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RACE WATCH

Supercross series down to the wire

When Jeremy McGrath left all-powerful Team Honda for the long suffering Suzuki team moments before the kick-off of the 1997 AMA Supercross series, the stage was set for a new era in stadium motocross. The only question was, would it be the Suzuki chapter of four-time champ McGrath’s continued dominance, or would it finally be someone else’s turn? Four months later, with 12 rounds down in the 15-race series, the question remains unanswered.

After a shaky start, McGrath, 25, has started to show flashes of his old brilliance from the Honda days, winning a couple of races and sitting a very close second to Kawasaki’s Jeff Emig in the points standings. But those two wins in 12 starts are 10 less than “Showtime” had at this point in his near-perfect ’96 season. However, arch-rival Emig, the most likely candidate to usurp McGrath this year, hasn’t exactly ruled the sport, either. Emig, 26, has won a career-high three main events to date, but has never been in complete control of the series. In fact, > with so many different contenders and pretenders showing up at the top of the results-Yamaha’s Doug Henry and Ezra Lusk, Suzuki’s Greg Albertyn and Kawasaki’s Damon Huffman have also won races-no one has been able to get a firm grip on the points lead.

The series started with a shocking upset at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where Albertyn, the super-fast but terribly inconsistent South African, finally went 20 laps without crashing to win his first American Supercross. Unfortunately, one week later Albertyn was back in the crashing groove and out of contention, and momentum shifted to the Yamaha camp. After winning the second round in Los Angeles, 27-yearold Doug Henry held the points lead for the next five weeks, winning in Seattle along the way. The popular Henry was the talk of the tour after having overcome a broken back less than two years earlier to take over the top spot in Supercross.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Henry of his remarkable recovery. “I never doubted that I would get back to the point I was at before I got hurt, but I feel like I’m riding better now than I ever have. I’ve also learned to take things one race at a time.”

Had Henry continued to lead the series all the way to the end, his comeback story would have been great material for a Hollywood script, but before he got to the final act his season fell apart. Henry, possibly suffering from a four-stroke hangover after his YZM400 debut at the Gainesville outdoor national, struggled to 10th at Round 7 in Daytona. Emig became the new points leader-for the first time in > his AMA 250cc Supercross careerwith Henry six points off the pace. Then, the ill-fated Henry fell out of title contention when an over-zealous Jimmy Button of the Chaparral team used him for a landing ramp at Houston, leaving Henry with a broken hand. Henry’s name then went on a wideranging injured list that has included Honda’s Steve Lamson, Yamaha teammate John Dowd, Honda of Troy’s Mike Craig, Suzuki’s Mickaël Pichón and the aforementioned Huffman, who broke his ankle after winning at Round 6 in Atlanta and has yet to return.

By reaching the podium almost every night, Emig managed to hold onto the points lead through the first dozen rounds of the series. With three rounds remaining, though, it appears that McGrath is finally starting to make his move. After flailing through the first few weeks of the series trying to adjust to his new bike, McGrath rode into the winner’s circle for the first' time in Minneapolis (in front of a sold-out crowd of 60,000-plus). McGrath also won in St. Louis to narrow the gap between he and Emig to just six points.

At the 12th round of the series, in the Pontiac Silverdome, McGrath blew a perfect chance to take over the points lead when he fell while leading with two laps to go. With Emig having an offnight brought on by a bruised thigh, McGrath would have taken the points lead for the first time as a Suzuki rider but ended up scrambling for fourth instead to Emig’s seventh-place showing.

“It was a rookie mistake that I never should have made,” said McGrath of the front-wheel wash-out. “There’s only three races to go and I’m right where I need to be to win the championship, but I can’t make any more mistakes.” As close as he is, McGrath is the only person in Emig’s rearview mirror; Emig leads 234 to 232, with Lusk third, more than a race down on the leaders with 199 total points.

“It’s like a whole new series has started-again!” said Emig after his crash-caused seventh nearly leveled the playing field for the final three rounds of the series in Charlotte, Dallas and Las Vegas. “Jeremy obviously knows how to win championships, and so do I. It’s not about winning races now-it’s coming down to the guy who makes the least mistakes.” In an unusual year of upsets and undoings, it’s still too close to call. -Davey Coombs

Yamaha Thumper victorious in Italy

Yamaha’s fledgling YZM400 four-stroke is a success, at least in Europe. Factory rider Andrea Bartolini gave the prototype motocrosser its first victory at the Italian Grand Prix, the second round of the 500cc World Motocross Championship.

The 28-year-old carded firstand second-place moto finishes, besting defending title holder Shayne King, who placed third and first, for overall honors. “This is the most satisfying win of them all,” said the jubilant Bartolini, who is only the fourth rider in history to win in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc competition. “Just to be involved in the development of such an exciting project is a great honor. To cap it with success so

quickly, and in front of my home crowd, makes it even more satisfying.” Team manager Hannu Helnonen was elated. “Today is the result of 18 months of hard work by many people, and I feel proud for all of them,” he said. “Now, we can look forward to the rest of the season with real optimism for more wins and even a world title.” Stateside, Yamaha’s hopes lay with Doug Henry. The Connecticut native is on the mend from a hand injury sustained at the Houston Supercross, and is expected to ride the YZM at the Hangtown National and maybe at the Supercross series finale in Las Vegas.

“We’re very pleased with the bike’s successes, both in the U.S. and Europe,” said Bob Starr, Yamaha’s national communications manager. “Our goals (for Doug) are for him to finish better and better as the season progresses. The engineers are trying to design an engine with the characteristics of a two-stroke, and that’s never been done before. They’re constantly making changes that will ultimately lead to a production bike.” □