with a convincing eightsecond margin of victory. "This feels just great:' said Windham of his first-career 125cc supercross win . "Last year was like a learning season for me, and now I know that I have the confidence to win . After Pichon stuffed me a couple of tim es, I knew to watch the insides, and that I wo ul d have to bang him back. I don' t know wha t happened after the fifth lap or so - he must've gotten tire d, becau se I ne ver saw him again." Pichon hel d on to second in what ended up being a lonely ride, as Suzuki's Timmy Ferry could do little to close the gap between himself and the Frenchman . W ed firs t turn and in to the long whoop section that followed only a few feet out of the corn er . Crai g ga ted second and blitzed past Bradshaw in the whoops, and for all intents and purposes, the race for the lead was over. Though Brad shaw stayed in Craig's sh ad ow, the leader never so much as bobbled and went on to score the win. Greg Albertyn suffered a seventh-place start bu t caught fire as he raced up to third, but a miscalculation in the whoops sent him flying off th e track just long enough to allow Steve Lamson to sneak past . Lamson had suffered an even worse start than Albertyn, and both riders wer e content to ride home in third and fourth, qu al ifyin g positions in hand. Heat two was jam-packed with factory riders, and m any wer e su rprised to see severa l privateers send the salaried riders to the semis. Naturally, McGrath nabbed the holesho t and pull ed hi s usual d isappearing act, le av in g the entire Kawasaki tea m and Suz u ki's ' LaRocco and Ezra Lusk to batt le over the remaining positions. Un fortuna tely for h e n Phil La w re n ce (rig ht) crossed the finish line seco nd at the series-openi ng O rlando Supercross, some felt that th e lanky ri de r from Men ifee, California, had lucke d in to the position. After all, how could a genuine privateer finis h ahead of all bu t one facto ry ride r? In Min nea p oli s, however, Lawrence proved to bo th his doubters a nd to hi mself - that he possesses the speed and abili ty to run with the best. La w r e nc e s t rugg le d e arl y in the eve ning, as he crashed in his heat ra ce and wa s forced to ride a semi. A poor sta rt - abou t 14th - in the m ain didn't help, but Lawrence put the hammer down and worked up to as high as fou rth before finish ing sixth. Not as goo d as third, bu t he passed many a fast rider this weekend en rout e to sixth. Most of Lawrence's ca ree r in the past has been riddled with injuries, including the two seasons that he raced lor Team Suzuki. After finish in g se co n d in the Western Regional 125cc Championship in ' 93, Lawren ce sat out most of '94 with injuries and found himself without a rid e in '95. "I was actually healthy throughout last year," said Lawrence. "Bu t I a nd ended u p a n eq ually solo third. Beh in d the top th ree the action was exciting, as Yamaha's John Dowd, SplitFire /Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider David Pingree and Suzuki's James Dobb battled over four th. Dobb looked to ha ve contr ol of the spot by lap nine, but when Pin gree ' s teammate Chad Ped e r son crashed and was knocked unconscious ove r the east-side triple jump, Dobb slowed dramatically for the yellow caution flags and watched helplessly as Dowd and Pingree sailed past and on to fourth and fifth, respectively. "I' ve bee n fined in the past for not slowing down sufficiently," said Dobb, who continued to single the obsta cle while hi s riv a ls tr ipled . " I was o nly doing as I should have - but they kept on jumping the trip le in sp ite of the yellow flags." No protests were filed by either Dobb or Suz uki Team Ma nager Roge r DeCoster. Pichon conti nues to lead the Eastern Regional Series point stand ings ahead of Ferry and Dowd, whil e Windham leads the Wes tern div ision over Pingree and Dobb. 250cc 6 Bradsh aw was the fastest off the line in the first lO-lap heat race and led the cha rge through the unu su al riglrt-hand- Team Honda 01 Troy's Micha el Ray Craig rode exceptionally well in the Metrodome, but was robbed 01 third place when he hit a lapper on the last lap. wasn 't in race mode. 1 was too worried about ge tting hurt, and wasn't hanging it out. Then one day it came to me : I was talking with Steve Lamson and he said something like, 'Oh yea h, yo u used to beat me all the time : That m ad e me think - I beat him in the past, why not now? I got mad at m yself be cause I realized that I was accepting getting beat by th e guys. se "Now I kn ow that I can go jus t as fast. if not faster, than any of the factory gu ys. I th ink that I've proved tha t in these past two races . I'm taking it race by race. but I think th at I can finish the Supercross Series in the top five overall. no problem." Lawrence's race team is interesting, as the four-man squad that also includes Buddy Antunez, Denny Stephenson and Dav ey Castillo ha s a major o uts ide sponso r: Great Wes te rn Bank. Lawren ce's bik es are provided by Kawasaki of Mexico, and Enzo Racing. Pro Circuit, Innovation Sports, Xtrem e, Shoei, Scott, SMP, Alpinesta rs, Maxima, Bridgestone, Unif ilter , Regina , VP . Renthal, Emig Racing and Paint Can Designs round out his spo ns or list. Though he at one point in his career raced works Suzukls. Lawrence feels .tha t he is currently aboa rd the bes t eq uipmen t 