My
OWN RACE:
250cc
26
1lIam KawasakI's Michael Byrne rode well In both matos. Maldng 8ach one interesting was
the fact he had a heated battle with more than one rider. "The first moto, I didn't get the best
of starts and had to come through from, like, 12th or 10th or some«hlng." Byrne said. "I got
up to sixth, so that was okay. I was catching up to 1hlYis [Preston] at the end, but he was ridIng strong and he held on. The second moto, I got a much better start. Actually, I nearly slid
out In the second comer and lost a few positions. I was kind of just battling with Dohn Dowd]
the whole time. It was pretty fnauating. The track was really slick, and I was trying to get
the power down on the two-str'Oke against the four-strokes. I just lried to ride as hard as I
could and close the gap on him. He rode good, thouah; he rode solid and didn't make any
mistakes."
52
•
AIteI' riding a YnSO two-stroke all year, Team Star Yamaha's Kelth Johnson decided to make
the switch to a 4SOcc four-stroke. So far, he has not been too pleased with the move. "Basically, I just kind of figured, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," johnson saki. "So I started riding
the four-stroke at Colorado. I f8k pretty good on It there and decided to come here and try
it again. But I'm CNfIIr that thing; It's just a . . pig. I aashed In the second moto and broke the
dutch 1_ off on the first lap, so that was the end of that. I __ down once in the forst
moto and wori
