Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128011
Final round: Steel City Raceway AMAlMAZDA TRUCKS NA TIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES (Above) Finally! I Three-time Wor ld MX Champion Greg Albertyn J reache d hi s - and Suzuki's - go al of wi nni ng th e AMA 250cc Nat io nal i litle, wr appin g it all up in th e final race at Steel City. Albert yn 's wife , I Amy , wa s on hand to celebrate his t accomplishment, (Left) Albe rty n (8), alongside Tim Ferry (20), fin ished off the year in grand sty le, winning both motos. By Jerry At hey Photos by Karl Ockert 111 1 ~ IIlii III :l ~ lji Q ~ ~ ':i :;; ~ ., g. (/) 26 DELMONT, PA, SEPT. 5 ea m Suzu ki's Greg Albe rtyn is a believer. Th rou ghh u t the 1999 o season cam paign, t e 26-year-o 1dSouth Africa n has been bri mming with confiden ce and "ha s boldl y proclaimed his belief that, after five long seasons of tryin g, his tim e to becom e the ou tdoor Nationa l Cha mpion has come. And, on a rain-d rizzling and ove rcas t day in Pennsylva nia, Albertyn ma de believers out of the 18,364 cheering mo tocross fans on ha nd at Steel City Racew ay by piloting his Joe Mau rer-prepped A merica n Suzuki/MSR /Smith / Alpines tars / Dunlopbacked factory RM250 to a perfect I -I score at the final rou nd of the 1999 AMA / Mazd a Tru cks Na tional Cham pions hip 250cc MX Series, wrapping-up his firstever American National Championship. "I' rn ex tremely happy," said Albertyn . "It's been a long, ha rd road an d I T think a lot of people w ho have followed my career have seen that. It hasn' t been a bed of roses. Whe n yo u ge t here, it's fi na lly worth it a n d th a t a tt it u de of never giving up - it really pays off. I'm ex tremely happy to be her e and I jus t wa nt t o tha nk eve rybody for their su pport . It really has meant a lot to me - all the enco uraging wo rds an d eve ry thing . It's grea t to fina lly be her e." After starting fourth in the first moto, Albertyn went to wo rk, passing Kamesports /Pro Ci rcuit / Pirelli' s Mike Ka tin and Team Yama ha's John Dowd in the early stages of the race to move in to secon d beh in d Suzuk i teamma te La r ry Wa rd. Jus t o ne position a hea d of h is title-rival, Team Ho nda's Kevin Win dham, an d desp erately need ing to clinch the three extra points now in the possession of Ward, Albertyn mad e his move for the lead just after the halfway po int and raced away to the convi ncing moto vic to ry - a nd the 1999 AMA ou tdoo r champio ns hip . Albe rtyn the n backed up his new found Na tio na l Cha m pion s tatus with a command ing wi n in the.second moto, passing the early race leade r, Team Chapa rra l/- Yama ha's Tim Ferry be fore th e comp le tio n of th e firs t la p an d ridi ng off to victory on the fast and techn ical ci rc u it - d espit e a st ro ng charge from Windham late in the race. "We ll, this is d efinitely my fav orite track and I was ve ry co nfident coming in," Alberty n explai ne d . "That w in in the first moto mad e me excited and the second mo to - it was jus t a grea t race. I rode really smooth. Kevin kep t me hon est, though." Finishing seco nd overa ll for the day was the series runn er -up, Wind ham. Afte r finis hi ng thi rd in th e firs t moto beh ind th e Suzu kis o f A lb er ty n a n d Ward , the 21-yea r-old rider from Baton Rou ge, Louis iana, "finish ed ou t his year in s trong fashion by placing second to Albertyn in mot o two. Windham, who earn ed the most ove rall wins on the seaso n, with fou r, was gracious in d efeat and already has his eyes set on the yea r2000 crown. "I feel good ," sa id Windham. " It's been a good yea r . I d idn 't fini s h ou t qui te like I wa nte d to with tod ay's overall finish - an d definitely with the championship. I was reall y hoping to ge t in there a litt le close r than I was, but, allin-all, it was a good season. I'm k,okin~ forward to next yea r already." "G reg 's jus t been ri d in g g reat a ll yea r," Wind ha m added . "He showed it tod ay . I kn ew th at the cha m pionsh ip . was way b ey on d m y co n trol. Th ere wasn ' t any thing I cou ld do abo u t it.', I mean, there were 40 guys ou t there that wa n ted to w in the cha m pions hi p a nd only one of us could . And he d id . I defin itely wanted to go aft er him , b u t ~~ really h ad it today." 'I Put ting in yet ano ther stro ng rid e fqr third o ve ra ll was Tea m Yam ah a ' s Jimmy Button. Bu tton, w h o post ed 'a win , tw o seconds and now a third in the fin a l fou r races of th e se ries, put in it