Cooper Wouldn’t Mind It Wet, If He Can End His Drought : Motor sports: Veteran racer still seeks his first victory in the Camel Supercross Series. He hopes conditions tonight in the Coors Light Challenge will work in his favor.

It does rain in Southern California.

And should it rain tonight instead of Sunday, the weather could play a key role in the outcome of the Coors Light Challenge, the fifth race in the 16-race Camel Supercross Series.

The media photo session on Thursday was canceled because of a storm that swept through the county. The track, the moguls and jumps, were covered by plastic in an effort to keep the rain from turning San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium’s infield into a big-league mud puddle.

But there won’t be any plastic tonight; the show goes on whether it’s raining or not.

If it does rain, it presents some intriguing problems for riders and should enhance the entertainment value for the spectators.

One rider who wouldn’t mind a little timely rain is Guy Cooper, who has been on the circuit since 1984. Although still looking for his first victory, Cooper, 29, is the second all-time leading 125 c.c. AMA winner with 16 victories and the 1990 national champion. He finished sixth in last year’s Camel Supercross standings and was third in 1989. He is fourth in the current standings.

But he is still winless in the 250 c.c. Camel Supercross circuit. He knows he’s not a household name.

“Until I win an event,” Cooper said, “I’m still an also-ran.”

Albeit a very well-paid also-ran. Even without a victory last year he grossed over $250,000. He recently purchased 80 acres in Stillwater, Okla. Nothing would suit him more than some timely rain that would turn the consistency of the stadium’s dirt layout into that of an oil slick.

“I’d like it to be slimy and slick like it was last year in Charlotte (N.C.),” Cooper said. “You can still do the doubles and triples (jumps), and it’s funny, people fall in some unusual places. It might put some different people out front.”

Jeff Ward of San Juan Capistrano wouldn’t mind being out front. Ward, 30, is making his farewell tour this season with Kawasaki. He will pursue a career in auto racing that he hopes will lead to Indy cars. And though Ward is fourth on the all-time list of Supercross race winners with 13 victories, he has never won in San Diego.

Ward thinks the riders out front will be the same guys who lead every week in dry conditions.

“I don’t think anybody’s level changes,” Ward said. “Your attitude is important. You’ve got to try to have fun. But I don’t think the favorites change.”

Cooper thinks differently.

In Charlotte last year, he fell twice and still finished second on a course he said was like riding on an ice rink. Cooper recalled how, in the same race, this season’s points leader, Damon Bradshaw, “led the race, threw the bike, then fell a few more times from trying too hard.”

Cooper’s real advantage might be that he likes the rain. That’s a psychological edge over those riders who don’t like the rain.

“If you’re really tense in slippery conditions, you make mistakes,” he said.

The favorite in the rain will likely be Honda’s Jean-Michel Bayle, who won eight races last year--including San Diego--en route to the largest Camel Supercross championship margin ever (72 points). Bayle also won the 250 c.c. and 500 c.c. National Motocross Championships last year, the first driver to win all three titles. He raced extensively in Europe and is used to wet conditions.

There are two types of wet conditions, slick and saturated. Finesse drivers prefer slick to saturated, the choice of the stronger drivers.

“When it rains, it’s really a thinker’s race, because there are so many ways to approach the track,” Cooper said. “Growing up in Oklahoma, we had frequent rains in the summer. I’m used to riding on that red clay where it’s real slick on top.

“Deep mud is more for Jeff Stanton. He’s from Michigan, and he can get over the bike and manhandle it. He’s 30 pounds heavier than I am (150 pounds).”

Ward, who considers himself the physically strongest driver on the circuit, favors deep mud.

“The starts are a little more crucial,” Ward said. “Guys fall and a lot more things happen. If it’s raining at the same time, it’s just a matter of survival.”

San Diego is between storms, according to Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service. Clouds will be forming tonight during a temporary dry period and rain should come on Sunday. The chance of precipitation tonight is a “remote possibility,” he said.

But would you leave the top off your convertible?

A wet track doesn’t slow the drivers, and some, like Cooper, will try to avoid the settling mud at the base of jumps by jumping beyond the base. In the deeper mud, with rutted approaches and landings, the jumps need to precise.

“You’re thinking about which lines to take, new lines to form, strategy to stay out of roosters (rooster tails) and you’re thinking about your goggles,” Cooper said.

Cooper thinks he will finish in the top five whether it rains or not, but losing the title of also-ran really whets his appetite.