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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127955
MOTOCROSS Round 9: Washougal MX Park A MAIMAlDA TRUCK NATIONAL C AMPIONSH 250ccMX SERIES f'C-- - - - - - - - -H IP By Eri c J ohnson Photos by Steve Middles wo rt h WASHOUGAL,WA,AUG. 2 estled in the rural hinterlands of Vancouver, Washington, among the evergreen trees , cascading streams, and diesel-snorting log trucks, is th e Was hougal Mo tocross Park. It is renowned for its scenic b eautv and world-cl ass co m p e ti ti o n, and 'Tea m Yamaha's Do ug Henry made it all his own on Sunday afternoon when he registered 1-3 moto scores for the overa ll wi n. And in d oin g so, H enry not only registered hi s th ird N ational victory of the AMA /Ma zd a Truck N ational Ch ampionship 250cc MX Series , he also managed to put more day lig ht - 53 points, to be exact - between himself and his nearest adversary in the series, Greg Albertyn . "Getting the m oto wins is where you ge t your points, so I was real happy to w in th e fi rst mota," said a laid -back Henry while signing a YZF400F number p late for a fan. "I felt like I was strugg ling a little bit in the seco nd mo to and N d idn 't seem to hit the tr a ck q u ite as good; I jus t wasn't flowing q uite as good as the first one and had to tak e w ha t I cou ld ge t. Washouga l is a grea t track ; in fact, I think it's the most sce nic track on th e circuit. It' s so coo l ha ving a ll th e gree n grass and the green trac ks and the rea l bla ck dirt." Finishing second on the day - plated fo rea r m a nd all - w as Team H ond a' s Ezra Lusk. Still fee ling the effect s of a tw eaked arm, Lusk rode to tw o strong runner-up placings, hover in g right o n the edge of winning the overa ll through the lat er stages of the final mota. "We ll, I made a big mistak e like two or three laps in to th e se con d mota ," explained Lusk from the lounge area of the Honda tran sp orter. "I came off tha t on e big d rop-off wa y in th e back a nd my hand totall y came off the handlebar, and I went straight throu gh that berm a t th e bottom, and I th ou ght I wa s going through the fence. I bar ely got my hand back on the bar just in tim e. Th at scared me for a couple laps, and tha t's w hen Jeff (Em ig) kind of checked out and go t eight seconds on me. - - - - - - -- "We were all going th e same pa ce," Lusk co nt in ued . " I think w e were a ll pretty much going the sa me speed in the seco nd mot a - it' s just whoev er wants it more. I knew from the mess age on my pit board th at I needed Ern ig for th e overa ll, but I thought (Mickael) Pichon was goi ng to ge t Hen ry there for a few laps, but on the last lap I saw Doug in thi rd and knew he had it. I reallv want to win m ore m ot os a nd wi n a n o ther overall before th e yea r is through." Kaw asaki ' s Jeff Emig, winner of the last th ree consecu ti ve AM A Natio na ls (at Buchan an , Una d illa and Tr ov), sa w h is w in s t rea k co me to an e n d a t Wa sh ougal. Sab ot aged by a fifth-place finish in the first mo ta, Emig cam e back s w ing ing the seco nd t ime out and through a da zzling pe rforman ce w hich sa w him b li tz by h ol eshot-snatching Doug Henry on the second lap - rod e off to w in by approxim at ely 15 se co nds. Emig left th e lu sh a nd g reen fa cility w ith his d igni ty intact. " I wa s n' t r eally pl ea s ed with th e day," said the ever-philosophical Emig. "I was pleased wi th the se cond mota, - - - - - - - - - - - - J1 Team Yamaha 's Doug Henry strengthened his chances for the 250cc National title with his th ird victory of the year , Henry .went 1-3 at Washougal. though. I wa sn 't reall y in the right fram e of mind for a few d ays this week, and that affected my practice on Saturday; I just wasn't really o n and riding the wa y I wanted to . Even when I got that bad start in th e first rna to, I didn't co me through the pack and just wa sn 't riding ' as comfortable as I did in th e second mota . I pulled away in the second mota and didn 't want to thro w th e mot o away, but I reall y wanted to pu t the hurt on and s tretch it out a nd let ev er yone know that th e fir st m oto was bullshit, becau se I' m her e to win every moto. I w ant to keep winning mo tos a n d le t everyo n e know th at I'm d efinitel y th e fastest 250cc rider in the w orld, becau se ' that's where I wa s at this tim e last year ." Although he missed the p odium by one position, South African Greg Alber ty n used smart , consistent 3-4 mota