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/127786
Africa, fell for a third and final tim e in the second moto after pushing through to third. The Suzuki pilo t was in the best form he's shown ye t in America and was less disappointed in lo sing the ove rall than he was thrilled with finally winning a race. . "Now I know that I can win in Am eric a," sa id A lber ty n a fte r th e se co n d mo to. "I won the first moto cleanly, and I fee l th at I wo u ld' ve won the second h ad I n o t m a d e a fe w mistakes . But that's racing and I'm jus t happy to have been in th e ru nning finally . I feel that my luck is going to start changing now." Albertyn ende d up fourth overa ll with a 1-5 scor e, while Yamaha's Doug Henry was a very imp ressive fourth both times o u i fo r fi ft h overa ll - ano th er "b es t showing of 1996." Win d ha m was returning to High Point for the first time since his spectacul ar pro Natio nal debut back in 1994, w hen he led a w ild first m o to until halfway thro ug h the last lap on a privateer Kaw as aki. (H e was injured before High Poin t last year.) That rid e earne d him a huge thro ng of Pennsyl vania supp orters an d attracted th e attention of Team Yam ah a, who s ig ne d him la ter that su m me r. Now Windham is in the midd le of the best groo ve of his caree r. The Louis iana nat ive has been on a terrific hot streak since finishing thi rd in the 2S0cc class at the Charlotte SX in late Ap ril. Sin ce tha t ti m e he' s w on two , my McGrath. After stopping McGrath's record run of 13 s tr a igh t su percross wins last month, Emig was abl e to put a halt to McGrath' s run of six straight 250cc National race wins dating back to last y ear. McGrath actually fi nis he d - thi r d overall w ith his 5-1 scores, as laRocco put in his best ou tdoor ride of th e yea r fo r second ove rall w ith 2-3 scores . Th e win fell into Emig's hands w hen Alber tyn, the long-frustra ted three-time Wo rl d M X Cham p ion from So u th 12Scc su percros ses (St. Louis and Denver) on his wa y to clin ching the 12Scc West Region SX title and two 12Scc Nationals (Glen Helen and High Point). His two National wins have him back in the points chase af ter missing the serieso p ene r back in M arch with a broken arm . . "I don't even like to think abo ut the titl e or the cha mpions hip or a ny thin g like that, becaus e I don 't want the pressu re to build, but I know that Steve Lamson cam e from way back last summer and got the title, so I'm thinking in the back of my mind that maybe I can do it too," sa id Wind ha m, who s till tr ail s Lamson by 48 po ints even a fter win ni ng two Natio n a ls in a row . "Eve ryo ne is going o n va cation now, but I'm going righ t back to training for the next two w eeks - I still go t a lot of points to make up." Windham was a happy winner, and so was 12Scc runner-up Scott Sheak, who wo n the firs t mo to and th en finished seve nth in the seco nd to hold on for seco n d overa ll. Lik e Windham , Sheak beca me a hero at High Point with his bid for an upset win in the first moto of a previou s National. In 1995 the New Yor ke r fo ug h t with H ond a of Troy' s Mike Brown for the w in before his pri va teer Su zu ki se ized in the waning momen ts of th e race. As irony w ould h ave it, one year later Sheak spent the first moto ba ttlin g with anot her Honda (Above ) Jeremy McGrath (1) gets the jump on Jimmy Bullon (100), Larry Ward (6), Jeff Emig (2), Brian Swink (23), Rich Taylor (48) and Doug Henry (15) at the star! of the 250cc Natio nal. (Right) Spoiler Jeff Emlg put the stops on McGrath's outdoor win streak. Emlg went 3-2 for the overall win at t he High Point Natio nal. 15