Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Winner Jeff Matiasevich (1) fended off a late-race charge by Robbie Reynard. Micky Dymond (2) finished fifth overall, and Ray Sommo (4) was third. Matiasevich avoids upset in Acapulco By Davey Coombs ACAPULCO, MEXICO, ocr. 18 eteran supercross star Jeff Matiasevich, in one of his last rides for 'Kawasaki, narrowly defeated IS-year-old phenom Robbie Reynard in the inaugural Acapulco· International Supercross, an invitational event hosted by Fox Mexico, Pepsi, Laesa, Kodak, Costa Club, and the goverment of Acapulco. Matiasevich beat fellow Kawasaki rider Reynard by just one bike length to capture the firstplace prize of nearly $11,000 (U.S.) The two banged together at least three times during the 16-lap main event, including a frantic last-lap attempt at a block pass by Reynard. "The last time he just tried to knock me down, but he's not quite strong enough yet," said Matiasevich of Reynard, who's been riding big bikes for just over a year. "He got under me in the corner but then couldn't get over the double that followed. I had the inside on the next turn and there was nothing he could do." "It feels real good to race with someone like 'Chicken,' " said Reynard, a resident of Moore, Oklahoma, who was competing outside the U.S. for the first time. "I just wish I were in better shape because I could have beat him. I guess it's just another lesson learned." Reynard earned $7000 for second place, while Yamaha-mounted Ray Sommo, third in the main event, took home a $5000 share of the approximately $37,000 purse. Rounding out the top five were Mexican hero Pedro Gonzalez and former U.S. National Champion Micky Dymond, both competing on Hondas. The race was held on the grounds of the plush Costa Club on the western outskirts of Acapulco and organized by Fox Mexico's Tommy Rios, a former racer in South America and the Eastern U.S. The event featured a Daytonastyle track that was carved from the sands of a Costa Club field. Several long whoop sections were offset by three double jumps and one crowdpleasing triple. A feature of the unique design was a sprint along the hotel's white sand beach. Lap times were just over one minute. Riders from the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica V 20 competed in the Sunday afternoon race. Three eight-lap qualifiers were needed to narrow the 50-rider field down to 24 spots for the main· event. Heat one featured a popular duel between Matiasevich and Gonzalez. The American led off the start but fell in a fast left-hand sweeper on lap two. Gonzalez inherited the lead and immediately sprinted away to a lead of i2 seconds before tiring in the deepening whoops. "I was 'Surprised at how fast Pedro Gonzalez was," said Matiasevich, "At least for a few laps. But it looks like he doesn't have the endurance to go that pace for very long; for three laps he flew." Matiasevich cut two seconds a lap from, the Mexi~an's lead before making a full-contact, last-lap pass for the win. Mexico's Eduardo Lopez ran third. Heat two featured a duel between California's Sommo and Dymond, with Sommo taking the win aboard an out-of-the-crate '93 Yamaha YZ25.0. Aloe- Up/Bel1/Enzo/FMF IFox Racing-backed Sommo hinted that the track was getting rougher by the lap. "I started to get hot and tired out there," said the 24-year-old Sommo. "They were trying to build it like Daytona and I think they did it. Once I shook Micky, I just tried to save my strength for the main. It's going to be brutal." Dymond, who led for three early laps in the qualifier, was forced to slow down as blisters started to set in on his hands. "I haven't been able to ride too much lately and the all-day practice yesterday kind of wore me out as far as my hands go," said Dymond. "The moisture down here and a lack of riding back home made my hands really soft and the sand tore them up." ' Finishing a distant third was Guatemala's Fritz Klimovitz. Heat three saw Reynard pass early leaders Billy Whitley and Terry Tinney, both from Texas, and build a comfortable lead before the end of the race. , "The only real problems I had came from the lappers," said Bell/CTi/Foxl Scott-sponsored Reynard. "I would come up behind them and yell but they probably don't understand too much English. It was kind of crazy moving back up through the pack." The battle for second saw Tinney edge Whitley on the last lap. Before the main event got underway, a minicycle support race was held and Erick Vallejo ran away with the win. Guatemala's David Flores and Mexico's Hector Ibarra rounded out the top three. Matiasevich holeshot the main event with Sommo, Gonzalez and CTil Super B/Renthal/FMF-backed Whitley in close pursuit. Gonzalez made a quick hit on Sommo entering the beach straight to take over second. Dymond was just outside the top five while Reynard was deep in the field after nearly going down off the start. "Matiasevich came straight over on top of me off the line and clipped my Iront wheel," said Reynard. "He almost took me down. It put me way back and cost me all my tear-offs in the first few laps." Reynard was in 12th place when the pack came up through the palm trees from the beach area. Matiasevich eased away from Gonzalez and the rest of the pack for the first quarter of the race, but by the end of the fifth lap, Reynard had battled his way through to second, with the leader a half-dozen seconds ahead. Within two more laps Reynard was on Matiasevich's rear fender and ready to challenge for the lead. He made his . move in a slow left-right switchback that featured a deep pit jump between corners. "I just got inside of him and held the line," said Reynard of his sortie into the lead, "but three turns later'lie rammed me going into a corner and pushed me out over the berm. Then he tried to brake-check going down into the sand-pit at the finish line." With Matiasevich riding defensively just ahead of him, and having run out of tear-of{s, Reynard settled into second and waited for the white flag before attempting any more passes. A little further back, Gonzalez appeared to be in control of third-place, though Sommo and Dymond hooked up and began gaining ground on the Honda rider. Sommo raced past him on the 'last lap, as did Dymond, but Gonzalez regained fourth when Dymond ran into a lapped rider with half a lap to go. "I rode the whole race without any back brakes," said Wiseco/Yokohamasponsored Dymond, who was competing aboard a borrowed '92 Honda. "On the parade lap it started getting mushy and when I got back to the line my mechanic (Rob Hendrickson) noticed that the line had a leak in it. There was no time and no parts to do anything. I thought I was doing okay u,ntil I ran into that guy on the last lap. Up front, Reynard made one last bid for victory in his first-ever professional supercross. Reynard went in hard under Matiasevich. The two nearly locked together and went down, but Matiasevich was able to muscle himself upright and aim for the inside of the next corner. Reynard stayed upright as well, but left Matiasevich's lead intact. From there it was a short sprint to the checkered flag, with Matiasevich holding a bike length on Reynard. "I saw the kid (Reynard) back there but I was just trying to ride my own race," said Matiasevich of his first supercross win since the'go Tokyo SX. "I paced myself early and then started getting into lappers. I looked back after that, and he was right on my ass. He got under me in one corner, but I kept up the pressure and got right back by." "My plan on the last lap was to just find a place to get around him," said Reynard. "It happened to be in the same corner as before, so I guess he was ready for it. I tried to get beside him and push him out like he did to me, but he held his line. It almost worked!" or Results 250 HEAT 1: 1. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw); 2. Pedro Gonzalez (Hon); 3. Eduardo Lopez (Yam). 250 HEAT 2: I. Ray Sommo (Yam); 2. Micky Dymond (Hon); 3. Fritz Klimovitz (Han). 250 HEAT 3: I. Robbie Reynard (Kaw); 2. Terry Tinney (Han); 3. Billy Whitley (Han). 250 MAIN: I. Matiasevich; 2. Reynard; 3. Somma; 4. Gonzalez; 5. Dymond; 6. Whitley; 7. Tinney; 8. KJimovitz; 9. Lopez; 10. Javier Coso (So2). 80: I. Erick Vallejo (Kaw); 2. David Flores (502); 3.·Hector Ibarra (Kaw).

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