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/127779
MOTOCROSS All Japan Motocross Championship R n :T i l . Community Land ou d1 .aJlml iosevich SWee s ~-------- (Left) Jeff Matlasev lch (center) started his defense of his All Japan Motocross title off on the right foot by win ning both motos on his factory Kawasaki. (Above) The Kawasaki Matiasevlch rode to victo'ry is reported to have an all-new motor. (Below left) Ron TIchenor (4) was expected to give Mati asevich a race , but crashes.kept the factory Suzuki rider out of the hunt. He fin ished fourth overall. By Shlntaro Urashlma TAJIMI, JAPA,"l, MAR. 31 efend ing All Ja p an Motocross Champion Jeff Matiasevich dominated the opening ro und of th e series by w inning bo th m ot os. Af te r hea v y rai n dren ch ed th e facility th e previous day, M at iasevich hand le d the mud d y tra ck w it h ease. M ati ase vi ch ' s m ain concer n w as former cha mp Ro n Tiche no r, but Tichenor w ould not be a factor on this day, as cras hes in both m ot os releg ated him to fou rth overall. In th e firs t 30-min u te- p lus-two-la p m ot o, Ryui chiro Tak aharna, ab oard a ve ry tri ck , alum inum-fram ed RC Honda, took th e early lead, but Matiasevich w as right behind him. Close behind " C h icken " w a s another RC-mounted rider Takamasa Takagi, Yam ah a' s Tetsum i Mitsu vasu an d Tichenor. Tichen or fell on the second lap and w ould never be a fact or for Mati ase vich. It took Matiase vich seven revolutions D ..... I-< ....... 0.. -e 28 before finally passing Takahama, and once into the lead, Matiasevich's p lace out in front was never challenged. Takahama would go on to finish second, followed by Takagi, and Mitsuyasu. Tichenor had to settle for sixth. The second m oto was even easier for Matiasevich who took over the lead on the second lap and ran away with h is seco nd win of the day. Tichenor started the race off in sixth bu t slammed into a d o wned Takahama on one of the RC H ondas. As a result of the altercation, Ti ch en o r su ffe re d a fla t tire bu t sti ll p u lled out a fifth . Seco nd in th e m ot o w ent to Tak agi , wh o lan d ed seco n d ove rall. Third overall w ith a 4-6 w as the Yamah a rid er Mits u y a s u , " w h ile Ticheno r an d Takah am a round ed o u t th e top five overall. 1:\ Tajim i Community Land Tajlm i, Japan Results: March 31, 1996 O/A : 1. Jt.-.ff Matia sevich (Kaw ); 2. Takamasa Takagi (Ho n); 3. Tetsumi Mitsu ya su (Ya m ); 4. Ron Ticheno r (Suz ); 5. Ryuichiro Takahama (Hon ); 6. Yusuke Sasaki (Han). (Abov e) Takamasa Takagi rode thi s ultra-trick RC Honda to second ove rall. (Below) Matiasevi ch (1) gets the jump at the start of the seco nd moto.