Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS MAZDA TRUCKS AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES ... Round 1: Glen Helen Raceway Park race on a 250, 1 win. The Suzuki was working great; we went 1-2-3 and that means something." McGrath opened the series off with an impressive win in the first mota. Suzuki rider Kyle Lewis was leaning early on until McGrath took over for good. The Supercross Champion then opened up a huge lead that he basically maintained to the finish. A terrible first lap in the second mota that saw him go down twice, however, effectively cost McGrath the win, as he came out on the short end of the stick of a thrilling fourway battle for second through.fifth. "I'm happy with my first mota," McGrath said of his day. "It's been a year since I won aNa tional mota. It showed me that I'm ready, and I want to win as bad as I ever have. It was good. My Chaparral Yamaha is working good, I'm confident those guys aren't going to be there every week, so whatever the points may be right now, it's no big deal. I'm confident [ can go next week and win." Finishing third overall and coming within a pass of taking the overall was Mike LaRocco on the Factory Connection/Jack in the Box Honda CR250. LaRocco looked like the LaRocco of old, as he made a couple of dramatic passes on the treacherous Glen Helen downhill and nearly pulled off the overall win. LaRocco slipped by Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham on the last lap of the first mota to take second and was at one point running in a position to take the overall in the second mota - only to be passed by Team Suzuki's Greg Albertyn and Larry Ward and finish fourth. Even though he just missed out on the win, he did capture a very confidence-boosting third overall. "It didn't really turn out the way. 1 wanted it to, but 1 felt good:' LaRocco said. "I felt fast; maybe next week. 1 made a mistake and let Ward by me that's what cost me today." , (Above left) Team Suzuki's Mickael Pichon (16) snared the holeshot in the second 250cc National moto ahead of Kevin Windham (8), Ezra Lusk (3), Jeremy McGrath (2), Larry Ward (4), Doug Henry (behind Windham) and Mike LaRocco (S). Pichon went on to win the moto and clinch the overall victory with a S-1. (Left) Mike LaRocco nearly put his Factory Connection/Jack in the Box Honda into the winner's circle. A couple of small mistakes, though, relegated him to a still-impressive third. By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones ew series, new faces. That seemed to be the theme song for the opening round of the Mazda Trucks AMA National Championship 250cc MX Series at Glen Helen Raceway Park, as Team Suzuki's Mickael Pichon: who did not finish on the pOdium un til the final race of the 16-round AMA Supercross Series the previous week at Las Vegas - surprised everyone with a second-mota runaway win that ultimately gave the RM250 rider the overall victory. That win, combined with a strong fifth-place finish in the first mota, wa just enough to edge out recently crowned AMA Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, on the Chaparral/l800-COLLECT/Mazda Yamaha YZ250, for the overall win in front of an estimated 12,000 spectators. Both riders 'IDa tched points on the day, with Pichon going 5-1 and McGrath 1-5, but by virtue of his better placing in the second mota, Pichon got the nod. Both riders won their respective motos in convincing fashion. What made Pichon's win perhaps even more surpri.sing was that this was his 'Very first ride on a 250 other than in supercross. As you can imagine, Pichon was thrilled to have won. "Ah, 1 can't believe it, I can't believe," Pichon said. "My first outdoor National - I came here this morning, I said, 'Okay, you get two top fives and it's going to be great: and to get first yeah! At first 1 didn't know 1 won the N B rJ ~ overall - I knew 1 was on the podium, but -. "The first mota was pretty good," he added. "It was a good and strong mota. The second mota, I pulled the holeshot, and I was pulling one second a lap (on the pack). 1 couldn't believe 1 was pulling away like this. I've never even won a 125cc National - I've been riding three years in the 125cc class, the best was a second one time - here today, first Finishing fourth avera II was Ward, who was among a trio of riders (Pichon, Ward and Albertyn) who gave Team Suzuki its 1-2-3 sweep in the second mota. Ward came out on top of that intense four-rider battle in' the second mota to finish second after finishing sixth in the opener, which netted him fourth overall. Rounding out the top five overall was Team Yamaha's Doug Henry. Henry, too, was a threat for the overall win, but a couple Of small miscues during the course of the day did the four-stroke rider in. Henry ended up going 4-6. Albertyn had hi hopes for the overall win erased early in the first mota when he got a face full of roost and ran off the track. He awkwardly ended up stuck on the side of a tabletop jump, and by the time he got going again, he was trailing the 4O-rider pack. He still caught up to l'5th, then went on to finish a promising third in the second mota to salvage that sixth overall. "I'm really happy the way the second mota turned out:' Albertyn said. "I'm very happy for Suzuki. Everybody'S been putting in a lot of effort, and it's sure paying off." Seventh overall went to Honda of Troy's Mike Craig, who posted 9-8 mota finishes, while a still sore Kevin Windham took eighth via a 3-16. Windham, on the factory-backed Yamaha YZ250, rode well in the ijrst mota, ignoring the pain from the injured shoulder that ne separa ted two weeks ago a t the Dallas Supercross. Early in the second mota, however, Windham jarred the shoulder, felt a sharp pain, and decided to take it easy the rest of the way. at wanting to perhaps further injure the shoulder, Windham happily took his 25 points for the day. . Ninth place went to Japanese ational MX contender Kyle Lewis, who ran up front for most of. the first mota before dropping back to eighth, a position he couldn't quite match in the second mota, finishing lIth. Rounding out the top 10 overall was KTM's Lance Smail with an 11-9. Eleventh place overall went to Yamaha YZ400F-mounted Doug Dubach (1010), followed by Team Honda's Ezra Lusk, who suffered crashes in both motos. Yamaha rider Yoshitaka Atsuta (13-14) took 13th overall, while defending 250cc National Champion Jeff Emig salvaged 14th. Returning to action for the first time since March 14 with a back-and-shoulder-blade injury, Emig jumped into the thick of tltings right away, grabbing the holeshot in the first mota. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't hold it there for long and gradually faded back to seventh, where he would finish. In the second mota, Emig was again running among the leaders before his motorcycle came to a grinding halt with an expired motor. . Rounding out the top 20 were Jeff Matiasevich (20-12), Shaun Kalas (1230), Tyler Evans (24-13), Takeshi Koikeda (22-15), Heath Voss (19-17) and JeanSebastien Roy (16-31). MOTOONE Under cloudy skies that made for cool temperatures and ideal racing conditions, Emig shot his KX250 into the lead right off the start and led the 40rider pack off Mount St. Helens - a steep, long, rough and extremely fast downhill loca ted abou t a quarter of the way into the lap. Right behind the defending champ were Lewis, McGrath, Koikeda, Ward, Windham, Henry, Lusk and Pichon. Albertyn got off to a terrible start, and things would only get worse for the . former World champ. On the second lap, Albertyn went flying off the track and got stuck on the side of a hill. "[ was so mad:' Albertyn said. '1 had roost in my face and just hit one bump the wrong direction, and that was it. Before 1 knew it, [wa off the track with banners in' my wheel, so that obviously cost me a lot."

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