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/127783
MOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 1251250cc MX series Rounds 2/2:Hangtown By Davey Coombs Photos by Kinney Jones "W SACRAMENTO, CA, MAY5 ell, here we go aga in!" That' s how Team H onda / 1-800 -Col lect / Fox Racing' s Jeremy McGrath explained his efforts at the Hangtown Classic Mo tocross Na tiona ls, his firs t race since his record -br eakin g 17race winning strea k ended. McGrath, 24, completely d om ina ted the 250cc class and s howe d no han gover effec ts from his only loss of the seaso n last wee k at the St. Lou is Sup ercross. "I ca n ' t le t th a t bother m e a t all becau se this is a wh ole new series an d m a yb e new wi n n ing s trea k:' jok ed McGrath after swee ping both motos on the rough and choppy Hangtown track . "Every one is starting out fresh an d all that other stu ff is behind us ." McGrath led eve ry lap of both motos to win his seco nd Nation al in as man y 1996 ou tings. His expected rivals Jeff Emig, Mike laRocco and Greg Albertyn were all on the gas at Hangtown but bad starts and bad luck kept any of them from giving McG r a t h to o much pressu r e . Team Kawasaki' s Em ig ran seco nd ove ra ll with a 2-4 score, while Suzuki's laRocco ran 4-3 for third . Albertyn, the never lucky South African import, might hav e given McGrath the most challenge had (Right) Jeremy McGrath (1) cuts underneath Doug Henry (15) at the start 01 the 250cc National at Hangtown. McGrath wen t on to win both motos l or his second stra ight 250cc Nationa l victory. (Below) Steve Lamson returned to act ion alter his l oot Inj ury. The delending champ won both 125cc motos In I ront 01 his homet own crow d. he not suffered a broken clutch ro d while running second early in the firs t ยท moto. Albertyn came back froin a terrible sta rt in the second race to finish second, but McGra th was long gone by the ti me th e form er t h ree-tim e Wor ld Cha mpion cleared the rest of the pack. The Han gt own Classic is basically the hom etown race of defending 125cc National Cham pion Steve Lamso n, w ho is McGrat h' s Team Honda / 1-800-Col lect /Fox Racirig team mate. The Pollock Pines, California, nat ive wo n this event back in 1992 but has had some trouble since, including last year's no-sho w due to an injury he received in the supercross series. No such bad luck this time for the beloved local hero . "This seaso n has sta rted a lot bette r than last yea r," said Lamson, who won the 1995 125cc Nati onal Championship even after scoring zero points in three of the first four motos. "I was getting a little bit nervou s coming in after not racing for six weeks . I kn ew 1 was ready but 1 was still nervous ." Lamso n swept both motos for his seco nd straight win of '96, comin g under early pressure each time from SplitFire /Pro Circu it Kawasaki's Mickael Pichon and then holding off