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/1540383
MOTOCR()SS ml National Championshrp l25l500cc Mx serie$ R!q44q!4 sa hc EI EI hRl B C\t O) O) .d C\t (n bJl Jeff Stanton's mechanic Dan Betley installed a new engine between 5(X)cc motos after Stanton finished second in moto one with a malfunctioning transmission. Jeff Emig (8) diced with Mike LaRocco (7) for much of the second l25cc moto. r0 Stanton hopes to capture his first-ever 500cc National Championship this year. laps, with Emig in fourth. Emig crashed on the next lap and fell back to l0th and Tichenor took over the spot, having moved through the field after a poorstart. By lap four of the l6-lap race, LaRocco had already stretched out a seven-second lead over Kehoe. Antunez maintained third until the sixth lap, when he began to fade and was passed by Tichenor. After suffering a seventh- place start, Doug Henry worked his way up to fifth. Emig was working his way through the pack, but his progress came to a halt on lap six when he suffered a flat tire and pulled into the mechanics' area for a new rear wheel. He rejoined the race a lap down, pulling onto the track behind leader LaRocco. Despite being a lap behind, Emig continued to chase LaRocco for several laps before eventually making contact with him in a turn and falling again. "I was just trying to get myself unlapped, but I guess I got a little too aggressive and hit him," said Emig. "I felt kind of bad about it." "Emig started chasing me alter his flat and he hit me and fell," said LaRocco. "He said it wasn't on purpose, but I wasn't real happy about it since he was already out of the running." LaRocco survived the altercation and continued to pull away from Kehoe, building up a l6-second lead by thc halfway point. After a midpack start, Suzuki's Ezra Lusk passed Henry to move up to fourth behind Tichenor. A lap later, Kehoe slipped back two positions to fourth, letting both Tichenor and Lusk by. 'lMy arms started to pump up about five laps into it," said Kehoe. LaRocco was long-gone at this point, but Lusk began to. pressure Tichenor. Lusk motored into second with four laps remaining. The front running positions remained the same to the finish, with the exception of Henry putting a final- lap pass on Kehoe in the sand whoops for fourth. At the finish, it was LaRocco with an easy win over Lusk, Tichenor, Henry and Kehoe. "I finally got a good start, and that helped a lot," said LaRocco, who is known for his poor starts. Lusk was unable to duplicate his strong first-moto performance in moto two, as he crashed hard on the first lap and lay still in the center of the track. Lusk eventually left the track under his own power, but was too dazed to continue. ' Tichenor led the opening laps, but Emig soon passed him and set out to vindicate his l9th-place finish in the first moto. Henry sat in third after three laps, followed by LaRocco. A couple of laps later, Henry fell, allowing LaRocco and Tichenor to get by him. "I hit a root that got dug up in one of the ruts, and it pitched me off the bike," said Henry. LaRocco moved by Tichenor and into second on the next lap and set out after leader Emig. The Yamaha pilot had about a five-second advan- tage, though, and LaRocco was unable to close the gap. "I tried to pull away to pressure him into chasing me and making a mis- take," said Emig. Emig's strategy didn't work, though, as LaRocco knew that second place was good enough for the overall win after Emig's poor finish in moto one. The rest of the positions remained the same, and Emig rode unchallenged to the moto win ahead of LaRocco, Tichenor, Henry and Team Green's Tim Ferry of W. Palm Beach, Florida, who was forced to overcome a mediocre start. "I'm just glad to win cleanly after that first moto. I felt really good," said Emig. "I had a bad weekend at Washougal, and Emig had a bad weekend here, so it kind of evened out," said LaRocco. Third in the moto and second overall was Tichenor, who said, "Everything basically went really good; I liked the track. My goal has been to stay consistent, which I've been doing, but now it's time to start winning some o[ these things." Henry's fourth-place finish in moto two gave him third overall, his first ,e 4 n m t i ), I d w {: m # r-"1 w. w 1 b*q, l ,:' '.',1 : ,',;LI;Z tu 'k vwry tB * w W I ru