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/146684
~ M OSS AMA National Championship 125/50Occ MX Series: Rounds 10/4 oroeR points-leader Mike LaRocco, but a disastrous day for the factory Kawasaki pilot meant that Emig's 1-2 punch moved him to within only one point of LaRocco. All five of Emig's wins have come during the last six Nationals, as the 21-year-old from Highland, California, struggled throughout the first half of the season with injuries and poor starts. Emig has come on strong in the last part of the series, however, winning eight of the last 12 motos and finishing second twice. "It all just comes down to the fact that I have to win (the final round at) Budd's Creek," said Emig after his victory. LaRocco failed to score a single point on the day as mechanical gremlins plagued him in both motos. Second overall went to Mike Healey, who only recently returned from Europe after contesting the World Championship 250cc MX Series for . Team Bieffe Suzuki. Healey finished fourth in the first mota and rebounded with a win in the concluding moto. "This is the same bike that Suzuki gave me in January to ride in the Golden State Series," said Healey. "It's just a practice bike now, and it's pretty hammered, but Pro Circuit flew some parts out for me. I put it in a mini-van and drove out from California. When I got tired, I just stopped and slept beside the road in the front seat. " Larry Ward used 3-3 mota scores to finish third, obtaining some satisfaction in what has been a disappointing season for the Suzuki support rider. Team DGY's Doug Henry and Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes rounded out the top five. While rain the night and morning before the race made the practice sessions, qualifying rounds and first motos quite muddy, the sun came out in the afternoon and made for perfect conditions in the second motos. A short section was deleted from the track when riders' lap times in practice. exceeded four minutes. Approximately 8000 fans braved the conditions at the Dave Coombs-promoted event. Ward's 3-1 moto scores earned him $1500 of the $15,000 500cc purse, while Emig took home $1600 of the $12,500 class purse for his win. e Jeff Ward posted 3-1 moto finishes to record his first win of the se~son and fourth straight at Steel City. Ward wins, Emig doses in at Steel City By Chris Jonnum Photos by Jim Talkington DELMONT, PA, SEPT. 27 ost people had written seventime National and Supercross Champion Jeff Ward off. With only two Nationals left in the season that he has proclaimed to be his last, it looked as if the 31-year-old from San Juan Capistrano, California, would end his career quietly. Au contraire. In a crowd-pleasing race that many described as the best of the season, Ward pulled out the stops and scored his fourth-consecutive 500cc National win at Steel City USA. The win marked the first time this season that Ward has stood atop the highest step of the winner's box, as he has struggled with bad luck-and injwies throughout the year. In winning, Ward kept his II- M 6 year National win streak alive, as the factory Kawasaki rider has notched at least one National win each season since 1981. Finishing in the runner-up spot was Ward's teammate Mike Kiedrowski, whose 1-3 tally extended his series points lead over Team Honda rival Jeff Stanton to II points, 187-176, with only one round remaining. Stanton finished the day in third overall, riding to fourth- and secondplace finishes in the two 30-minute plus-two lap motos. "I go fast herel" said Ward. "Actually, I go fast at all the 500 tracks, but I've had a couple of bad days lately. For some reason, ev~rything always comes together at Delmont." .I While Ward is, at best, a long shot fOT the series title, his victory keeps him in third place in the point standings. Having already won two 500cc Nationals this season, Kiedrowski was satisfied with his runner-up performance. "At least I made some points (on Stanton)," said Kiedrowski. "That's just like winning, since the championship is all I really care about at this point." Surprisingly, the emotional 500cc race was one-upped by an even more dramatic battle in the 125cc class that saw Team Yamaha's Jeff Emig nab his fifth National win of the season and the Jifth of his career. Emig came into the round down 48 points on series 500cc N ationa) Team Honda's defending 500cc National Champion Jean-Michel Bayle led the pack on the uphill start in the first mota, followed closely by Kawasaki-mounted privateer MIke Jones, whose family lives next-door to the Steel City facility. Kiedrowski and Stanton both had good gates in third and fourth, respectively. Ward was running in fifth, with Tuf Racing's Todd DeHoop sixth. Bayle had built a slight cushion by the completion of the first of 12 laps, but he overshot a turn and Kiedrowski, who had already passed Jones, slipped into the lead. Stanton soon displaced Jones for fourth place. Kiedrowski tried to stretch his lead over Bayle as the top four riders pulled away from Jones, DeHoop and the rest of the pack. Stanton tried to get around Bayle for several laps, but Bayle appeared to pick it up a notch to hold off his teammate and maintain second place. The top four positions remained the same throughout the first part of the race, with Kiedrowski leading, Bayle in second, Stanton third and Ward fourth, until Stanton suddenly dropped his bike in a turn on the fifth lap,-aUowingWard to move.up a spot. "I felt fine, but 1 just crashed," said