Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

so lid fourt h-place ride in moto o ne . In the second mo to, Button was able to im prove upon that sco re, finishing thi rd. Button ' s stro ng p erformance at Steel C ity provided a fitting en di ng to wha t ha s turn ed o u t to be a b re ak throug h year for the 26-year -old rider fro m Lake Elsin ore, Ca lifo rn ia. "Yeah, I'v e been having so me good races lat ely," sa id Button. " l 'rn happy to get the YZF400 Brid geston e /Fox/Yamaha u p the re on th e podium aga in. It' s all a bo u t co ns istency. I waited a little bit too long in the seri es to ge t going . Now th at I' ve lea rn ed the bi ke w ell , I feel reall y com for ta ble a bou t go ing into next year. Ho pefully, I ca n carry this mom en tum into the ne w season and becom e a title co ntender." • Finishi ng fourth overa ll wa s Wa rd. After finishing seco nd to Alberty n in the firs t m oto, Ward blasted fro m the gate in moto two o n the heels of ea rly leader Dowd be fo re fa lling in th e first turn . Ward was able to cha rge to tenth befo re the m ot o's en d. " I felt good to day," sa id Wa rd. "In th e fi rs t m oto , I feel li ke I d efinitel y could have won. In th e second m ot o, I was a lot faster, but yo u ca n' t sta rt 40th a nd let g uys like A lbe rty n a nd Win d ha m ge t so far o ut in front of you ." Posting hi s bes t-ever 250cc overa ll finis h was Ferry in fifth . After a stro ng seven th-place showing in th e first mo to, Ferry rocke ted to th e second moto holesh ot and early lead , eve ntually givin g w a y to th e h ard-ch arging trio o f Albe rtyn, Wind ha m and Button and finishing fou rth - his pe rso na l bes t. . "I feel reall y good about tod ay," sa id erry." It's my best overa ll ever. Las t weekend, I got sixth an d tied my best. It seems like the seaso n has gone better and b etter for m e si nce C ha par ra l p icke d m e up. Larry Brooks has reall y been hel pin g me o ut on th e track w ith lines and my st arts. My starts have go tten a lo t better since I came here." I Team Honda ' s Ezra Lu sk was six th ,?verall o n the d ay wi th a consis tent 5-5 ride . , "Yeah, to p five was good," sai d Lusk. 'iBette r, I g uess, th a n last weeke nd . It was nothing like I started off th e yea r, ~hou gh. I had a few bad races and got into a little bit of a rut. It's been ha rd to find my way ou t of it. I' m loo king forward to n ext yea r . I'm rea lly ex ci te d a bou t the new bike a nd I'll reall y be going after the supercro ss title. I've bee n rea lly con sistent in the su pe rcrosses and I'm reall y looking forward to hopefu lly winning that thing a nd ge tt ing one of these championships under my belt. " A lber tyn fini shes o u t h is cha m p io ns hip ye ar w ith 477 points and three ove rall wins . Windham wa s solid in sec- (Above) Cool and damp weather left the Steel City trac k In perfect racing condition. More than 18 ,00 0 fans came out to watch the final National MX race of the year. (Right) Honda 's Kevin Windham gave Albertyn a run for his money , finis hing out the season In second place. o nd w it h 448 po in ts a nd fou r ove ra ll wi ns. La Rocco was thi rd for the yea r w it h 406 po ints a nd one wi n, followed by Lusk in fourth with 347 points and one w in . Bu tt o n was fif t h wi t h 328 po ints and one overa ll win, followed by Ya ma h a tea m m a tes Do ug Henry in six th w ith 314 points and o ne w in and John Dowd in seventh with 298 points. Wa rd finis he d eighth with a 296 po int tall y , fo llo wed b y Su zuki teamm at e Robbi e Reyn ard , who sco red 274 points on the year for ninth. Ferry capped off a bann er yea r by advanci ng into the to p 10 at the final round w ith 264 po int s. The Ra ce r Productions-prepa re d Steel City course was in perfect shape for Sunday's Na tional. Steady ligh t rain, courtesy of Hurricane Den nis, kept the trac k -su r face m oi st and tacky, w hile overcast s kies a nd light breezes m ad e for a coo l and com for tab le d ay of racing. All of th e Na tional riders ag reed that it was a perfect day for mo tocross - and th e fina l showdown of the season. Lap times for the race lead ers were in the 2minu te, 30-second ran ge throughout the day. MOTO ONE D ow d sho t from the Steel City ga te to tak e the THQ H olesh ot in mota o ne, followed by Lusk. Ward , Hen ry and Windham. As th e pa ck made its way through the tigh t Stee l C ity switch back tu rn s, Ward moved around Lusk and in to secon d . Kalin cha rged into fourth, pursued by Albertyn, Henry, Windham and Butto n . W ith ju st h al f-a -l ap. co mp leted , Ward blitzed pas t Dowd on the track's hi gh speed "s ki ju m p" sec tio n to take over the ea rly lead . "I go t a p ret ty good s ta r t," s ai d. War d . "Dowd took everybody wide in th e second turn and I got int o second . Then , I pa ssed him coming down a hill on the firs t la p. I charged hard for abou t four la ps and got a pr ett y d ecent lead ." As Ward pulled o u t to an app rox ima te three-second lead on Dowd , Albe rtyn du cked und er Kali n and into second p lac e . In an urgent a tte m p t to not let A lberty n ge t away, Windham agg ressively forced his w ay pa st