Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SUPERCROSS S E RELO SUPERCROSS HF (Left) Lany Ward pass ed Je remy M cGrath on the las t lap to win the Sheffield Supercross in England. (Below) McGrath made his Yamaha debut at Sheffield and finished second. Brad shaw was not too worried about McGrat h. "List en , I di d no t eve n have an idea what he was riding until a few da ys ago. It seems strange to me: He's been on three differe n t bikes in th ree d ifferent yea rs - work it ou t yourself," Brad shaw said . The three Americans had very little to worry abou t other than themselves: only Engla nd's tw o p a s t a nd p rese n t Motocross des Nations stars, James Dobb and Rob Herring, were going to ca use them some con cern, and then the field dropped down to British youngsters Gary Hoptrough, Neil Prince and Jon Barfoot. The evening s tarted wit h a heat race, and to no one' s sur p ri se, M cG rath wal ked away wit h it, di stantly followed by Herring and Jason Higgs. . "The main th in g wa s, the bike wa s great:' McG ra th said . "This track is small, but we expected that. It'. nice to win my first race w ith Yamaha, no matter how easy it was." . McGr ath also go t to so rt ou t so me problem. with his bike for the final (for w hich he had now qualified). "The jetring wa s a little off. We fixed that. The bike has so m uch bo tto m-e nd power and als o top-e nd power. I really think, while the final will have better rid ers (Ward an d Brad shaw), it will be easier," the heat-one win ner said . Next up came the two other Am eri cans , and this time it wa s a dogfigh t as th ey battl ed for the win, w it h Ward eventually coming ou t on top. "Man, this track is tiny - lapping riders is a rea l problem . They don ' t know any better and they don ' t move ove r: ' sa id Ward as he placed a Band-Aid on his cut han d . " I was running u p th e back of them, and they would start to move over, then move back. I t's not too dan ger ou s, because they don't ride too fast, but it' s frustrating." Brads haw was just ha ppy to be here. "It's always nice to race in Europe no press ure, and that race was fun," said Bradshaw. "I hope the crowd liked it." With a hug e res t until the fin al , McGrath and Ward came out to give the Eng lis h crowd a tas te o f Am er ic a n > By Geoff Meyer r-, 0\ 0\ ...... C'l' C'l .... OJ ..0 o ..... u o 36 SHEFFIELD, ENGl.AND, OCT. 4 hen Jer emy McGr ath a rrived in London, England, his bags we re loaded w ith pa r ts an d h is ta sk fo r the Sheffie ld Su pc rcros s wa s a sim ple one. "This is the first test . I lo ve th e Yama ha ; it ' s going to be old Jeremy McGrath agai n once we get it sorted o ut, yo u c,an be sure of that. " This is w hat the forme r Honda a nd Suzuki fa ctory rider told Cycle News a t th e Sheffield Arena just prior to the eve nt. However, the winner in Sheffield was Larry Wa rd , riding a stock Hond a. Th e Hon da of Troy ride. took the lead on the last lap of the Zo-lap fina l, passing McGrath for the win . . When you listen to McGrat h, you can feel his happiness, as 1997 is al rea dy over and the pain of losi ng his su pe rcross champio ns hip is now a thing o f the past - at least he hopes so. With one lap rem aining in the final, McGrath was looking tired , and his arms had pumped up like Popeye's, "Consid eri ng how m y arms fel t, I was riding okay," he said. "To be hon est , I was just holding on. I'm not too disappointed, but yes, it's not nice to lose on the last lap again." As mu ch as many o f the people a t Sheffield wa nted to see McGrath come ou t of his yea rlong slum p, wi tnessing his last-lap loss was painful. One wee k after signing for the Chaparral Yamaha team, McG ra th was se tting his sights on the Paris Su pe rc ross for his Yama ha debut, but afte r collecting a whoppi ng $30,000 to appear at the small town of Sheffield for their just-ass mall su p e rcross, th e former king of American supcrcross wa s on his way. " I expected to rid e Paris fir st , but when the mon ey came throug h, I decided to rid e her e. It's not an im po rta nt race; I'll do some testing. I wou ld like to w in fo r s u r e, but w e"Il see," said McGrath on Saturda y afternoon. Also on s how a t Sheffield were fellow Americans Ward and Damon Bradshaw. While Brads haw had not been too impress ive in 1997, Ward was su re to gi ve McG ra th a warm welcome when the two met in the final. "I don' t really ca re what Jeremy is riding . He is new to the bike, and he bro ug ht a lot of stuff to test, so ma ybe he won 't be prepa red," Ward said . Ward had a point, and making matters a ll th e m ore troub lesome fo r McGra th wa s th e fact that Ward had jus t tw o weeks ea rlier won the Fas t Cross in Italy. "I'm always d oing we ll in Europe. I d on't kn ow wh y th at is - mayb e the pressure is not a s gr ea t," sa id Ward, who has wo n several races in the World Supercross Champi onships ove r the past few years as well as the past two FastCrosses.

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