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/1481963
next 19 of the 20-lap race. Yes, Henry came within one lap of winning the race. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Grand Prix racer from France, Sebastien Tortelli, caught and passed Henry on the last lap for the surprising win. And it wasn't until about five laps from the end that the announc- ers even mentioned Tortelli's name as a possible race winner. Supposedly, the race had to be redubbed for television later be- cause the announcers thought Tortelli was a lapper. But Tortelli wasn't a lapper; in fact, he was doing some lapping of his own en route to the surprising victory in his very first attempt at Super- cross racing. Tortelli was indeed the fast- est rider on the track that night. He started the race in, at best 12th place, and then he steadily worked his way up through the talent-filled pack to claim the win. "That's my first race and win in the United States, and I was not expecting to do that good," Tortelli told Cycle News. "I was trying my best to catch every rider, and that happened." As for Henry, things only got worse for the popular rider after Tortelli passed him. Moments after the pass, Henry had a small get-off, but he struggled to kickstart his red-hot four-stroke. He ended up 10th for the night. This would be the first and last Supercross win of Tortelli's career. The Frenchman was scheduled to race just the first seven rounds of the Supercross Series that year ('98) before heading back to Europe for the GPs, where had great success. He took down Stefan Everts in the last race to win the 250cc MX World Championship. Tortelli returned to the U.S. full-time in 1999 with Honda (1999-2002) and Suzuki (2003-2005). Tortelli officially retired at the end of 2006 after one last stint in the GPs aboard a KTM. The Frenchman had plenty of success racing in the U.S. but, as mentioned, never won an- other Supercross race, or AMA title. He finished second to Jer- emy McGrath in the Supercross Championship in 2000 and won four outdoor National races overall. Nagging injuries plagued him throughout his racing career in the U.S. The Coliseum hosted another historic race that happened six years earlier. This time it was the final round of the series in 1992, and Damon Bradshaw came into the race holding a six-point lead over two-time Supercross champ Jeff Stanton. Six points seemed comfortable for Bradshaw, as he had won nine previous Super- cross races to Stanton's two and was clearly the faster of the two riders at that time. The race, which was delayed a month due to the Rodney King riots, took place during the day in July, and Stanton did what he had to do—win the race. Bradshaw just needed to finish third to take the title. A seemingly simple thing for him to do. At one point, Bradshaw was holding down that position and looked to be a shoo-in for his first SX title until the unthinkable happened—he started to fade back for no ap- parent reason. The large crowd was stunned. He ended up fifth, handing the title to a thrilled Stanton. Bradshaw, who was coming off a knee injury, never blamed the fade on the knee. Instead, he told Cycle News, "It wasn't anything physical, just mental. I was concentrating too much on the track, riding tense, and I just rode myself into the ground." Bradshaw was just 19 years old at the time, and fans as- sumed he'd bounce back, learn from it, and that many champion- ships would follow. But Brad- shaw never seemed to be the same racer after that '92 race at the Coliseum and would fin- ish off his career in the premier class without a title. So, will more dramatics play out next year when the Super- Motocross World Championship brings "indoor motocross" racing back to the L.A. Coliseum? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but either way, it will be great to see the top stars of the sport return to the birthplace of supercross and launch out of the peristyles once again. CN CN III ARCHIVES P124 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives