Riders Rap Track at Coliseum

Throughout the years that the Superbowl of Motocross has been staged at the Coliseum, the man-made, 3/4-mile course has consistently been one of the most difficult tracks on the Supercross series.

Promoter Mike Goodwin had invented a sport that required 100 truckloads of dirt to be hauled into the facility and moved around into jumps, whoop-de-doos, catapults and turns challenging a rider’s skill and his bike’s durability.

For the 13th edition of the Superbowl, Goodwin may have gone too far in his attempt to challenge the riders. Just two hours before the race was scheduled to begin, reports began circulating in the pit area that the riders were considering a boycott of the race because they thought the track was too dangerous.

Yamaha team manager Ken Clark confirmed that each of the major motorcycle manufacturer’s team managers had met with sanctioning American Motorcyclist Assn. officials and asked for some track revisions before the race started.

The consensus was that the series of whoop-de-doos on the west end of the Coliseum floor were dangerous. Clark and others were concerned that the bumps would send an unexperienced rider out of control and into oncoming traffic that was separated only by hale bales.

“You’ve got slower riders going in one direction and others going in another direction the way they’ve designed that area,” Clark said. “Every team manager has talked to the AMA about it, but we were told, ‘It’s too late.’ It’s definitely dangerous.”

Defending Supercross champion Johnny O’Mara of Simi Valley voiced his displeasure with a double jump that was located about 50 yards after the start. “A double jump right off the start is tough on the riders,” he said. “The second jump could have been a little smaller. The whoop-de-doos are a definite hazard, but I saw them (track crew) with shovels smoothing them out and hopefully it will be all right.”

Jeff Ward, current Supercross leader, said the start was even more critical with a narrow turn and the double jumps. Ward won the Superbowl last year.

“The start leads everybody right into a narrow turn,” he said. “The way the track is set up, you want to get out in front even more than any race.”

But once the racing was underway, Ward and O’Mara had very little trouble maneuvering around the track. Ward won his heat race when leader Broc Glover experienced mechanical trouble. O’Mara staged an exciting eight-lap duel with Yamaha factory rider Rick Johnson and eventually won his heat.

Other heat winners were Kawasaki’s Goat Breker and Honda’s David Bailey. Bailey ran away from the field and easily won his heat while Breker battled Bob Hannah to gain his victory. Hannah received the biggest response from the crowd of 46,581 when he momentarily took the lead against Breker, but ultimately finished second.