SUPERCROSS
Coliseum
AliA SUPERCROSS SERIES
...
rr
lJ
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(Len) It was supposed
to have been Jeremy
McGrath winning on
the Suzuki, but It was
instead Greg
Albertyn who scored
a surprising win at
theAMA
Supercross Series
opener at the LA
Coliseum.
(Below) Jeremy
McGrath (1) made
his Suzuki debut
at Los Angeles,
but It wasn't a
very successful
one. McGrath
was used lor
target practice
by his lonner
Honda
teammate Steve
Lamson.
Lamson
crashed Into
McGrath twice
In one lap.
Here, Lamson
passes
McGrath for a
heat-race win.
By Kit Palmer
Photos by Kinney Jones
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6
LOS ANGELES, CA, JAN. 11
eam Suzuki's Greg Albertyn
is a quick learner. When he
heard that four-time AMA
Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath
would be pitted alongside him and the
rest of the Suzuki squaa for the 1997
season, the three-time World Champion
said he thought it would be good to
have a supercross champion on the
team. "He's the best supercross rider in
the world," Albertyn said. "You can
learn a lot from him."
Obviously, Albertyn has been taking
a lot of noteS, as he scored a surprising
win at the AMA Supercross Series open-
er in front of 37,7
Angeles Memoria
tyn, the win was
ainly long overdue
and surely comes as a relief to him, to
his team and to the many fans who have
come to almost feel sorry for the former
World Champion who has suffered
more tjlan his share of bad luck since
coming to America two years ago. This
was Albertyn's first major supercross
win in the United States, and it was the
first for Suzuki since 1991 when Mike
LaRocco rode an' RM to victory in Las
Vegas.
"It feels awesome," an elated Albertyn said moments after taking the checkered flag. '1t was the longest 20 laps of
my life. This is such a break after working so hard for so long, working my butt
off, but man, I finally got it. It's wonderful."
In the pits, Albertyn was greeted by
tears and hugs from the entire Suzuki
staff, perhaps the biggest squeeie coming from his team manager Roger
DeCoster and his mechanic [an Harrison. Even people from rival teams came
over to shake hands, hug and congratulate the likable South African.
"Especially after a day like this, it
(Albertyn's win) makes things so fantastic and so good," DeCoster said. '1 don't
