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/127800
my 'speed and training up for the Motocross des Nations. Kevin just had some better lines, bu t I'm telling you, T want to win the second moto." At the drop of the gate in the second moto, Lamson again got the jump with Huffman, Windham, Craig, Pederson, 'F & S Suzuki's Davey Yezek, Bromley Suzuki's Barry Carsten, Chaparral's Michael Brandes and Carmichael following. Left.in the dirt back in the first turn was Suzuki's Ezra Lusk, who would only recover to 23rd place in his last major ride with Suzuki after being - with the company since he was a 13year-old minibiker. Windham passed Craig for second quickly, but Craig's season was about to end with a big crash on one of the long hills. That left Huffman all alone in third again, a spot he would hold all the way to the finish line. Dowd would move.up onship, I wanted to give the fans a good race and T wanted to win really badly. It just didn't work out that way today, because Kevin wanted to do win just as much. He just didn't make any mistakes," The Steel City track is always the longest on the national circuit, and even though the track was shortened somewhat this year, the best lap times stiJI measured an unofficial best of 2:42, which was registered by both pairs of the lead fights: Emig-versus-McGrath and Windham-versus-Lamson. 125cc NATIONAL If the 125cc riders felt a little left out in the media blitz that heralded the arrival of Emig and McGrath's 250cc battle going into the final round of the 'season, they more than made up for it in good, close racing. Coming out of the first left-handed hairpin turn in the lead was Lamson, followed by Honda of Troy's late-peaking Mike Craig, Windham, Splitfire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Chad Pederson and Yamaha's John Dowd. At the end of the first lap the leaders were Lamson, Craig, Windham, Pederson, Kawasaki factory rider Damon Huffman, CTi2/Great Western Bank's Buddy Antunez, Team Green's rookie pro Brock Sellards, Suzuki Support's Scott Sheak, Honda of Troy's Mike Brown and Team Chaparral's Brian Deegan. Child prodigy Ricky Carmichael was just inside the top 10 in his first pro start but on the second lap he got into flIl iIladvised elbowing match with Brian Deegan going around the mechanic's corner and fell when he got to the downed motorcycle of Mike Brown, who crashed on his own. Carmichael would end up 16th in his first pro moto. Windham went by Craig quickly and they hit a downhill ski jump just off Lamson's flank and nearly landed on the number-one Honda. However, Windham was able to get to the outside of the upcoming off-cambered sweeper and then dive in under Lamson as the Honda went low. That gave Windham the lead, but Lamson wasn't letting 'go, and the two pre-race favorites checked out together and began winding their way around the long Steel City track as if they were synchronized riders, occasionally swapping the lead, much to the delight of the huge crowd that turned out for the event. A little further back, Dowd was trying to make passes and points in his bat- (Above) The moment of truth: Emlg (2) grabs the holeshot in the championshipdeciding, second 250cc mota, while McGrath (hidden behind Emig) gets mired In the pack. (Right) Yamaha's Kevin Windham (38) battled his way past 125cc National Champion Steve Lamson (1) to win at Steel City. Windham topped both motos. tie with teammate Windham for the runner-up spot in the final 125cc standings. But Dowd charged a wet, slick sweeper too quickly and had both wheels slide out from under him. He lost a half-dozen spots in the crash and spent the rest of the moto recovering to fifth place. By the end of the second lap, Windham and Lamson shared a lead of 10 seconds on third-place Mike Craig. Huffman moved his Kawasaki up to fourth while a three-way battle for fifth developed among quasi-privateers Buddy Antunez, Chad Pederson and Scott Sheak. In the end the tally would 'show that Antunez bettered Sheak and Pederson, in that order, but all three were passed by' the hard-charging Dowd. Craig tried to hold off Huffman for as long as possible, but it just didn't work out for the controversial but popular Honda of Troy rider. And once by Craig for third, Huffman knew he wasn't going any further. "Lamson and Windham were long gone by the time I got to third, so I thought I would just stay thWe and wait for the second moto," said Huffman, who should be regarded right behind Lamson and Windham as a pre-season 125cc title favorite next year. "Maybe if I can start with them I will be able to go with them. There was no catching them in that first race:' Indeed, Windham and Lamson put on a remarkable show with their precision laps, never getting much further from each other than you are to this newspaper. Lamson's mechanic Mike Gossalaar was writing "Wear Him Out" on his signal board, while Alley Sernar told Windham "Relax, Breathe & Flow" lap after lap. As it turned out, Windham kept his composure and had plenty of speed as he raced under the checkered flag, Lamson still right on his tall pipe, though just after the 22-minute mark he made a mistake and had to slowly close a four-second gap that formed as a result. "That was one of my best rides ever," said Windham, who admitted hopil}g his late-season surge would take some of the headlines off of Lamson for the first time all summer. "You can't make any mistakes when you're racing with Steve Lamson because he's not going to make any. I waited all year long to start with him and have a race like that:' "What a great race!" Lamson·said just after taking off his helmet. "I know I didn't win, but it really felt good to race with someone like that. r had a perfect race but I guess Kevin rode a little better." When asked if his inspiration wasn't quite as high since his huge points lead already assured him the championship, Lamson said motivation wasn't a problem today. "I really, really want to win this race because I don't wan t anyone to forget who the champion is, and I want to keep to fourth while Pederson rode to a strong fifth-place finish. Carmichael was much smoother than he was in the first moto and scored sixth, while Brown, Brandes, a poor-starting Antunez and 'Manchester Honda rider Tony Lorusso rounded out the top 10 at the end. For 20 minutes Lamson led a very aggressive Windham around the Steel City track at speeds that matched the 250 riders. Several times the kid got up alongside Windham but he never found an opening to make the pass. And although they banged a few times, neither of the fair-playing riders seemed willing to take the other out. Finally, with about 10 minutes to go, Lamson left the door open and Windham streaked into the lead. Lamson tried to get him back right away but Windham never missed a beat all the way to the checkered flag, assuring himself of the overall and the vice championship for the season. "That was just about as fast as I've 0\ ever gone," Windham said after his ,..-( frantic second-moto win. "I tried everything to get around him but I wasn't going to take him out." When asked if he was setting up Lamson up the first 25 minutes of the race, Windham said "No way. You don't just decide to pass Steve Lamson at some point and then pass, him. I was trying every lap of every corner. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes, so when he does you better be right there because you won't see another 2R 7