Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Motocross (Left) Oowd (6) and Windham (14) mix it up In the lirst moto. (Right) Mike laRocco was unable to gain any points on the two riders ahead 01 him in the series standings · Albertyn and Windham. '" '" '" ~ I II ::> en ::> < 8 but he a lmost got over in to me," said Albertyn . On ce he to ok th e lead, Al ber tyn point ed his Suzu ki away fro m t h e thumper. . . laRocco an d Ferry we re movin g up in tand e m , p a s sin g Win dham a nd Henry jus t bef or e th e halfway p oint. However, neither rid er wo u ld be able to make up th e sho rt di stance to th e top trio. Reyn ard finally found a line pa st the Yamah a of Button to give Suzuki a 1-2 placin g . He ga ve chase to Albert yn, nev er allowing the points lead er to ge t mo re th an a few bike len gths awa y. However, Rey nard would never g e t close enough to attempt a pa ss, and the m ot o w ould end with A lber tyn jus t ahead . " It was a tough mo to and Robbie was rid ing excep tiona lly well, and so wa s Jimmy," sa id Albertyn in the wi nner's circle. "That back section was gn arly, and I got s id eways quite a few times, but I got it sorted out. That is probably one of the rou ghest sectio ns 1 have ever ridd en." "I want Greg to win (the. championship), but I also want to win some races," said Reyna rd afterward of riding so closely to a teammate going after a title. " If I can win, I'm goi ng to try to win: ' Button was a solid third , followed by LaRocco and Ferry. Emig would se tt le for sixth ahead of Dowd , while Wind ham ca me ac ro ss th e li ne a puz z led eighth. "I think so meo ne stole my bike and went ou t ther e a nd rode for me," said Windham lat er, on ce hi s s p irits rose after hi s seco n d - mo to win . " I ju st couldn't find my right lines, and wh en it was obvi ou s that some of the lines other guys were taking wer e bet ter, I was too dumb to swi tch:' "I wa s kind of chasin g Emig around there, but I never go t a cha nce to pass him ," said Dowd . "Ho pefully I can get it go ing a little qu icker the next lime: ' Bulton pu shed hi s Brian Kinn e ytuned YZ400 into the first turn ahead of a pack of blu e bikes. "I was in fou rth gea r an d that's all I got," said Button of th e speed w it h which he hit the first tu m ahead of the pack. "I jus t go t there ahead of eve ryone, laid it over a littl e bit an d too k the holes hot." Hen ry, Dowd and Ferry all followed in close for m a tio n, a head of th e re d Hond a o f Windh am , th en th e th r ee S uz u k is o f Alb ertyn , Rey nard a nd Ward . LaR occo w as ne xt , th en ca me Briefl Lusk and Yamaha rider Takeshi Koikeda , who was su ffe ring with a cold all da y long. Windham truly was a different rider the second time out. He quickly carved a lin e throu gh th e Yamaha s of Dowd and Ferry, then used a sweeping outside pass on an uphill bowl turn to overta ke Hen ry . Fro m that mom ent on, Henry started dropping back in the field , having twisted his already injured an kle. " I twi st ed it pretty bad , th e sa me a n k le th at I o r ig in a lly hurt a t th e Mot ocross d es Nation s last yea r," sa id Henry of his left ankl e. "It never did heal properl y, and I've had some problems wit h it. When I caug ht it aga in tod ay, I decided to slow down and kind of check the damage to see if it was bad or not." Hen ry end ed up coas ting to a 10th· pla ce finish . Windham kept moving forward and acquired the lead from Button on the fifth lap . Alberty n followed suit one lap later, seemi ng ly preparing himself for a lat e-ra ce s ho w dow n w it h Windh am. H ow ever, two things came into pla y almost in stantan eou sl y - Albe rt yn ' s ••• The winners of Sunday morn ing' s prequabfiers we re Stephane Roncad a and Mike Craig in the 125cc heats, and Tim Fe rry and Robbie · Reynard in the' 250 cc heats, K eith J ohn s o n took the l25cc LCO, while Jiri D.ostal wo~ the 250cc LCO , championship ins ti n ct and a sudden downpour. "Kevin rod e an excep tional race, an d when I got into second , I felt like that was my pace," sa id Albertyn of his deci_ sion not to go after Windham. "With the rain s tarting to fall, I thou ght about the cha m p ions hip and d ecid ed to tak e the n in e p oint s ex tr a. No w I h av e four motos to go. Maybe earlie r in the season I wou ld ha ve charge d a little harder, but the re's mor e to think abo u t now than just winning ra ces. I just rod e a smart race once 1sa w that I was in second and had the overall." Reynard had b e en m o v in g up as well, but he again found a wa ll in the form of a Yam ah a, this time the one ridden by Dowd . When Reynard go t a little of ou t contro l in the wh oops and had to save h is Su zuki from th e sa n d, he strained his shoulder again and had to back it d own. "My should er was hurting and I eased up a little bit and peopl e just started passing me," said Reynard. "I tried to regroup and sta rt going forwa rd aga in. My shoulder was just both erin g me a lot." of the main show at M illville. W alker injured his wrist at Lorett a Lynn's the week before. The pain was too