Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SUPERCROSS FlM W RLD SUPERCROSS SERIES O Round 1: Barcelona, Spain (Lett) Jell Emig open ed the Worl d Supercross series w it h the overall win In Spain . Emig we nt 1·3. (Below) Greg Albertyn passed Emig 10 win Ihe second final. Albert yn IInished th ird behind Emlg and Larry Ward. By Geoff Meye r B CELONA, SPAIN, NOV, 1 AR awa saki is taking th e World Supercross C ha m pi o n s h i ps ver y seriously, and the win by Jeff Emig in th e first round a t Ba rcelona p roved th e green ma chines will be hard to beat in this year's series . Em ig . th e 1996 Wo r ld Supercross Cha mpion , ente red the open ing ro und of the WSX Series wi th li ttle to worry a bo u t. No Jerem y McG ra th ; no John Do wd, no Ezra Lusk , no Kevin Windham - no wo rries. "It' s only the sta rt of the European A a ~ ~ ~ r-, 0\ 0\ .0\ .- ... Q) ,D a Q) ;> o z 12 sea s on, and I' m l u c k y Kaw asaki is loo king seriously at wi nning this cha mp ion sh ip to go w i th the America n Supercross Cha mp ionshi p," Emig sa id , "They are behind me 100 percent, so b e ing m otivated for that a lo ne is enough." Bac king Emig up was a host o f Kawasaki-m ounted rid ers: Am erican team rider Damon Huffman, French Grand Pr ix riders Frederic Bailey a nd Yves Demaria, and Mexican Pedro Gonza lez, while loo ki ng to s to p w ha t seemed likely to be a Kawasaki monopoly were Larry Wa rd (who jus t signed wi th Suzu ki and wh o rod e his Honda of Troy machine) and the tw o American Suzuki rid ers, Greg Albertyn and Mickael Pichon, Tallon Vohland also lined up on his Rinaldi Yamaha, Qualifica tion was domina ted by Bollev, The 1995 Barcelona winner blit zed to' the q ui ckest time, a head of fellow Fre nch m a n Pic hon and followed b y H u ffm an, Fr ed eric Viall e, A lbe r ty n, Javier Garcia , Mi cka el Ma schio and Ward ba ck in eig hth p lace. Emig was 11th and it looked likely tha t, as was the case in the Motocr oss des Na tions, qua lifica tion tim es didn't bo the r the Americans . "It's o nly im portant to get th e bike set up; ge tting qu ickest time does not ma tter," Emig sa id. "If yo u ga te well here , then that's most of the job done." Bolley wa s also being realistic. "The America ns wi ll be d ifficu lt to bea t," he sa id, "b ut I won here before, so why not agai n?" Bailey proved his past glory in Spain wa s no flu ke as he wo n the o pen ing qualificat ion heat from Gonza lez, Hu ffman and Emig. Already, the Kawasaki rid er s look ed awesome, with Dem aria finishi ng in fifth place to give a dean sweep to the Ka wasakis. Vohland finished sixth, with Albertyn crashing out and DNFing after a grea t start. Th e second q ualification heal wa s Ward's tum to wi n. He finished ahea d of Pichon, Via lie, Thi errv Bethys and Bruno Guya rd . • Albertyn's cras h in race one put him in the positi on of qualifyin g through the LCQ, a nd he nearl y d idn't m ake it . Franc e's Mickael Maschio won the race; Albertyn took second. With Iwo fi nals to d ecid e the evening's overall winner, the start was aga in th e major topic of co nversa tion . "I' ll just go for consis tent results," Emig sa id . "If I can get a fast start, I can win for sure." When the rider s did lea ve the s tart blocks, it was in fact Emig who led , and the brig ht green machine proved an ythin g but eas y to pass. with Emig wi nn ing rathe r ea sily from Wa r d and Demaria. "He (Emig) is a seve re roadblock," sa id Albertyn rega rdi ng Emig's so metimes "wide bike." Ward , w ho had foll ow ed Em ig for most of the race, was also no t impressed wi th Emig 's sty le. "1 rea lly th ou gh t a bo u t mak ing th e pass on the las t lap, but it wou ld have been a close call; he's hard to gel by ot herwisc," Ward sa id . Third-pl ac ed Demaria p ro ved h is supe rcross speed was good, and finish ing fourth was Bail ey, ahead of Vialle, H uffman and Albertyn . "I got a bad start," sa id Albertyn. "I had a p oor s ta r ting p os itio n , w hich mak es it nea rly impossible to race up fro nt if yo u co me ou t of the first tum midfi eld ." Pichon took eighth, complaining of a sore sho ulder. H cras hed in a fast cr oss in Ital v in I September; since then, when I land over a jump, th e s ho u ld e r hurts, " sa id Pichon, who finished just a head of Voh land . The second final was filled wi th special moments. First Emig blasted out of the start a head of Bolley and Demaria . Albertyn, who had picked a s tar ting position behind Emig on th e grid , was m idfield, with Ward around fifth place. By th e e nd o f la p o ne, Emig h ad mad e a litt le ga p betw een himself and the others, with Demaria crashing out ove r Ihe bridge. Alb ertyn h ad m ov ed up to fourth place behind Ward , with Bailey chasing Emig, but it was Abl y who was really showing the extra speed. Emig seem ed to be slowi ng , givi ng Bolley. Ward and Albertyn the chance to catch the lead rider. " I rea lly wanted to pa ce mysel f; this is very tiring on these small tracks, but those others we re riding hard ," Emig said . Albe r ty n passed Bailey on la p six. This is when the race rea lly heated up Albert yn mo ved up o n Emig w ith the leader looking nervou sly over his shoulder. Albertyn tried to ma ke a pass . "Under th e bridge, I tr ied (to pass Emigl and he changed lin es in a real hu rry ," Albertyn said . Alberty n tried to pass agai n, but was aga in cu i off by Em ig, this tim e losing mo m en tu m and nearl y losin g second place to Ba iley . Sti ll, Al bertyn wa sn 't fin ished ye t, as he m a d e an ot her attem pt to pass Emig - and this time he . succeeded . "I kn ew I w ould gel him eventually: ' Albertyn said. "He (Emig) was really slowi ng me up." Soo n a fter, Ward also pas sed Emig for secon d . "O nce I go t pa st Jeff, 1 thought 1 wa s the winner," Ward said. "I reall y d idn't try to get Albertyn - he was really riding well." . Albe rtyn went on 10 win the race, followed by Ward and then Emig, whose 1-3 finishes was good enough to take the ov~ra lJ win. t~ Barcelona Supercross Barcelona. Spain . Res ulls : November I , 1997 (Round 1 of 8) O /A : 1. J(>ff Emig ( K.aw): 2. Larry Ward (Hon): 3. G r(>~ Alberty n (Su z); 4. Dam on Hu ffma n (Ka w): 5. Frederic Vi.JI~ (Yam ); 6. Micka1l!l Pichon (Suz); 7. YVt"" Drrn.tri.l (Ka w); 8. Cyril Porte (Hun ); Q. F~ Bullt.y · {KA w); 10. Th il'TT)' Bt-Ihy~ CHon); 11. Ped ro CORLlI..)' ( Kaw); 12. Micka d M.1 ~hio CHon); 13. Bruno Guyard (Ka w); 14. Ta llon Vohla nd (Yam) ; 15. O livier Lambert (Ho n); 16. Osc a r Lanza ( Ka w). Upcoming Rounds: Rounds 2,3,4 • Paris, France, November 7·9 Round 5 - Tokyo, Japan, November 23

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