Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

arms pumped up because I was nervous because I fell. I just wasn't as sharp after I crashed. Otherwise, I felt really good, like myoId self. My bike was excellent, I was riding pumped. I have to thank Gary SemicS"(McGrath's trainer) for that. Gary and I had a long talk before the main event. He saw that I was missing something... You know, with everything happening, the confusion and all this, it's really hard to get back on the right path. We had a long talk about that starting Monday, it's back on." Perhaps the ride of the night belonged to Team Kawasaki's thirdplace finisher Ryan Hughes. Hughes got tangled up in a first-turn pileup and remounted at the rear of the pack. By the end of the first lap, he was in ninth and steadily working his way to the front. "The last two weekends I really wasn't in control of what happened," Hughes said of his disappointing finishes at the previous two rounds. "I got sick, the bike just wasn't working right, but all the guys at Kawasaki have been working their butts off and the bike is now working great. I'm happy with third. I wish 1 could've won, I definitely had the speed." :rhat he did. At times, Hughes' laps times surpassed those being turned in by the leaders. Late in the race, Hughes had McGrath in his sights but just ran out of time before he could mount a serious challenge. "At the end, I saw Jeremy. 1 said to myself, 'Okay, man, 1 can get second,''' Hughes said. "And 1 saw Emig there, too,.and I was like, 'Man, 1 can maybe win this thing.' But [ made a few mistakes and that made my arms get a little tight." Ward was also among the leaders at times. At one point, he ran as high as third, but after getting passed by Hughes, Ward would end up finishing a strong fourth. His consistent placings so far have put him in second place in the series point standings. Fifth went to Team Suzuki's Mike LaRocco, who started the race in seventh but just couldn't qujte catch up to the lead group. And what about the previous-round winner Doug Henry? The series points leader was one of many riders who was involved in a first-turn pileup, which also included such riders as Steve lamson, Damon Bradshaw, Mike Kiedrowski and Hughes. Henry completed the first lap in 17th place but determination and just plain fast riding earned the factory Yamaha rider a respectable sixthplace finish. Yamaha's Henry still leads the serie points chase with 62, followed by Ward with 54. Dropping to third is Albertyn with 49, while McGrath has moved up to fourth with 48. Emig's win puts him right back in the hunt with 47. After a thoroughly frustrating ride the previous week at the LA Supercross, where he spent almost as much time on his head a he did on two wheels, Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham rebounded with a strong win in the 125cc feature. The win was similar to his openinground victory, also in LA, where he had to fight off a pesky Robbie Reynard early in the race before breaking free and pulling away for the win. But in Arizona, it wasn't Reynard who gave him fits early on. Instead it was Honda of Troy's Stephane Roncada, who matched Windham's speed from turn to turn for haif the race. Windham and the Frenchman. were in a league all their own as the duo simply left the rest of the pack behind while battling up front. Windham set a blister- halfway point, he was already in fourth, then a lap later, he had control of thjrd. By that time, though, Windham and Roncada were long gone, so Reynard had to settle for third, ahead of Yamaha rider Cory Keeney. With his win, Windham moves back into the West Coast 125cc Series .points. lead, but not by much. The defending champ holds a slim three-point advantage over ReyIiard, 63-60, while Pro Circui~/SplitFire/Kawasaki's Craig Decker, who finished sixth, i a distant third with 49. Roncada, meanwillle, is using the West Coast round as a warmup for the East Coast Series where he'U be competing for the eries title. He is ineJjgible to score points in the West rounds. 250Cc The first 250cc heat race was aU lamson, who blasted his Mjke Gosselaartuned Honda into the lead and was never seriously challenged through all eight laps. Honda of Troy's Mike Craig was close for about a lap, then had ills hands full with McGrath. Craig and McGrath went at it for a while until Craig began to steadily pull away from (Opposite page) Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig hung tough at the Phoenix Supercross. He led, was passed, took over the lead again and held on to score his first win of the season. He also nabbed the $1000 up for grabs for taking the 1-900-PRQ-RACE Holeshot - First Tum Award. Here, Emig leads Jeremy McGrath late In the race. (Above) After a disappointing performance the previous week, Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham rebounded with his second 125cc West Coast win of the season. (Right) Jeremy McGrath (1) passed Emig for the lead six laps Into the race but slid out in a turn four laps later. He still finished second in what was his best finish since changing teams. ing pace but couldn't shake Roncada, who was competing in only his second supercross race in the Uruted State. 1n fact, it was near the halfway point when Roncada actually got close enough to attempt a pass - but he just couldn't quite pull it off. After that, Roncada seemed to lose some steam, and Windham got the upper hand. Windham went on to take his second win of the season, just three seconds ahead of Roncada. "First of aU, last weekend didn't go very weU, and 1 worked really hard this week," Windham said. "The team defirutely lifted my spirits back up, so that was good. Yeah, I saw him (Roncada) back there, I didn't push as hard as I should've. I saw him there and tried to ride really smooth and just tried to pretend he wasn't there. I rode kind of protective in a couple of turns where pe really could've gotten under me. I wa really riding fast at the beginning, 1 felt. 1 didn't feel like 1 was messing around that much. "I was kind of counting on him get- ting tired," Windham said of his race strategy. "But I didn't really know what kind of shape he was in or anything. I knew [ could maintain the pace the whole race. Seem like that's been the case in the West Coast, so many people are fast for the first seven or eight laps Robbie, him (Roncada) and Casey (Johnson) and just everybody - they're all so fast, you just can't count anybody out. 1 was just real confident I could hold him the whole race at that pace," Roncada, meanwhile, was ecstatic about ills performance. "I am so happy tonight," Roncada said. "It's only my second race here, and second for me is so great. I was afraid to go that fast the whole race. Last week 1 had problem with arm pump. 1 just rode the track, followed him, and everything was good," It seemed to take a few laps for Robbie Reynard to get going, but once he did, the Team Primal Impulse/Honda rider was nearly unstoppable. Reynard rounded the first lap in 10th, but by the McGrath, who seemed content where he was with no one pressuring him from behind. While the first three positions were pretty much set, a fierce battle raged over fourth place. Honda of Troy's Mike Kiedrowski, Team Suzuki's Albertyn, Yamaha's Ezra Lusk and Suzuki's Mike LaRocco were all eyeing that last direct transfer spot. Lusk had just passed Albertyn when he stuffed Kiedrowski in a right-hand turn, leaving Kiedrowski on the ground. Lusk and Albertyn then engaged in a monumental swapfest that went down to the wire with Lusk nipping Albertyn at the finish. Albertyn had to go on to the semis, as did his teammate laRocco, who finished fifth. Emig imitated Lamson's ride in the second heat race. The 250cc outdoor National MX Champion jumped out to an early lead and quickly opened up a sizable cushion oller Hughes, Manchester Honda Racing/ Axo's Damon Bradshaw, Ward and Yamaha's John Dowd. ~ 0\ ~ 7

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