Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ MOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 125/50Occ MX Series: Rounds 9/3 ~ . Mike Kiedrowski topped both motos for the overall win in the 500cc class, pulling ahead of Jeff Stanton in the point standings. Kiedrowski, Emig score at Binghamton By Chris Jonnum Photos by Kinney Jones BINGHAMTON, NY, AUG. 30· hile most people consider easygoing Mike Kiedn?wski to be one of the most personable and polite riders on the professional motocross circuit, the truth is the factory Kawasaki rider's manners could use a little work. You see, Kiedrowski doesn't like to share. After splitting moto wins with Team Honda's Jeff Stanton at the first two 500cc National MX rounds, Kiedrowski and Stanton were deadlocked for the series points lead going into the National at Broome-Tioga Sports Center. Apparently, Kiedrowski was tired of sharing the glory and he W 6 stormed to wins in both motos to claim his second overall win of ,the series. More importantly, however, the 23a year-old from Acton, California, pulled slightly ahead of Stanton in the series points standings. With just two rounds remaining, Kiedrowski leads Stanton by six points, 142-136, and is one step closer to claiming the 500cc National Championship in his first year on the big-bore machines. After finish~ng fourth in the Camel Supercross Series and second in the 250cc National MX Series, Kiedrowski has come on strong in the 500cc races. The two-time 125cc National Cham- pion was obviously elated after earning $2000 of the $15,000 500cc purse, but his selfish streak betrayed him. "I want to get the 500 title under my belt and go after the Supercross and 250 titles next year," said Kiedrowski after the second moto. The one person who is not enthusiastic about Kiedrowski's success is Stanton. The factory Honda pilot followed Kiedrowski home in second position in both motos and is now intent on turning the season around to complete a perfect year. ''I'm just going to have to come back and win both motos at the next race," said Stanton, whose second-place day earned him $1200. "If I can do that, it'll go down to the wire at the final round." While Stanton has already clinched this year's Camel Supercross and 250cc National Championships and has a total of six National titles to his credit, he has yet to earn a crown in the 500cc class. Team Honda Jean-Michel Bayle, the defending 500cc National Champion and last year's Binghamton winner, finished third in both motos to secure third overall. Despite sitting out the first round, Bayle now holds down fifth in the series standings with 80 points. Competing in his final season of motocross before switching to GP road racing next year, the Frenchman suffered mediocre starts at Binghamton. He worked his way up to third in both lJl0tos, only to find Kiedrowski and Stanton too far gone to challenge. Fourth overall was Jeff Ward, who is also competing in his final season of motocross racing. The Kawasaki rider kept things consistent by finishing in fourth place in both motos. With 110 points, Ward continues to hold down third in the series standings, 26 points behind Stanton. Rounding out the top five was privateer John Dowd, with 6-5 scores. The Kawasaki pilot from Chicopee, Massachusetts, was very popular with the many New Englanders in the crowd, and maintains his creditable fifth place in the point standings. In the 125cc class, Team Yamaha's Jeff Emig made up for an off performance at the previous round in Minnesota by posting a 2-1 score for the fourth National win of his career. However, the 21-year-old from Grand Terrace, California, failed to make up any ground on series points leader and last year's Broome-Tioga winner Mike LaRocco, who·traded moto wins with Emig. Emig has dominated the second half of the season, but early-season injuries penalized him in the points race. With just two rounds remaining, LaRocco leads Emig by 48 points, 381-333. ''I'm just trying to win each event and noneally worry about the series," said Emig. "This really gives m a big boost of confidence before going over to represent the United States in Australia at the (September 6) MX des Nations." Emig and LaRocco each earned $1600 from the $12,500 125cc purse. On the Line Racing/Pro Circuitbacked Honda privateer Erik Kehoe turned in his best performance of the year so far, finishing third overall via 3-4 moto finishes. Team DGY Racing's Doug Henry and Tuf Racing's Ron Tichenor rounded out the top five overall with 7-3 and 4-8 moto tallies, respectively. Unfortunately, the second moto of the 125cc class was marred by a firstlap crash by Suzuki's Guy Cooper that brought out the red flag. The 32-yearold Suzuki veteran went down as the pack cleared an uphill double-jump, and was seriously injured when another rider landed. on top of him. Cooper suffered a broken left femur, and will sit out the rest of the season. A total of 172 riders were on hand for the Suzuki/Dunlop-sponsored event - 91 in the 125cc division and 81 in the 500cc category. Two qualifying heats and two consolation races were utilized in both classes to cut the fields to 40 riders each. Although rain fell in the area the day before the race, a pleasantly cool and breezy day greeted the crowd of approximately 10,000 spectators who turned out for the event.

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