Henry at th e bottom of the ski jump hill, leaving the d efendi ng Nationa l C ha m pion to deal with h is hard-ch arging teammate But ton , wh o w ould tak e over the fifth spo t before th e completion of the la p . With . Ward co m fo rtably out fro n t, A lbe rty n attac ked Dowd for second, first attem pt- ing to leap past th e Yamaha rid er a nd th en execu ting a per fect ou tside-insi de pass in the next corne r to tak e over the position. No t to be ou td one, Windham al so took th e measure of Dowd on th e nex t lap, d ro p p ing him to fourth a nd d ir e ctly into the clut ch es of Butt on . Ward contin ue d to lead at the halfway po in t, followed by Albe rty n, Windham a nd Bu tt on, w hile Do wd , Lusk, Ferry and Reyna rd engaged in an in tense bat tle for fifth. With just a few mi nutes left in th e m ot o , A lbe rty n closed in o n Wa rd , rocke ting p ast h is tea mmat e to take the lead and even tual m ot o victory . "When Greg got into secon d they started catc hi ng me a little bit and I tried to p ick the pa ce back up," said Ward . " G r eg was ridin g real ly good . H e caught up and go t by me ." "We d e fi nit el y wan te d to g e t th e cham pionship o ut of the way in the firs t moto if we cou ld ," ad ded Wa rd. "Anyth ing can happen. Injury, bi ke ma lfu nctions - any thing . Suzuki has been reall y good to me for the last tw o years. G reg has ridden wel l a ll yen r a nd th e team has worke d hard a ll yea r. T hat's why we won the championshi p. My hat' s off to G reg. My h at ' s a lso off to Ke v in Windha m . He ma de it real interesting and ma de everyone at ou r cam p a littl e bit nervous th ese last cou ple of weeks." Albertyn's ·25 point s for winning t he m ot o vers us W indh am ' s third p la ce poin ts tall y of 20 gave the Tea m Suz u ki star t he.26-poi n t le ad h e ne ed ed to clinch his hard -earned and long-awaited cha m pio ns hip. " It's been a long, nard bat tle, bu t I'm so g la d I've fina lly d o ne it ," sai d th e new 250cc Na tional Motocross Cham pion . "I just had a feeling I was go ing to do it in this fi rst mo to . Ez ra sta rted ho ldi ng me up in the first three or four tu rns. H<;> kept looking beh ind an d so rt of blocking me. I put the moves on him an d kne w (ha t. once I'd gotten around him , it was ju st a m a t ter of rid in g smooth an d rid ing hard. " Joining Albe rty n in celebra tio n at the fini sh lin e wa s Team Manager Ro ger DeCoster , w ho ha s been wit h G reg since his firs t days in Am eri ca . " Ev er y b o d y on the te am w orked hard for this one and it fee ls rea lly good to w in it ," sai d th e five- time World Motocr oss Cha m pion. "Greg is not only a g rea t rid er , he is a lso a re all y good person . Som e guys arc good racer s and yo u like them for their race results and because of w hat they can do on a mo torcycle, but Greg is a great person and a g rea t g uy to be fri ends with . I think I worke d ha rder for this cham pionsh ip than the o nes I won myself." W ard ro lled in for second in the m oto, m atch in g h is seaso n best ,. fo llo w ed by a va lian t effort by Windha m for thi rd . " I felt lik e I had an a ll right rid e," sa id W indham . " I d efin it ely wasn ' t flowing like I need ed to be. Greg rode great all season lon g an d my congratu lations go out to him." Button was strong in fourth, followed by Lus k in fifth . Dowd held on for sixth, followed by Ferry in seventh and Reynard in eig h th. LaRocco was nin th, the victim of a ba d start and an earlv crash. " I just didn't ga te tha t well ," said LaRocco. "The inside of that start gets a ll bo ttled u p . I actually got through the first tu rn r eal good, bu t got pus hed out o n the second one. I came ou t bad and, a few co rne rs la ter, someo ne en ded u p fa lli ng in front of me. I hi t them and wen t d own. I was way back from the get-go. I think I bu sted my coil or someth in g w hen I cras hed . My bike was br eaking u p the w hole race." Hen ry rou nded ou t the top 10, a nother victim of an ea rly moto crash. "It hap pen ed o n the fina l off-camber turn," explained Hen ry . "I put my front tire in th e outside rut and my rear tire in the ins ide ru t. When I tried to move my fron t tir e to the inside rut, I just kind of w as hed out. I could n't seem to s tay focused , so I w as just kind of ou t there rid ing." . MOTOTWO W i t h the c ha m pio nship already deci ded, bragging righ ts were o n the li ne for th e final mo to of the season. Tea m C haparra l/Yama ha's Ti m Ferry top ped o ff a great year by ta kin g the ho lesh ot , foll ow ed by Albe rty n, Henry, Dowd and Windham. Reynard wa s just o ne of the rid ers thrown off by an intermitten t starting-gate qu iver. "Th e gate twitched like, tw ice," sai d Reyn ard . "The second tim e it tw itched , I we nt for it and plowed st ra ight in to the ga te;" Firs t moto runner-up Ward also had problems at th e begi nn in g of the rac e, goi ng d own in the firs t turn afte r sta rtin g up front with the lead ers. "It felt like th ey held the ga te for a long tim e ," sa id Ward . "A co u p le of en en en ~ on ~ Q; .c E '" i5. '" en 27

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