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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127782
SUPERCROSS
AMA S rcrossSeries
u
Round 14:T sWorldDome
ran
"Now that everything's off me , next
week ('II be riding a whole lot better,"
sa id McGrath , who wa s constantlv
being hounded by the press, promoter's
and fans in St. Lou is. "We 're going outdoors and I've got a whole new title to
go after. I know it's going to be Jeff and I
.battling all over again, throughou t the
whole series just like we always do .
Maybe things will calm down a little
.' now."
'.
The 125cc race featured crashes by
just about every ride r on the trac k
" except race winner Kevin Windha m of
'. Baton Rouge, Louis iana, and runner-up
James Do bb of De rb ysh ire, Engla nd.
Their first- and seco nd-p lace fin ishes
ahead of Ten nessee's Na than Ramsey
and the rest of th e 22-rid er pack gave
the West Regio n br aggin g rights in the
last East-West mat chu p o f the yea r. It
wa s .W in d h a m ' s fo u r t h 125cc m ain
event win of th e year a nd gave him a
substantial lead going into the .125cc
West Regi on fina le in three weeks in
Denver. The 125cc Eas t Region Cham pionship was clinched last week by Team
Spiltfire/Pro Circuit-Kawasaki's Mickael Pichon, who finished a crash-caused
seventh in St. Louis.
A boisterous crowd of 36,717 turned
out for the first-ever St. Louis Supercr o ss . That number is even more
impressive when placed up against the
3S,OOO-plus people that turned out for
After 13 stra ight races, somebody besides
you-know-who stands atop the podium at
an AMA Supercross. Tea m Kawsak i's Jeff
Emig broke the record-brea king str eak
with a st rong ride at the Trans World
Dome.
By Davey Coo mbs
Photos by Kinney Jones
sr.LOUIS, MO, APR. 27
he longest streak in the history of
AMA Pro Racing came to a fitting
end on Satu rday night when Team
Ka w a sak i' s Jeff Emig beat Team
Honda/1-S00-collect /Fox Racing's Jeremv McGrath for the firs t time in th e
1996 AMA Supercross Series . The defeat
of McGrath came after a tremendous 13race w inning strea k that saw McGrath
brea k all kind s of records, including
most consecutive wins and AMA Supercross ti ties - he now has fo u r 250cc
cha mpionships in a row . Em ig was
absolutely ecsta tic th at h e held off
McGra t h a nd a n equ ally d etermined
Mike laRocco of Team Suzuki in what
had to have been th e best su perc ross
race in years.
"That was d e finit el y a bi g w in ,"
Ernig sa id o nce th e victory se ttle d in .
"We've been working so hard all yea r,
myself and my team and all the guys
aro und me. We all deserved this and it's
been a long time coming. It feels so good
to be th e guy to en d that strea k . I've
wanted to do this for so long."
It was only fittin g that the closest race
of the whole series would be the first one
that McGrath lost. The four-time series
cha m pion did not give up his miraculous winni ng streak without a fight. In
fact, St. Louis might have been the hardest effort McGrath has put in all year .
T
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