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/128635
B r it is h In t e r n a t io n a l Supercross Earl's Court O lympic S tadium (Above) Though r ac i ng on a track that produced many i nj uries, and taking it easy to conserve energy for an outdoor race the f ollow i ng day, Brit James Dobb managed to snare the final podium positio n . (Below) Mike Brown contested the race in attempt to get his Supercross skills back after spending t ime overseas; he w as good en ough t o take seco nd overa ll . (Bottom) McGra th laughs it up w it h m ec han ic Skip Norfolk. The duo seem as comfortable (and effective ) toget her as they w ere in the Honda days. momen t du e to i nj u ry , a n d seve ra l other names fai ling to turn up, it was LONDON, ENGLAND, SEPT. 30 left u p to B ro wn a n d D o b b to battle erem y McGrat h is bac k . The K ing of World Supercross, making o n ly his J M cGrath . B o th showed g rea t Su p e r . seco nd ra c e appe a r a n c e a f t er h is t ime AMA Su p erc ro ss champ was a f o ur-mo n th la yoff, too k the Lond on ta ll o rder. " I' m co mi ng h e r e t o w in ," D obb c ross ski lls , yet b eat in g t he se ve n- Superc ross i n dom i n a t i n g fash i o n . Leading home fe llow American M ike laughed . " Se rious ly, if I ge t h o m e in Br own D ob b , o ne piece I'll b e h ap p y . M ike a n d I McGrath a l ready looked so m ethi ng h ave to rac e tomorrow for the British li k e h is U.S. season fo r m. For the Yamaha rider, it wa s neve r close to th at' s mor e impo rta nt th an tryi ng to and B ri t J am es 12 5 c c M oto cro ss Championship , and be ing the same stor y as two w eeks beat a guy [McG rath ] w ho is unb eat- earl ie r , when he fin ish ed fourth in the annual It alian F as tc ross. O n that hot able ." a f ternoon, Mr. Supe r cro ss w a s le d go for whatever comes y our w ay , and ta k e n o cha nc e s : " I ' m lea d i ng th e B rown h ad t h e sam e app roac h - home b y Sebast i e n Tort ell i , M i k e LaRocco and Ryan H ug h e s, and h e B r iti sh M otoc ro s s Ch am p i on sh ip . I a lso su ffered a qua lifi er defeat t o have not ridd en Supercross for a long young Grant Langston, but in Lon don, he was back o n familiar t urf. track is a littl e d an ge ro us - o ne small " Indoo rs, " McGrath smiled. " That 's m istake, and I'm in trouble. I'll just d o t ime , maybe onc e in a yea r. Th e where I have always wanted to be ; m y best under the situa ti on , and try a nd lea v e here in good shape ." winning when we g o into the stad i ums is w hat I d o be st. " H EAT RACES Some hasty fo rmat changes (see sidebar) made li ttle d ifferenc e to w ho T he q u a li f icati on h e a t s f or t he Intern ati o n a l section o f t h e progra m w as going to w in in Lo nd on , thoug h . W ith Team S uzu k i ' s T ravis Pastrana we nt to B ro w n and McGrath. Bro w n pu lli ng o ut o f t h e event at t he last actually d o ub led up , also winning his Br it i sh Sup erc ros s Champion s hip heat ra c e, w ith two of England's top Grand Prix rid ers , Neil Princ e and Rob Herring , tak ing th e ir respective BSX h eats. A ll three sho w ed good speed , a lt houg h it w as quick ly obvious that the difference between McGrath (w ho led h ome D o b b an d H err ing in hi s heat ) and his r iv al s wa s hug e . BRIEFLY. •• Ro b He rring . the Bri tish M X des N ati o ns tea m manager and form er Grand Prix w inn er , w as While Jeremy McGrath's victory was an easy one, the night's act ion was any thing but easy for the other competitors. The London Supercross, which attracted a near sell-out crowd of around 10.000 spectators, was close to being called off after 12 riders were rushed to a London hospital during the qualification heats. Local police were called in and event organizer Future West was requir ed to chang e the format of the evening's remai ning races. "If we have one more injury the racing will be stopped : Jami e Hellam said after a quickly organized riders' meeting prior to the finals. "We will have to go straight to the finals and drop some of the races from the program; we can 't risk any mor e injuries." "The track's very narrow: said Brown . "It was easy to jump over onto the other part of the track...I think there are some guys getti ng injured because the j umps they had, they should have fixed better." "I was struggling a little with the tight lines," Neil Prince said. "I thought the track was okay. maybe too many rocks . Also, changes to landings of the jum ps a littl e would have helped. We have guys who want to ride on this track, but if you're not used to Supercross , it was tou gh." "You have to realize I do this every day: McGrath said. "Guys are crashing all over the place, and this is an easy track. I don't understand it, but you have to take me out of the equation. Most of these guys don't race Supercross at all, then they come here and try to race." 40 O CTOBER 18,2000' eye • e n e vv s happy to claim a podium place in the British Supercross Championship final. "I have not raced too much this year. " Herring said. ' I'm still having trouble with my wrists. and over some of the larger jumps. it' s painful. The track was not too bad: the ground was very wet. and passing was tough. I got a good start behind Mike [BrownJ. but I need more time on the bike. I also su ffer from asthma. and the stadium needs some fans [to move the airl , I could hardly breath.For home rider James Dobb . who rode a 125cc KTM all season long and the 520cc fourstroke KTM at the MX des Nations. then stepped on the 250cc for London. it was a harder job than he might have expected. "I have not ridden a 250cc machine for a long time. and that took so me ge tt ing used to , " he said . M cGrath 's Lond on perform anc e basicall y amo unt s to bad new s for his 20 01 Ameri can rivals. After weeks of testing. it seems the Mazda Yamaha is ready to rumble. and the return of Skip Norfolk (who wrenched for McGrath during his Honda days) has given the always-confident rider an even bigger boost. "The bi k e' s working awesome ." McGrath said. • Skip is doing a great job. In fact. it is just about ready for the 2001 season already. We worked hard the last few weeks. and that showed tonight. Only some suspension changes. and that should do it. I knew with Skip helping out we could make this Yamaha really quick. and it is." Following the British International Supercross, McGrath turned his attention to another English Supercross two weeks later. McGrath will attend the Sheffield Supercross in Northern England on October 14. the sa me nig ht as the U.S . Open in Las Vegas.