01 his career. "The bikes are really di ale in lor m e right now . This d is th e bes t tha t I've eve r had a bike wo rking," said Law rence. " Ross (Maeda) from Enzo Racing has spent a lot of tim e tes ting w ith me, and the bike is wo rking better than any th ing I've ridden . I'm actually running s tandard en gines, with the exce p tio n 01 Pro Circu it pipes. The mod ified mo tors I test e were a lo t faster, but the stock po wer band d suited my sty le better. I kn ow tha t I' m underpowered in com pariso n to a bike like McGrath' s, but I think that the rest of my bik e is pretty close." Followin g the Minneapolis roun d, Lawrence sits third in the se ries po int standings behind Jerem y McGrath and Damon Brad shaw. them , however, Noleen's Kyle Lewi s, Re-Claim/Honda of Houston rider Jeff Dement and Team Xtreme /PJl /Atomic 22/BumsviJIe Yamaha's Jimm y Butt on had other ideas . Together, the three priva teers made their factory riva ls look silly as they raced to second, third and fourth, in that order. Lew is s howed impressi ve speed in th e wh oop s and crossed the finish line six seconds behind McGrath. Dement a nd Button woul d join them in the main. Honda of Troy's Brian Swink m ad e up for his poor heat-race showing in the ope ni ng six- lap semi wi th a so lid w in o ver Lawrence, Ch ap a rr al' s La rry Brooks, Team Xtrem e / PJ1 / A to mi c 22 /Burnsville Yamaha' s Sha wn Kalos and MSR/ Applied /FMF / Wiseco/ Shock The rapy / Silkolene-sponsored Donald Upton. All five riders would go to the main . Swink celebrated his win with a few can-cans 0;' the final lap, and the capacity crow d ate it up. Emig led the way in the second semi, b ut Hu ffman smoked pa st him in the w hoops o n the o pen ing la p a nd ra n away wi th an uncont ested win. Great Western Ban k' s Denny St ephenson opened qu ite a few eyes as he scrapped with Emig and Hu ghes throughout mos t of the race, forcing them to take a back sea t to his private Kawasaki. In the end, however, Emig and Hughes managed to sneak past, but Stephenson easily fended off the charges of fifth-placed laRocco. Mike Brown fina lly put the bad luck that had plagued him all night beh ind hi m in the four-lap LCQ and m arked the thi rd time of th e ev ening that a Honda of Troy rider came across the finish li ne fi r st. Great Western Bank' s Buddy Antunez contr olled second until the final turn, when a hard -ch arging Lusk forced him to dive to the inside to protect his lin e. Th e cro w d g roaned ' when Antunez lost his front end and fell, allowing Lusk to score the last tran sfer positio n of the evening. Lamson ripped off the line at the start of the 20-lap main e vent a nd led McGra th, Hu gh es, Crai g, Alb ertyn, Brad shaw a n d LaRocco through th e whoops. "I was thin king, 'Yeah, finall y - a good start:" said Lamson. "In Orlando I got a terri ble start and pu mped up trying too hard to catch up." Lamson's lead came to an end on the second lap in a tricky jump section west of the start straight. The 125cc National Champion bobbled and McGrath nearly landed on him as he sailed past and into the lead . "I saw Lammy bobb le, and I had to ttirn the bike in the air," said McGrat h. "He was riding good, though , and I was pretty sure he could stay in second." Lamson had every intention of holding onto second and makin g it a Red Rid er sweep, but th e front end o f hi s CR250 plowed violentl y in the sand pi~ on lap two and he was spit over the handlebars. "I just lost the front end, big time: ' said a disappointed Lamson, wh o ended up 14th. "The handlebars hit me in the che st and I knocke d th e wind ou t of m yse lf . It took forev e r to get going again." With Lamson ' s d em ise and McGr ath' s inevitable d ep arture to th e front. Albertyn took over control of secon d and had Craig, Hugh es ana Brad sha w hot on his tail. Slow ly but su rely, the South African w ould fade and eventu ally finish 11th. Still, th e th ree-time World Champ tu rned in what was withou t a doubt the most impressive ind oor laps of his short Ameri can career in Minneap olis. Craig controlled second on laps five thr ou gh 13, with Bra ds haw b rea th ing dow n his neck th e whole time. Brad shaw actually p assed Crai g in th e whoops on lap 13, but the Honda rider struck back almost instantly in the next section of jum ps. "I wasn't gonna roll over and give it to him," said Craig. "I wanted to put up a fight and get it back." Bradshaw took the spo t for good on lap 14 in the third tum and by tha t time, laRocco had moved into fourth. laRocco shadowed Cr aig until the last lap, when th e tri o came upon Cha parral's La rry Bro oks . Seeing th e blue flag s, Brooks moved to allow Bradshaw past. Craig chose the wrong line and clipped Brook's rear wheel, allowing LaRocco to sneak past on the outside. McGrath crossed the finish line four seco nds ahead of Bra d shaw, LaRocco and Cr aig. Hug hes and Lawrence follo w e d shortly th e reafte r. The two Kawasaki riders did indeed mix it u p with LaRocco for several lap s, but wh en they came together on the last lap at the sta rt of the san d pit, Lawrence nearly fell and Hu ghes lost enough of his morrrentum to allow laRocco to slip awa y. Emig rod e an uneventful race and finished seventh , well behind Lawrence but com fortably ahead of Swi nk and Huff-

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