Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS MAZDA TRUCKS AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 1251250cc MX SERIES \_0;" Briefl _.__ .' " .- - '" ,. RouncI1: Glen Helen Raceway Park .... .:,. the 1-2-3 Suzuki sweep by Picho~. Ward and Albertyn j~ the second moto. and. of course. Pichon's overall win in the 250cc class. "This is the best moment Suzuki has experienced'in five years." said the five-time World Motocross Champion . ••••• Car Wars: Wanting to capitalize on their investment in the sport, Mazda and. their truck line worked in tandem with the AMA to have Mazda stickers placed upon the number plates of all motorcycles competing in the AMA National Championship Motocross Series. In theory, the publicity-oriented dictate should have been no problem. but then marketing and manufacturing realities were factored into the equation'. Renowned for making world-class automobiles themselves. Honda politely' asked if they c,?uld be exempt from'running the stickers. Allegedly, the AMA agreed and honored the request. thus allowing Honda \0 leave the stickers off, but still allowing its team riders· namely Ezra LusK and Steve Lamson· to be eligibl.e for the truck manufacturer's contingency money. Crying foul. ~uzuki. who has affixed the stickers to their bikes, also wanted the same arrangement. At press time. the issue was still.being·debated - heatedly - between Suzuki and AMA officials. Defending 250cc National champ and last year's Glen Helen wi'nner .Jeff Emig (right) failed to finish the sec'on~ moto when his bike qUite running early in the race. "T~e engfne let loose," Emig said.' "Something inside wasn't. happy. It started \}oing, then I went up the second hill where you're just pinned. and it just let .go. " Despite the DNF, Emig was satisfied with his day. "I'm just glad to be back racing ·again." he said. "I know I'll get stronger each race. My goal. right now is to get stronger for next year:and if I have to use the National championship as a t~1 to get the goal. that's what I'm going to do:1 have a lot more to offer." The muscle1hat Emig pulled in the area of his upper back and shoulder blade seemS to be mostly healed. "It feels fine," Emig said, "but it feels a little. tired and weak. I just haven't ridden much lately; today. this was. I think, only myfqurth real day on the bike, but I felt pretty good. . "I really like. being back on the circuit." said Team Kawasaki mecha~ic Jeremy' Albrecht, who Calong with his rider, Jeff Emig) has been M.lA for a number of weeks - and the subject of some serious muckraking and rumor-mongering. "It's great to be seeing friends again and to be able to put a stop to the rumors tnat I had been fired. For some reason. everyone thought I had been fired by KawasakI. When they do'n't see you. everyone assumes that you are fired. I don't know where these rumors come from. We're doing good, Jeff feels good. He wants to win so bad and prove himself to everyone ag~n ... FMF (rightl was certainly out to make its-presence felt at Glen Helen. Keen to tap into the brand's substantial amount of history. heritage and equity. FMF dressed Its' race team in .1970s FMF redand-yellow racing regalia that oozed of the 1970s. The 'brainchild of owner Dormy Emler and his partner, Danny LaPorte, the red pants. yellow jerseys, two-tone helmets. and red-and-yellow liv· . ery of the motorCycles were 'a huge hit with the Glen" Helen crowd. Furth.ermore. FMF and Honda conspired to display a series of vintage Honda Elsinore 125s. On loan from Las Vegas-based investor Greg Primm. the display featured a 1974, '75. '78, '79, an '80 and an '81 CR1 25. Glen Helen 250cc National winner Mickael Pichon and his father were among a large group of people staring at the bikes in full-on appreciation. laPorte said. 'The c1othe",and the bikes are a combination that celebrates the'25th anniversary of the Honda Elsinore and FMF. " If there was one piace on the Glen Helen track where you di'dn't want to crash. it was on the Mount St. Helens downhill (rightl; a lOng. bumpy. highspeed descent that. oad many riders on edge. Even 250cc" class winner Mickael Pic.hon was leery of it. "I don't really like this track,' Pichon admitted. "It's a good track, but the downhill is scary. and I don't like scary tcacks. - OJ, the flip side, 'Mike LaRocco loved' it. "I just felt really gooq there." LaRocco said. "My bike was working so good. especially in the first moto. But the track started getting so chopped up that I thOught it would 'be best to stiffen up