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/146688
~ REVIEW 1992 AMA E_ro_fes_si_oD_al_MX_s_ea_so_D ~C\f What was an ~ g; _ c.oul 've been· ~~:=:~i:~::L: Danny Betley-tuned CR250, Bradshaw snapped under the pressure and let a seemingly easy championship title slip away. Bradshaw uncharacteristically faded - from fourth to fifth - and- handed race winner Stanton the championship title. It certainly was a dramatic ending to an already dramatic year of Camel Supercross racing. And then there were the 125/ 250 and 500cc Nationals! Two weeks after the L.A. Supercross, Stanton was in the spotlight again, this. time for clinching the National Championship 250cc MX Series title in the first moto of the final round at Troy, Ohio. Unlike his Supercross title, the 250cc . National title was anticlimactic, for Stanton held a commanding points lead going into the final round. "This (the 250cc National title) is noth. ing like the last one (the supercross title)," said Stanton following the championshipclinching first moto at Troy. "The 250cc championship is still important and means a lot to me, but I had such a big points lead going into today's race, it just wasn't as exciting. I knew I had it." In the five-race National Championship 500cc MX Series/ which clicked into gear shortly after the 250cc series ended, many predicted a showdown between the two Team Honda rivals Stanton and defending champ Jean-Michel Bayle. But those predictions were wrong -very wrong - as Team Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski, the 1989 and '91 125cc National Champion, never trailed in the series on his Shane Nalley-tuned KX500, and s)1agged the number-one plate via two overall victories and consistent top finishes. But the real surprise of the Nationals was Team Yamaha's Jeff Emig, who came back from a huge points deficit to claim the 125cc National Championship Series title. Many had already written off the 125cc National title to Kawasaki's Mike ~ Team Honda's Jeff Stanton said consistency waS the key to his success in earning the 1992 Camel Supercross and 250cc National Championship MX Series titles. By Kit Palmer 4 The 1992 professional MX season will perhaps be remember~ best by not who won the championships, but by who lost one championship title in particular. For 19 minutes and 53.51 seconds, the more than 30/000 spectators who attended the final round of the Camel Supercross Series at the Los· Angeles Memorial Coliseum watched in disbelief as Yamaha's super-hero, Damon Bradshaw, circulated the championship-deciding 20lap feature as though he was riding on ice while carefully balancing a stack of priceless china on the top of his helmet, rather than his more traditional all-out/ take no prisoners-style of racing. All Bradshaw had to do to seize ,his first-ever championship title was to cross the finish line third or higher, and for a rider who had already tallied a record-breaking nine Supercross main event wins in a single season and 17 wins of his career, this would be a simple assignment. Or so it seemed. Going into the last round, no one seriously thought Bradshaw could be·beaten out of the title. Not even Team Honda's second-in-points Jeff Stanton, who said he dreamed of holding the number-one plate over his head on the victory podium in L.A. but knew just how farfetched that dream was. Very! 1992 Camel Supercross Series Finishes/Points Hon 1. Jeff Stanton 2. Damon Bradshaw Yam 3. Jean-Michel Bayle Hon 4. Mike Kiedrowski Kaw 5. Guy Cooper Suz Kaw 6. Mike LaRocco Suz 7. Larry Ward 8. Jeff Matiasevich Kaw 9. Doug Dubach Yam Yam 10. Jeff Emig 11. Ron Tichenor Suz 12. Jeff Ward Kaw 13. Michael Craig Kaw Yam 14. Larry Brooks 15. Mike Fisher KTM 16. Jeremy McGrath Hon 17. Keith Johnson KTM 18. Brian Swink Suz 19. Erik Kehoe Hon 20. Shaun Kalos Yam 3 4 6 9 14 1 7 11 5 8 4 1 3 8 2 5 12 6 11 14 DNS DNS DNQ DNS 2 10 7 3 1 2 5 4 13 6 8 14 2 .1 3 10 4 6 9 7 8 5 11 19 4 1 3 2 7 5 6 10 8 12 11 14 9 18 5 1 2 4 11 3 7 6 10 8 9 20 1 2 3 5 10 4 13 7 6 8 12 2 6 1 4 5 11 3 20 8 14 15 7 12 1 19 2 4 5 3 8 9 13 7 20 12 2 4 1 6 3 7 10 13 14 9 8 15 11 17 12 5 17 DNS DNS DNS 9 DNS 14 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNQ 13 10 125cc 125cc DNS 20 10 6 DNQ DNQ . 13· 26 DNQ 11 DNQ 14 DNS 125cc 125cc 125cc 125cc 125cc 15 13 10 13 15 12 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 7 17 17 20 DNS 15 9 DNQ DNS 'DNS =Did Not Start DNQ =Did Not Qualify 125cc =Competed in DNQ DNS DNQ 125cc 17 17 DNQ 125cc 125cc DNQ DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 DNQ DNS 125cc 2 1 7 9 3 4 6 10 16 12 20 7 1 4 2 12 3 18 5 20 9 8 DNS DNQ DNS 5 '14 8 13 10 13 11 6 15 125cc 125cc DNS DNS DNS DNS 125cc class 2 9 1 3 4 4 1 2 3 7 2 1 9 14 4 1 5 4 2 3 331 328 320 262 251 DNQ DNS DNS DNS 200 5 5 DNQ 10 192 7 10 18 19 170 19 18 157 8 3 11 DNS DNS 6 150 12 12 5 DNS 109 DNQ 11 DNS 20 101 6 9 19 16 88 10 15 8 9 80 DNS DNS 11 77 8 125cc 125cc 125cc 125cc 71 16 14 13 . 14 67 8 6 6 7 64 DNS DNS DNS 11 58 DNS DNS 15 12 56