much . for him to continue. and he. pulled o ut during the 125cc LCQ , holding his wrist. Some co nf irmed dea ls being talked about in the pit s Su nday have Emesto Fonseca back on the Yamaha of Troy team, alongside Casey Johnson , a nd Mik e LaRocco s tayi ng w it h hi s Fact ory Conn ection / Ja ck in th e Box/O'Neal/ Honda pro gr am fo r another two year s. "I went out to Calif ornia thi s w eek to do so me tes ting for the Mot ocro ss des Nations and w ent ahead and go t our deal all work ed out, " said laRocco. a for mer two-time AMA National M X Champion, "I have leamed in the past not to mess ' wit h things when they're goi ng right. I'rri really happy WIth ttiis 'team, wit h the bikes, and having my own rig, so I decided to stay put for the next two years :" . A s usual, U.S. T:obacco and Team Rooster gave away th eir Privateer Awards at M illvill e, and the $ l OOO ' check we nt to F&S Suzuki's P aul Currie. w ho finished seventh ove rall in the 125cc class , M ot a XXX's T ravis Preston took second-privateer honors wit h his 10th overa ll. He walk ed away wit h $500. The top privateer mon ey wort h $1000 in the 250cc class went to 14th-place overa ll finisher Tyler Evans, whi le l SthA s 'for the we apon Mike laRocco will ride for the M ot ocr oss des place finisher Bruce Stratton eamed an additio nal $500 for being the . Na ti on s, LaRoc co is now pretty much set on stayi ng wi th t he Honda next top- finishin9 privateer , . CR250 he's been riding. rath er than swi tc h to .a one-o ff CR500 that Am erican Honda offered to provide him, "We were hearing that the track u.S. Tobacco also donated 33 cents per paymg fan at Millville to the in Brazil might be a 500 trac k. but aft er look ing at some tapes and talking Clayton Foundation , wh ich benefi ts injured ride rs . W ith a total o f to some of the peop le who have been thene, I' m pnetty sune that the 250 17,249 specta tors on hand, they collected $5749, 70 . w ill be the best bik e for me . " said laRoc co , w ho is maki ng his th ird appearance on Team USA. (He rod e on a winni ng team in Au st ralia in M innestoa's own Heath V oss made his return to raci ng since the 1992 and a losing team in Switzerland in ·94 .l At the M otoc ro ss des Unadilla National. J uly 1B. "I had a bone contusion to the top o f my Nations. each thnee-man team enters a 125cc rider , a 250cc rider, and a femur," Voss said off his layoff . "The doctor said no high impact for sev "class optional " 250cc or SOOcc rider. For Team USA '99 , laRocco will eral weeks . so that's why I haven't been around ," Voss also debuted his be joined by joined by Ricky Carmichael t12 5ccl and Kevin Windham brand-new Vossmobile. the ri9 that gets him from one race to another. tzsoee. " It' s five feet longer, nicer, mane organized and well thought out. " Team Suzuki's Robb i e Reynard is not in the top 10 in the points Last year's massive downhill double was not run at this year 's event standings . which means he has to ride the morning qua lification following a couple o f m ishaps and an agreement with the AMA and track rounds . D urin g his runaway qualifier win on Su nday . Reyn ard saw owner Jo hn Martin. " It was a jo int decis ion between us to not put it in," team mate Lar ry Wa rd ju mp ou t on the t rack on the last lap to give him said the AM A's Du ke Finch, ' The landing is too soh , and it is just way too a wi ld tongue-in-cheek cheer. Reynard responded by cutt ing across rough at the bo ttom of that hill, and we think it will be safer for the riders if the 't rack to W ard 's van tage point atop a big j ump and covered " Big we close it off ," Planet Honda 250cc rider Ryan Huffman and Primal B ird " wi th a healt hy , sandy roost. Had Reynard 90 ne on to wi n SunImpulse/Suzuki rider M ichael Brandes were both knoc ked out of action on the huge leap during practice . It was the same obstacle that ' day ,he wo uld have been the second rid er this year to w in afte r having co me out of the morni ng qua lifiers , Sebasti en Tortelli is the only one claimed M ickael Pichon and Tony Amaradio last year. to have accomplished this feat: having done so at the se ries opene r in San Bern ard ino . As always at M illville, the 125cc clas s saw some new faces fresh out o f the amateur ranks with the comple tion of the Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur Nationals the previo us weekend, Team Green 's C had J o hnson , THO Ch ernpionship M otoc ross Featuring Rick y Carmichael again gave NCY's Ivan T edesco and Yamaha-mounted Mark Thompson gave it away $2000 to the fastest sta rters in eac h N ati onal mota, $500 per holeshot , SplitFire/Pro Circ uit Kawasa ki rider N ath an Rams e y eamed a shot. but only Tedesco qualified , Tedesco rode to 29· 23 mota finishes and said he had fun in the process, the loot bo th tim es o ut in the 125 cc class, w hile Team Kawasak i' s Damon Huffman took the first 250cc mot o holeshot and Yamaha's Once again, M ota Planet/ AI Lane Yamaha's Matt W alker was not part Jim m y Button the seco nd-mo te holeshot.

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