the suspension. However, we went a little too stiff and I was skittering around too much." One rider did fall down Mount St. Helens and paid the price.. In the first 125cc National. Shae Bentley cartwheeled off the top and finally came to a stop halfway down the hill. Bentley was taken to th.. hospital with what was believed to be a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder. So how much money did both Ricky Carmichael and Mlckael- Plcho" take home for ;heir 'espectivewins? Canmichael pocketed $2000 from the $15.000 125cc~c1ass purse, and Pichon took home $1300 of the $15,000 250cc-c1ass purse. A win in each class pays $1000 per moto; $600 for second; $500 for third; $350 for fourth, $300 for fifth, $290 for sixth. and $10 less per position down the fine to 30th, which pays $40. Some of the early preliminary heat-race winners included SplitFlre/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Nathan R.......ey, Team Yamaha's .John Dowd and Yamaha rider Doug Parsons in the 125cc class, and Team Suzuki's Mickael Pichon. Honda of Troy's Mike Craig and Ray Crumb in the 250cc class. The top 10 riders in last year's point standings were autoniatlc~lly seeded into the main events and did not have to ride the qualifiers. Some of toose who failed to make the cut at the heavily attended Glen Helen N.ational included such riders as Tony Lorusso,. Michael Brandes. Shaun Pero· lio. Josh Demuth, Paul Currie. James Eicket, Pedro Gonzalez and Rich Taylor. Brandes left his 125cc heat race with a possibly broken nose. and Taylor called it a day with a leg injury. Another rider who did not ride the main events was Team Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes. Hughes, who finished' seventh in last year's 250cc National MX Series, was stili bothered by a knee injury that also kept him out of the supercross finale at Las Vegas, Hughes didn't even bother trying to ride at Glen Helen. ch,?osing 'to sit it out for at least another weel> to let his knee heal. Hughes' teammate Damon Huffman, who broke his leg a few weeks earlie'r at the Charlotte Supercross. was on hand at Glen Helen. Hobbling aroun<;l on crutches, tiuffman signed autographs and mingled with fans. Team Honda's Steve Lam'son had the finger he hed bang~d up at .the Las Vegas Supercross under wraps. "It's okay, but it still hurts," Lamson said before the race. "I bent it at Las Vegas and It's pretty sore." Lamson rode with a plastic hand ,guard on the right handlebar to help protect the sensitive finger from flying rocks and debris. The Green Hills of San Bernardino, California - normally renowned this time of year for its scenic but bumed-out brown hills that constitute a major part of the Glen Helen circuit (below) . were actual· Iy covered in green grass. The benefactor of E1 Nino's torrential rains. the massive green downhill present on the backside of the circuit led one native European to comment. "That hill with its green grass looks like it came from a European Grand Prix circuit. - Strange talk in San Bernardino. Speaking of FMF. 1997 Mount Morris National winner and FMF teem rider Scott Sheak Wlls finally gelling back to racing. Out of action since the GFI Supercross wanmup race back in January. Sheakwas thrilled to be back on the circuit. "I feel great: he said on Saturday.afternoon. "I've been riding for a little over a month and it feels great. I was sitting around for two months, doing nothing but working with my trainer a1 Peak Performance. Sometimes I think things happen for a reason, because having this break was for the best. I feel better than I ever have and I am totally focused on racing ... The Glen Helen venue' - and the· dizzying' array of corporate signs strewn about the park - was an amazing sign of the health of motocross. Ban'ners touting Mazda Trucks. GTE phone directories, Bud .Light and the Copenhagen Racing Challenge. which featured a big representation of a tape ruler in front of a huge. double jump before the main spectator area, all made the ticket-buying spectator cognizant of their goods and services. As should be expected, . Suzuki team manager Roger l;)eCoster (left) wa's a happy man following Yam~ha of, J~flan/.Holley Racing's Takashi Koikeda made .a be\ with team manager Jim Holley that ,f he d,dn t finish ,n the top 15. he wO,uld cut off all his hair. Holley was waiting for Koikeda in the pits with a pair of scissors after the second 250cc moto. Koikeda's 22-1 5 netted him 18th overall and a bald head.

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