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/127836
SUPERCROSS THORIPARTS UNLIMITED AliA SUPERCROSS SERIES (Left) The two title contenders - Jeremy McGrath (1) and Jeff Emlg (3) - go Into the first tum at the Pontiac Supercross slde-by-side. Neither ona would be In front at the end. (Below) Yamaha's Ezra Lusk scored his second win by riding last and being In the right place at the right time. By Kit Palmer Photos Steve Middlesworth "I:: ~ 10 PONTIAC, MI, APR. 12 t just goes to show that it really is never over till it's over. Just when it seemed that Suzuki's Jeremy McGrath would run off with his third win of the Thor/Parts Unlimited AMA Supercross Series and his second victory in as many weeks, the four-time defending Supercross Champion made a small mistake, a mistake that woulE cost him a sure win. It was a moment that the 63,043 spectators in the nearly sold-out Silverdome in Michigan won't soon forget. McGrath led the first 18 laps of the 20-Iap race only to have the front wheel of his Suzuki wash out going into a tum and crash. It was as simple as that. And right there to take advantage of the rare McGrath mistake was TQam Yamaha's Ezra Lusk, who had been chasing McGrath all race long, never trailing the leader by more than four seconds. While McGrath struggled to get his motorcycle upright again, Lusk scooted by and cruised the remaining two laps to record his second win of the series, his first coming just two weeks ago at Orlando. "It was a patient race," Lusk said from the top of the podium. "1 didn't really go as hard as 1 could. 1 tried to put a little pressure on Jeremy. 1 didn't want him to get away. 1 don't know if it was pre UTe or what but he made a mistake and 1 was there to capitalize on it." McGrath regrouped in fifth place and made a desperate last-turn pass on Manchester Honda Racing's Damon Bradshaw to salvage fourth at the finish. "Stupid!" said McGrath, who was obviously not happy with himself for crashing. "Total rookie move. Just fell over and washed out. I couldn't believe it. That was the biggest idiot move I ever..." West Coast 125cc Series leader Kevin Windham returned to action following a wrist injury and made it a Yamaha 1-2 finish in the 250cc main. He, too, took full advantage of McGrath's get-off as he was, just moments earlier, passed by Honda of Troy's Larry Ward. But Ward came around the turn and slammed into the back of McGrath's Suzuki as he was picking up his bike and was held up just long enough to see Windham ride by and back. into second. Ward managed to stay upright and chased Windham for the remaining few laps, but time ran out before he could attempt another pass. Still, it was Ward's best finish of the year, and it keeps him within striking distance of winner Lusk for third place in the standings. As for Windham, finishing second in the 250cc class, his highest 250cc finish, you would have thought he had won he was so happy. "This feels great," a jubilant Windham said. "Especially for me and coming back from my injury, and definitely for Yogi (Lusk) and Yamaha. We've been working so hard. For a team putting so much energy into racing it's good to reward them with stuff like this every now and again. I'm happy to come back. My wrist feels good. It (the injury) was a big concern of mine and I guess I've crossed that bridge. Now it's time to go to Dallas and hopefully take care of business there." Windham used the Pontiac event as a warmup for the 125cc West Coast Series finale in Dallas in two weeks, where he should be able to lock up his second consecutive 125cc Western Regional title. Despite crashing, McGrath, on his 1BOO-Collect/Suzuki of Troy /Fox-backed RM250, still gained valuable points on 250cc series leader Jeff Emig, who never seemed to find his rhythm all night long. Emig'finished a hardly noticeable seventh, one position behind Kawasaki teammate Ryan Hughes, and saw his nine-point lead going into the Michigan round shrink to just two with three rounds (Charlotte, Dallas and Las Vegas) remaining. Had McGrath not fallen, the Suzuki rider would have' taken over the series lead in Pontiac for the first time this season. Eighth place went to Honda of Troy's