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/127927
SUPERCROSS TOYOTAfTHORIPARTS UNLIMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Round 2: Houston Astrodome my head , and I came out on the podium." Team Factory Connection/ Jack in the Box/O'Neal's Mike laRocco was on the charge throu gh out the main event, stepping up qu ite a few p ositi on s himself after a ninth last wee k to finish fourth. "I'm gonna build from this, and hopefully next week it will be a little better," laRocco said . "I wasn't real happy with how the season started last week; I felt d ecent but I mad e some big mistakes and went down and ended up ninth. This finish isn't exactly what I wan ted , but I feel mu ch bet ter about it than last week' s." Ryan Hugh es rod e his factory-backed KX250 to fifth while fig ht ing injuries, which never seem to escape "Ryn o." "I've b ee n ha vin g so m e problems with my body since I crashed about a week befo re the first race a nd hu rt my foo t and my ba ck," Hu ghes expla ined. "It was hard for me to sta y loose on the bike, and those guy s had a good pace going. But fifth is pretty good since [ did n't ge t to ride a ll week . I'm on the mend , but I' m happy with th a t. Next weekend shoul d be ano ther good race for me an d I p lan on being even s tro nger. I'm climb ing up the ladder." C ha p a r r a l /Ya maha / 1-800-C OLLECT' s Jimmy Bu tt on cl im bed u p to six th, w h il e Tea m Ya ma ha 's Ke vin Windham fell back to seventh after running fifth for half of the race. Last wee k's winner, Sebastien Tortelli, just cou ld n' t move throu gh the pac k like he d id at the Coliseum and was held to eighth after a mediocre sta rt. Team Suzuki' s Greg Albertyn fin ish ed ninth and Team Ka wasaki Mexico / Tecat e' s Phil Lawrence rounded out the top 10 overall. By Cameron Coatney Photos by Kinney Jones ~ 0\ ,..... 6 HOUsrO ,TX, JAN. 1 7 ro m 1988 to 1996, Team Honda won every s ing le AMA 250cc Supercross Championship. It was an impres s iv e s tri ng o f nin e s tra ig h t cha m p io nsh ips th at is unprecedent ed and may nev er be repeated , but all good things mu st come to an end - and that was certainly the case last yea r for Team H ond a . Not on ly did Hond a fail to wi n th e titl e, they d idn't even win a single AMA Supercross - a disappointing year, ind eed. However, on the flip side of things, all bad things must also end . Well, it certainly d id for Hond a at the Houston Supercross. The team's newest prodigy, Ezra Lusk, on his Mike Gosselaar- tun ed factory CR250, won his heat race, stole the holeshot in the main event and romped away to a stunni ng win in front of the 50,832 fans who piled into the Houston Astrod om e for round two of the Toyota / Tho r Pa rts Unlimited AMA Su percross Seri Lus k was obvio usly motivated by his p oo r 16th-p lace fini sh a t th e ope ning round in LA. "I totally just bleeped ou t last weeken d 's r ace a n d s ta r te d o ve r fr o m scra tch," Lusk exp lained . "I just mad e this week like I was leaving Tokyo and Osak a (co nsecu tive World Super cross rounds that he won in the off-season), a nd I ju st carrie d that con fidence into tonigh t. I rod e grea t. I think I rod e a pretty m uch flawl ess main event; [ didn't make very many mi stakes at al l. My Dunlop /Honda jus t did one heck of a good job." Lusk was asked if he was pleased to give Honda its first AMA su percross victory with the alu minum-framed CR250, iIs first SX win on American soil in more than a yea r and a half. "Firs t of a ll, it feel s good to have Ezra's fir st win th is ye a r a n d on th e Honda for sure:' Lusk said. 'These guys have put a lot of effort into it and gave me a lot of res pec t. We've ha d a lot of fu n u p to this point and d on e a' lot of testing. I'll rea lly be happy when Steve (La m so n) ge ts ba c k so we ca n r id e toge ther and ge t him up on the podium with me." Team Cha pa rra l / Yama h a's Jerem y McGra th took an ot her step up the podium this week after his third-pla ce showing in Los Angeles. McGrath also won his heat race with ease, bu t wasn' t as pleased with his start in the final. evertheless, McGrath was happy abo ut movin g in to a tie for th e point s lead w it h Team Kawasaki 's Jeff Emig. "Overall, it was a good perform ance, but I think it could be a little bit better," McGrath said. "I just need to get ou t of th e ga te a littl e bit better. I feel good abo u t how th is seas on has sta rted . I'm tied for the points lead and I can't really as k for m u ch more . I' ve been o n the podi um both weeks. After the end of last yea r, bui ld in g m y co nf idence is the importan t thin g for me. As I get it more and m ore, th en th e w in s a re go nna come." Emig took a rou te to the ma in event (Above) Team Honda's Ezra Lus k won the 250Ccmain event in style, giving Honda its first American Supercross victory in over a year and a half. (Right) Jeremy McGrath flew his Tea m ChaparraVYamaha to second in the main after qua lifying by easily winning his heat race. that he hasn 't see n in quite a while: He had to ride a semi after cras hing in his heat. "I fell wh ile [ was running second in my heat race when I slid out going over the start:' Ernig explained. "I didn't really push it when [ go t up because I really w an ted to rid e mo re laps, becau se I thought I need ed more time throu gh the w hoo ps. I need ed tim e for u s to make a dj us tme n ts a n d s ee ho w it wor ke d before the main event." After qualifyi ng ou t of his semi , the d efend in g cha m pion go t a fairly go od start in the main event and rod e strong, eventually finishing third . "I fee l rea lly good abo u t m y finish tod ay," Emig sa id . " I finished u p th e main event really strong - a lot stronger than when I sta rted the main and a lot strorjger than when [ starte d the day. I was having a lot of problems throu gh the whoo p section and , like I've said, I've go t to st ep it up throug h the w hoops . If I want to repeat as champion, I'm going to have to be a little quicker than wha t I've been. 50 I am really happy, because in the main I rod e strong, and I really used HEATS Henry looked to have the holeshot in the first heat, but he took the pack deep into the first comer and got pus hed over the ed ge of the first berm. McGrath and Emig moved in to tak e advantage, followed by Button, Albertyn and Hu ghes.