MOTOCROSS
AMAlMAZDA TRUCK
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
250cc MX SERIES
Round 7: Unadilla Valley Sports Center
"'I got an okay start. and Ryan Hughes
actually ran over my foot back there, and
I almost fell," Ward said . "'I said, 'I've got
to do something,' so I took off and got by
He nry, got by Pichon, then [ put on a
charge for all I had . [ got Emig, six, seven
seconds or whatever he had on me, did
everything [ could on that last lap to get
by him . [ go t close. It was fun . [ had fun
for the first time in about a month: '
laRocco, meanwhile, had upped his
pace, getting around Pichon for third
just pa st the halfway point, a nd he
would eventually finish there, approximatel y five seco nds behi nd the
Emig /Ward battle.
Pichon would drop back to seventh
before it was a ll over, givi ng wa y to
Wind ham, Albertyn and Henr y,
"'I th ink [ was little too overworked
corning into this weekend," Hen ry said .
"'I worked ou t qu ite a bit last week - I
don't know - I think I'm going to go
back to what [ did before Southwick and
Budds Creek. I did a little more riding,
maybe I shouldn't go quite so long and
hard. I think it' s w earing me out a little
bit. I was just run down all week."
A small fall earl y in the race preven ted Lusk fro m making up for his so -so
start, and he ended up eighth, one spo t
ahead of Hughes.
"'I fell on top of the hill and had to
pla y cat ch-up," Lusk said. "'I w as coming up good - I knew I would've been in
the hunt. Everybody picked up the pace
in th e second moto, but when you're
that far behind..."'
,
Rounding out the top 10 was New
York's own Bruce Stratton.
0
Unadilla Valley Sports Center
New Berli n, New York
Results: July 19, 1998 (Round 7 of 12)
• Ward came f rom behind and nearly passed Em ig j ust before the checkered fl ag in the
second moto. Ward went 8-2 for third overall.
MO T O 1: 1. Kevin Windham (Ya m); 2. E7.1'a l us k
(Han); 3. Do ug Henry (Ya m); 4. Jeff Emi g (Ka w); 5.
G reg Albe r ty n (S uz) ; 6, Mik e La Rocco (Hen) : 7 .
Mi ckael Pich on (Suz); 8. La rry Ward <
Suz); 9. Je-anSebas tien Roy (Kaw); 10. Ryan Hu gh es (K.u~: ); 11. JeH
De me nt (Yam); 12. Bru ce Stra tton (Suz): 13 . Tony
Amaradio (Yam); 1-1. Keith johnson (Ka wj: 15. Heath
Voss (Hon): 16. Scott Ca rte r (Ya m); 17. Keith Bowen
(Suz); 18. Phil Lawrence (Kaw); 19. Ty Wall itC (Yam);
· 20. Ke vin Cnne (Kaw): 21. Bar ry Ca rs te n (Suz); 22.
Ryan Terlec ki (Suz); 23. Dan Moore (Suz): 24. Iascn
Th o mas (Kaw); 25 . Au stin Sq ui res Il-ion): 26. Brad
Hagse th (Yam); 27. Pedro Conzelez (Kaw) : 28. Ted
Ca mp bell (Suz); 29. Jim N~ (Hbg) ; 30. jason Conlon
d.l (56) ; 18 .
ason Tho ma s (47); 20. Ke ith
(TIE) Tony Am arad io / L
Johnson (45).
Upcoming Rounds:
•
Round 8 - T roy, Ohio, Jul y 26
Round 9 - Wash ouga l, W ashingto n, Augu st 2
,
McCormick . the last -ch anc e qual if ier was won by Robbie
shortly after Saturday' s qualifying ro unds . " I feel pretty good.
Skaggs. In the 250c c cla ss . Tony Amaradio and Heath
M aybe a litt le bit tight but the more I ride the more I seem to be
. Voss topped the first two heat s. while Mike Katin won the final
loosening up. As far as the injury goe s. my foot isn't bothering me
last -chance qualifier .
.
at 011. so that' s good . My endurance should also be good tomor,
.
. row : but we 'll have to wait and see. I pretty much feel 100 per Defending champ .Jeff Emig showed up at Unadilla wrth a very
.
.
This week's recipients of the Copenhagen Racing privatee r award : ce nt."
sor e shoulder. " I fell on my left shoulder Thursday while practicing
at Glen Helen . " Emig explained. "I w ent and had X-rays: had the . money went to sixth- and t tth-place finishers in the 125cc class.
Team Noleen ' s Tim Ferry and Team Chaparra l Yam ah a' s
Adding to the racing action at Unadilla was round two of the U.S.
AlC joint checked out and all that stuff . I've had ice on it for three
.Jimmy Button , In the 250 cc class . the top privateers were Two
Women's MX League National Motocross Champi days straight. - .
.
W heel Kawasaki"s .Jean-Sebastien Roy ( j Oth) and Gold Sport
onship. The four-race se ries . ·whic h visits Glen Helen. Unadilla.
Cycle 's Tom Stratton ( t t t h). Also at Unadilla . Copenhagen
W ashougal and Binghamton. pit s the faste st female racers in the
FMF / Honda added a new member to its 125cc team. Rusty
donated more than $3000 to the Clay ton Foundation. w hich aids
world against each other in two 15·minu te motos. Pro-Action 's
. Holland made his debut on the FMF Honda CR 125 at Unadilla
injured motorcycle racers .
