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/127932
"We kind of m ade a g uess on tires for the main ," Button sa id . "Doug (Chiapinsky) fro m Bridgestone mad e a good choice. He saw th e w ay the tr ack was developing per fect. I got a good sta rt , th e race we nt g reat, an d I sho uld have won it - p lain an d simple. I was d oing fine out front, an d I saw Jerem y behind me and I let it get to me. I mean we were pulling on everybody o u t th ere a nd I wasn't worried about tha t, bu t I w anted to beat him - I wa nt to win one of these things. If I have to ge t second to him (McGrath), it's not even th ai .big of a deal. I'm feeling great. I just need to win one of these things. Actually, I jus t need to keep getti ng o n the podium and everything will be great." Windham mad e his tri p to the podium by wi nning his heat race in a tough batt le. He led the main event for a few laps be fore succu m bi ng to the hea t of Bu tton and then McGrath. "I go t a good sta rt and I w as rid ing pretty good:' Windham sa id, "but Button go t aro und me and th en McGrath. I s tar ted s low ing d o wn a nd h an ging with them and then my hand carne off the bars over th e big tri p le ea rly on, and I cou ld n' t hi t my fro nt br ake - I slid into McGra th and went d own. I tri ed to d o the best I could w ithout taking h is clothes out. That's jus t one of those thi ngs. I got up and lu ckil y I w as able to get a podium ride ou t of.it. Th in gs seem to be working pretty good right now." Larry Ward rode his factory-backed Suzuki RM250 to fourth overall - his fourth top-five finish in as many weeks. The Suzuki speedster is definitely corning to terms with his new bike, as he transferred out of his competitive heat race and charged up to fourth in the main after a mediocre start. " I rode as hard as I cou ld in the main," Ward said. "I had the same problem as last week - I'm not getting good starts for some reason. I think I was 13th at the en d of the firs t lap and I worked all the way up to fourth, so that takes a lot of energy pa ssin g th ose g uys . I' m rea lly s trong righ t no w - I' m getti ng stronger. I think I passed fo u r or five guys in the las t cou ple of lap s. I'm go ing to ge t a good s tart one of these w eekends , and I'm ridi ng good. The Suzuki is worki ng really good fo r .m e. The last m onth has been great. I' ve been in .th e top fiv e every weeken d fo r the la s t m onth , so I'm ga ining a lot of p oints, and starting to be consistent. I'm going to get a good start and I' m going to win a race this year." Tea m Factory Connection /Jack in the Box/O'Neal's Mike LaRocco had to go to a semi to make the main and then suffered from a bad start. But the likable In dia na n did what h e is becoming accustomed to and raged his way up to fifth at the checkers . He had ended the first lap in 12th place. "My s tart was h o rr ib le ," La Rocco said. "That w as th e first tim e I've lined up next to (Doug) H en ry an d tha t thing just killed me. I could n' t hear and didn' t know w hen to shift, so I w as way back. I felt good ou t th ere, a nd I really like t h es e ty p es of tra ck s (rutted ), bu t it seemed like a short rac e. I carne through pretty good, bu t it w as kind of a struggle because everyone wa s making mista kes and messin g yo u up by accident bu t I ca me th rou gh to fifth . My bike is worki ng good , th e suspension and everythi ng. It' s just me, and I need to ge t up fron t and ge t some starts." H o nda's prodigy , Ezra Lusk, riding with an injured left hand from Indy (see Briefly...), won his heat race and ran as hig h as second early in the main before crashing at the en d of the whoops after passing Windham. After another climb to th ir d , the local fro m nea r by Bainbridge, Georg ia, crashed again in the w hoops and could only get back to sixt h a t the finis h. " I was just simply holding on too tig ht wi th my rig ht arm, compensating for my left hand, and it just pumped me up:' Lu s k said of th e mishaps. " I' ve never had to worry abo ut pumping u p like tha t; it's never happened to me, but th at ' s what ha ppe n ed . T h e whoops were really g na rly and I jus t swap ped, es pecia lly holding o n with the d ea th grip like I was. It's tough ." Rounding ou t the top 10 overall were Kawasaki's Ry a n H ug hes, Su zu ki' s Mickael Pichon, Kawasaki's Sebastien Tort ell i and Y am ahas Jo h n D ow d . Suzu ki's Greg Albe rtyn finis he d l l th , Yam a ha's Do ug H enry was 12th, Jeff Emig held on to 13th, last year's wi nne r Damon Huffm an fi n is he d 14 t h an d Honda of Troy's Mike Brow n got 15th. McGra th has jumped ou t to a comm andin g 53-point lead in th e cha m p ionship standings - over a tw o-race cu shion. Windham has moved from third to se cond with 111 p o ints w hile