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/127852
Daytona, and it felt good to start a mai n '
event on the front row. That's one of the
high po ints of our season."
CamJin held tight in sixth, turning
more than a few heads in the process.
· "If I could do that jump a little better,
I could do all right here," Camlin said.
" I need to be more assertive- remember,
I got hurt her e a couple years ago. I just
told Skip that I wanted to be th e first
guy out for pr actice, and I was. An d I
wanted to pr actice un til they wou ldn' t
let me anymo re, and 1 did. Every lap, I
. go t more and more confident."
Kopp wa s ge tt i ng m ore a nd m ore
co nfident, an d m ore ca lcu la ted too , as
he wa s consistently able to bury it deep
in turn o ne a fte r rocketing d own the
front straig htaway each lap. With Parker
right on Kopp's tail, both moved in on
Tresser , and both slid und er the Californian o n lap eight. It was a two-horse
ra ce after that. as Tresser rela xed and
co ncentra ted on ma intaining a consistent pace.
"The pressure to win two in a row
turned out to be more than I th ou ght,"
Trcsser said . "The bike ran excellent, but
I just knew I didn't hav e enoug h to stay
with Joe a nd Scotty."
Parker continued on pace with Kopp,
the champ see mingly probing for weak -
Briefl
nesses - and learning what his own were
- before making a pass fo r th e lead .
T hen, on lap 17, it happened : Pa rker
made a costly mistake as he go t crossed
up off turn four a nd parked it, handica p p i ng Kopp some seven leng t hs .
Parker m ad e th e g ro und u p quickly,
and again pulled to Kopp' s rear wheel
before sli pping off the groove aga in on
lap 22 a nd losing ev e n m ore g round
than he had the first time .
"He pu t IO lengt hs o n me ," Parker
sai d . "I could reel him in, but I cou ld n' t
do an ything wit h him. The only place I
could pass him was over the jump, and
he was ge tti ng ov e r it p retty w ell. I
knew that I wasn't go ing to pass him on
the front straight; so I just said, 'Pl ay it
cool. collect your points, and we'll see
him again at Rap id City.'"
There was just no s topp in g Kopp,
w ho maintained a bike leng th's ad vantage between h imself and Park er down
the front straightaway for the final tim e.
Kopp pumped hi s fist in th e air as he
ro lled under Ste ve Far aci' s chec kere d
flag.
"I'm lost," Kopp said . "This is some th ing that I' ve d reamed of. I usu all y
don't co u n t laps, but w hen I sa w th e
five-lap board, I started counting. When
I go t to two, I saw th e white flag, so I
•••
Prior to the Peo ria IT. Joe Kopp wid thDt if he eouid do one
thing differently than he did last year. it w ould be : · To be patient.
take my time,· Kopp said . - That' s probably the -biggest thing . If I
don 't get the holeshot. I' m just going to stay loose. I wa tched a
tape of the TV .race that we had he re two years ago . and that'-s
what C hris Carr did to me. " Kopp also said that he W3S better
prepared to handle the pressure to win this year's even t. -I think
that I've had mo re hype this year: Kopp said. - Bu't
rm deahng with It better. I' m not lIste ning to it.. Last
year .I did. and I got all pum ped up, and it bit me .·
· So nie things are easier to correct than o~hers ,
miscounted in th e re so mewhere . But
thi s (win) is definitely go nna be a big
kick in the butt for us . And I know tha t
this is one of tho se tracks tha t reward s
an all-arou nd rid er ."
Well, he had it coming .
'"
Peoria
M.e.
Peoria , Illinois
Resu" s: August 3,1997 (Round 12 of 23)
HEAT 1 no ' ..po;; 1.2 ri dl"~ top 3Ir.n!o(er): 1. And y
T~ .... (W-Rl; 2.. Re.. FI.J1o..,. (Rn );3. rau l Lynch(RId ; 4
-r
seeve M"yfi~1d