Shelly Kahn took the overall win. followed by American Suzua fte r ri di n g S uzuki s f o r mo s t of t he year . A c c o rd .n q t o
ki/Cernics Racing/ AX O· bac ked Amber H ughes . Four -time
FMF/Honda s team member Beat ty. " I saw Rusty at M ammoth
Due to the extremely rocky condition s at Unadilla. the bikes of
Mammoth and W orld Cu p Ch ampion Dee Wood. aboard a Team
and he look ed real good . I asked him if he had anything going for
nearly every major team sported hand guards. fro nt -disc guards
Gr een-backed Kawasaki. took the hnal podium spot.
the rest of the season and asked him if he wanted to ride for us,
and pipe guards. Team Yamaha upped the ante on trickery by
Things worked out well. His sponso r. C lawson M otorspo rt. a dealbo lt ing their guards directly onto the pipes o f W indham and
Also adding to the excitement at Unadilla was the appearance of
ers hip in Northern California. was all for it. That's why we still run
Dowd . rather than using the usual hose-clamp method of mount former AMA N ational Mo toc ross C hampion .Jam min' .Jimmy
Claw son Mot orsport s stickers on the bike - they also sell Honing, In addition to the vario us guards and shie lds , most o f the
Weinert. W einert . who hails from Up state New York . acted as
das. - Holland is filli ng in for the injure d D avid Pingree and he
major teams used special. super -heavy inner tubes , sacri ficing
guest announcer throughout the weekend and dazzled the crowd
impressed his new team by winning the firs t 125cc qualifie r at
unsprung weight in an effort to combat flats .
with his unusual wi t and sense of humor .
Unadilla. topping new teammate Jason M cC ormick. Hollad did not
finish the first 125cc N ational but took 12th in the second .
As reported in a previous edition of Cycle News. Team Honda of
Speaking of J immy Wein ert. three new "riders" were inducted
Troy 's Michael C raig has been sidelined 'wi th a broken femur
into the " .Jammer's All-Unadilla Team". Intended to honor
Speaking of D avid Pingree. the Honda rider is com ing along
sustained in the second 250cc moto at Budds Cree k. Honda of
those who have made sig nific ant contributions to the sport of
well after having surgery on his knee. Pingree reinjured his knee
Troy Team Manager Erik Kehoe was on hand at Unadtlla and willmotocross . the " team." adds three riders each year and reads
wh ~e testing for the M ount M orris (Pennsylvania) National in May.
ing to shed some light on Craig ·s current condition. - Mike is back
like a who's who of motocross racing . including such lege ndary
Pingree had surgery befo re the Red Bud (Mic higan) National two
at home. healing up afte r having surgery to put a rod in his leg."
names as B ob Hanna h. J ohnny O 'Mara, M ark Barnett . Ric k
weeks ago , According to Hilton Beatty . the surgery wen t well. but
Kehoe said. " He's currently in therapy and pretty much has full
Johnso n . To ny D iS t efa no a nd D av id Bail ey , Th i s year's
Pingree won't be able to ride again for at least eight weeks.
movement in his knee. That was the main thing he's been worktng
induc tees wer e Five-time World M ot oc ro ss Champion Ro ger
on. He's up an crutches and-putting a small amount of weigh t on
DeC oster. Team Yamaha's John Dowd . and FMF's Hilton and
D anny Smith . the other inju'red FMF/H onda rider . has signed
it already. so he's doing a lot bette r. Believe it or not. Mik e has
Co lleen Beat ty .
another one -year contract with the team for 1999. Smith will co mbeen talking like he might hit the last two rounds of the series. I
pete 'in the Easte rn Regional 125cc Supercross Series and the
know he really wants to get back out there but we ll have to wait
Team Suzuki became the latest major team to run vented front
125cc outdoor Nationals. '
and see how it heals up."
number plates . as the bikes of Larry Ward. Greg Albe rtynand
Mi ckael Pichon all spo rte d the plates at Unadilla . The ultratri c k
Returnin g to action at Unadilla was Team Kawasakl 's Ry an • With Cra ig' s injury conies much spec u lation as to the former
number, plates, which are identi cal to the ones currently in lise by
H u g h e s . Hughes twi sted his knee befo re .the Last Vegas SuperMTEG Ult racr oss Champic n' s future with Hon da of Troy. Kehoe
the SplitFiioe/Pro Cir cu it team: are manufact ured by Cycra and
cross in M ay and has been out of actio n eversince. " It (the knee)
was willing to set the reco rd straight. - Basically. wit h Mik e. we
feature a st urdy metal grille to shield roost.
.
is feeling pretty good," Hughes said befo re the Unadilla race. "
have a second-year opt ion to re-negotiate: Keho e said.. - M ike
but if s still only about 80 percent. - In his first race - the seco nd
has a pretty good relationship with our team owner. Phil Aldert on.
lnwhat could be viewe d as a strong showing of so lidarity betw een
250cc qualifier - Hughes was leadi ng befor e falli ng twice and
so . l'm sure he will probably receive,some sort of support. "
th e o u t doo r national prom oters . Budd s Cre ek M X Per k' s
eventually finishing fifth ..Hughes we nt 1O·g in 't he National motes.
.Jona t han' B e a s ley wa s on hand ' at Un adill a. lend ing muc h
C o min g back from i nj ury at' U nad ill a was Tea m Prjrn al
nee ded watering eq uipm ent to the parched facility . Be tw een
Before the National rnotos, six 'qualifier races we re run. The first
Impulse/S uzuki/ Bitr s Pipes' Tony L o r u s s o . " l've raced a coumotos. Bea sley him self cou ld be seen moving pu mps . pulling
two 125cc hea ts were w on by Rusty Holland and .Jason
pie of local things but this is my first National back. : Lorus so said
hosesend assisting With the wate ring of the track.
'
.
Brieflv.•.
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