Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

fli ck er with a 398-po int to ta l. Jeremy McGrath is third with 369 points, while Mike laRocco is fourth with 319. In th e 12Scc division, a d espondent Kevin Windham was left to sta nd in the larger-than -life s hadow o f Ca rmichael. In o rde r to ke ep h is cha m p io ns h i p hopes alive a t Washougal, Windham h ad n o othe r c hoice b u t to defea t Carmichae l in both m ote s. It wasn 't to be. After an intens e fi rs t- mo te bat lle which saw the tw o fierce rivals take turns a t the point of th e field , Carmich ael wa s abl e to make th e la st pass stick, steadily pulling away to score a crushing blow to Windham's confidence . and aspirations. Aft er being pas sed by Windham in th e m iddle s tag es of moto two, Carmichael was co ntent to play it safe before finding a r h y t h m tha t pus hed him ba ck past Windham and into the lead. The pass and s ubsequent disappearing act seemingly drew a ll of the life ou t of Wind ham. "O nce again, I just wa sn't riding my ride," lamented Windham in a post-race interview . "My arms pumped up and I didn 't ride to my potential. I expect to win; I know I can. No body pu t an y press u re on me, Ricky just wo n the charnpi-: onship. I just need to ge t my head into it and in th e right fram e of m ind and go ou t there and be smooth." Through nobl e 2·3 mot o scores, Windh am w uuld claim St.'COIHJ overall. while Team Hond a's Scott Shenk had a consistent afte rnoo n, carding impressive 2-4 resul ts for third ove rall . " I fe It p retty good out th ere," decl ared a pleased Sheak. "Everything is working good for me . I'm jus t trying to be cons isten t right now, and I was. I go t halfwa y d ecent s tarts and jus t hung in th er e a nd rod e a good ra ce . I thi n k, m entall y , t hi s last m on t h , I r ea ll y straightened a lot of things ou t, and I'm jus t o u t there having some fun. I just want to keep finishing up 100 percent. I want to do well in these last few races and hopefully hold that third pla ce in the points and work o n something for next year." Resilient Fren chman Mickael Pichon, back o n form after aggra vating a leg injury at Millville two weeks ago, took his fac to ry Suzuki to fourth overa ll at Washougal with 4-5 sco res . "I'm pre tty ha p py, because I haven' t ridden in two weeks," claimed Picho n following th e event. "I h urt my leg in t he seco nd m oto a t Mill vill e and I haven't ridden at al l. The last few d ays, I have be en ab le to rid e my bi cycle and train . My ar m s gave me a hard time about 20 m in u te. into the ra ce. I felt pretty g ood in th e first rnoto, but I' m kiod of m ad I could n' t hold off Shcak. In the second moto, I was seventh; then I fell o n the seco nd lap, bu t I came back to fifth, a nd I'm pre tty happy. I was scared before the race, beca use I didn' t think I wa s going to race here . I like the track a lot - i t's very good . It's li ke Eu ro pe, because it's pret ty fas t a nd the tu rns aren't too tight." Team Ka wasa ki' s Da mon Huffman rebo unded from an un ins pi re d fi rs tmoto 11th to place a relati vely close second to Kaw asaki comrade Ca rm ichael in mo to two, ush ering him to fifth overa ll. " It was kind of a halfway good day," philosophized Huffman. "T he second race I wa s pleased with. The first moto, I just go t off to a bad start and rode real tig h t and didn 't move up. In the second moto, I was more relaxed and a little bit pissed off, because I knew I could get a top three. 10 the second mot o, I didn't have a problem w ith a rm pump and was ab le to push rea l hard . My second motos thi s ye ar have been a lot better, but I need to work on loosen ing u p in my first motos." Whil e it is a bit o f a foregone conclu sio n, new ch amp Ca rmichael leads the AMA 125cc p oi nt s tan di ngs wit h an insurmountable 476 points. Windham , meanwhile, is a sa fe second wit h 374; Sheak is third with 323; Pichon is fou rth with a 293-point tall y; and fello w French compatriot Stephane Roncad a is fifth with 258. The Washougal Motocross Park was io full gra ndeur Sunday as an es tima ted 20,000 extrem ely en thus iastic spectators lined the scenic circuit, wh ich rests in the lush green foothills near the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge. While the d ar k, loam y on-tra ck conditions became a bit d usty at tim es , w hich was attribut ed m o r e to the su n ny, warm , windswe pt w eather conditions rather than to any lack of track preparation. 250cc NATIONAL Pro Actio n /Bieffe /FMF-backed privateer Ant hony Pocorobba grabbed the ju mp out of the hol e to lead the 4Q-riderstro ng 250cc field o u t of the first turn, but it wouldn't last long, as cha os stru ck t he pa ck within the fir st few corners. Dowd found himse lf in the dirt a fte r being high-sided over a berm, while a (Above) Kawasal\l's Jeff Emig w on the 250cc clas s and came wtthin one point of clinching the 1997 AMA 250cc Nationa l Motocross Champions hip wi th his seventh and eighth con secutive moto w ins. (Left) Kevin Windham (7) needed to beat cannlchael (70) In both 125cc motos to keep his championship hopes alive. The two battled heav ily in both motos. (Below) Greg Albertyn rode his factory Suzuki to 2·2 moto finishes for second overall in the 250cc class, redeeming himself fr om last year',8-7. num ber of o ther riders were ei ther sent tumbling or o ff to the side of the tra ck. Dowd would remount immediately; howev er, th e fall s na p ped his cl utch . lev er and severely ben t the handlebars on his factory VZ, thus send ing him to his mechanic for trackside repairs. Meanwhile, a few second s later, the Washougal crowd let out a huge roar as Vancouver, Wa shington, native Ja son . McCormick lofted his Yamaha down the ski-jump hill with th e lead. Foll owing immediately behind were Emig, Ward, Albertyn aod McGra th. McCoffilick continued to lead the next three laps, keep- ing Emig some one- to- three secon ds adrift , wh ile W ard, A lbe r ty n an d McGrath followed be hind in a tight formation. On lap five, Ward closed in o n Jeff, making a pass, only to be passed back a few turns later. Albertyn continued to shad ow the pa ir in fourth, and McGrat h ran a few seconds back in fifth. Pushed a hea d by hi s battle w ith Ward, Emig fl ew by McCormick on the s tee p Wash ougal d ownhill a nd immediately pulled ou t to a three-second lead. Soon th ereafter, Ward found hi s wa y p ast M cC ormi ck on th e p ower-ro bbi n g

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