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/128105
Hous ton Raceway Par k: In Baytown, Texas, Kevin Schwantz (left ) scored the Houston Supe rTT win over Joe Kopp (m idd le) and Jason Tye r. hander a s Schwantz stuffed it up th e in si d e . Schwantz w ent o n to an uncontested win o ve r Kopp , with Honda CR250-mounted Jason Tyer who , along with Ko p p , h ad s ta ye d over after c o m p e t in g in Saturda y night's GNC half mi le - in th ird . "I cou ld see he wa sn 't m ak ing an effort to c atc h ba ck up to m e , he was jus t pla ying , " sa id S chw ant z of K.opp 's p ost -sp ill run, during wh ich t he GNC champ th rilled the crowd with lurid sl ides and wheelspin on the pavement. S chwantz snagged the holeshot for th e Prem ier mai n , only to be passed b y Kopp on t he o utside a s t hey rounded turn two of the ov a l and bent int o th e inf ie ld. S chwantz hara ss e d Kopp for seve ra l laps as the leaders pu lled clear of kn obby -t ired Tye r in th ird . Ko pp ' s KTM s ho we d a sl ight spee d ad va ntage down t he ova l' s sta rt /finish stra ig h t , but Sc hwantz rou ti nely c losed b a c k up on t he bra kes e ntering th e first infield co rn e r - a loo s e , du s t y , t igh t hairpin le ft . Numbe r 34 , bes t know n for his wo rldc lass p a vem ent p ro wess , s u rp rised m any , a s he not on ly hu ng with Kopp throug h th e dirt infield but ja bb ed in a whe e l or a n e lbow wh er e he could. Th e heated pace and intense action re s ulte d in Schwantz washing out his front wheel in the s a m e corne r in wh ich Kopp had fallen du ring th e heat. He got right up with out s ta lling his Suzu ki a nd set out in hot pursu it o f Kopp , about five seconds beh ind. Sc hw antz pu t his head down a nd cut the faste st la ps of the weekend , while Kopp visibly s lowed to ke ep th e ra ce inter esting for th e fans . "It' s the last time I d o that," sa id Kopp aft e rward , " I th ou ght Kev in eye ' EO wo uld know that I wa nted to p la y, but I thi nk he re ally wanted to win." On ce Schwantz was ba ck on Kopp's rear wh e el , he slipped p ast on t he brakes a lap later an d stretc hed out a tw o -s e cond m argin of victor y. Kopp ea rned high -s tyle honor s for his spectacu lar dis play of ha nging the rea r out into and off of severa l paved corners . In Sportsma n a ction , Te xans Ma rk Mille r a nd Craig Chedsey ra n at the front , with Ida ho's Steve Libert y in third. Miller too k a co mfortable win aboa rd his Power Spo rt Su pp ly Yamaha YZ400Z , while Chedsey crashed his North West Hon d a /Motul -b ack ed Cann onda le MX400 on the fina l lap, remounting to finish third , behind Liberty. Th e day culminated with a TT-Term inato r tro phy dash, a format t ha t runs a series of single -la p s prints in wh ic h the last two finis hers are e lim inated after e ach lap. T he eight -b ike field was whitt led down to a fina l pa iring , le a vin g Kopp a nd S c hwa nt z to s lug it out a g ain . Th e five-l a p final dash wa s a spec ta tor 's del ight, as the t wo ran wh e e l to wh e el , swapp ing pa int and the lead several tim es per la p . The qu ick y e t pl ayfu l p ace a llowe d for b ig s lides , wh ee lies and n EO _ S • MAY 23 ,200 1 43