Bu tto n climbs fro m sixth to third with 107. Lusk main tained fou rth with his 104 points w hile Emig, laRocco and Wa rd sit in a thr ee-way tie for fifth with 102 poi nts. HEATS Brown holeshot the first 250cc heat with Windham, Hughes, Button, Dowd, Emig, Ward and the res t of the pack in tow. Hughes immediately went into second, but Button had plans of his own and the two went back and forth until Button slid out and dropped back. Hughes led Windham and the two chased Brown around before Windham picked him off and went after the leader. Brown end ured the p ressure for six laps, bu t then messed up in a rhythm section, allowing Windham by fo r the w in two laps lat er. Wa rd moved up to third af ter int en se ba ttles with Hughes a nd Bu tton, an d H ughes held off th e a d va nces of the recharged Bu tt o n to tak e the fourth and final transfer positio n . Goi ng to the se mis were Bu tton, Dowd, Ernig, Lamson, Albe rtyn and the .remainder of the field . The second heat saw Lu sk beat th e pack to th e fi rst tu rn, fo llowed by Tortelli, Pichon, Henrv, Great Lakes Air. lines/Bill's Pipes /Factory Connection's Heath Voss a nd laRocco. His pursuers im mediately shoved Lusk back to fourth, and then Henry went by Tortelli in the whoops to take the lead . McGrath got an okay start and was running fifth behind Lusk. Henry's lead was short-lived, however, ~ Lus k was on the move again and took over the lead in a rhvthm section on lap four and he ld it for ' the duration of the race. McG rath moved by Pichon and Tort eIIi, an d then go t by Henry as they too k the last-lap flag to m ove into second - a position he held to the finis h. Pich on took fourth behind H enry and the rest we nt to th e second semi. Amo ng those go ing to th e se mi w ere Lakocco, TorteIIi , Huffman and Voss . SEMIS Emig go t a good start to lead the first sem i in front of Button, Su zuki C ana d a /Bill' s Pipes /Stadium Suspen si onba cked Marco Dube, and Dowd. Lamso n wa s right up there, but got pushed off of the track in the firs t turn, a nd Albertyn wa s also back in the pa ck and had his work cu t out for him. Button hounded Emig for a lap and (Above) Kevin Windham led the main for the fi rst few laps un til eventually earning third . The Team Yamaha rider now sits second In the point standings with 111. (Bel ow) Team Kawasa ki's Jeff Emig (1) grabbed the hol esh ot o ver Win dha m (8) by inches, b ~ faded bac k to 13th in an un inspired ride. sq ueezed by the defending cha m p just before th e fin is h line. From th ere th e two rid ers set a good p ace tha t kept them in firs t and second until the checkers waved , Dow d blew by th e dueling Dube and Crine to sna tch third ea rly on, and Albertyn d id th e sa me a fe w laps later to move into fou rth. Crine got the best of Dube to take fifth while the rest went to the LCQ. The second se mi belonged to Huffman and he led it from s tart to finish. Dual-elass rider Barry Carsten had his Bromley Suzuki-ba'cked RM 250 up front, along wi th laRocco, TorteIIi an d Roy. laRocco flew in to second on th e firs t la p and TorteIIi sna tched third and th e two hel d formation to th e fini sh . Terl ecki moved up to battle with Ro y and Carsten for the final two tr ansfers and, afte r so me dueling, took fourth. Carsten h ad himself qua lified for both m ain even ts until Roy passed him in a near photo fini sh at the lin e. LA ST-CHANCE QUA LIFIER Lamson led the LCQ from the drop of the ga te to th e chec kered flag. While Lamson ran away, Amaradio battled by Kames Sports /One Industries /Sinisalo' s Mike Kalin Jr. and Voss to take th e final pick on the 20-man main-event ga te. MAIN Em ig had the advantage going in to the firs t comer of the main event bu t, by the time they exited the tum, Wind ham, Button and Henry had swallowed hi m u p . Behind Emig carne McGrath, Lus k, Hughes, Dowd and the rest of the pack. Button had visions of a win and im mediately set out after the lead , which he wrested from Windham befo re the end of the second lap. Soon afte r, Lusk a n d then McGrath moved b y Henry to ru n third and fourth, respectively. Button continued to build a cushion u p fron t wh il e Windham, Lu s k a n d M cGrath all fo ugh t over the seco n d spo t. After just passing Wind ham in the whoops to take second, Lusk swappe d and high-sided at the end of the whoop section, all owin g Windham a n d McGrath to take over seco nd and third, respectively. As Button's lead increased to almost fiv e s eco n d s o n lap se ven , McGrath made his m o v e by Windh am in a rhythm section. Windham, pe rhaps startled by th e pa ss, went down in the following corner a nd resumed racing in about seventh place. . Button put up a he ck of a fight fo r almost five laps to keep McGrath at bay, but the four-time cham p moved by his