McGrath Has New Ride, but He’s Set to Show His Old Form at Coliseum

Is the man or the machine most important in Supercross, motorcycling’s version of motocross set inside a stadium?

The answer may come in the season opener at the Coliseum tonight when Jeremy McGrath, four-time Supercross champion and winner of 14 of 15 races last year, rides a machine quite different from the Honda he has ridden all of his pro career.

McGrath will be aboard a Suzuki RM250 after a decision made so late in the off-season that the 1997 Supercross Souvenir Yearbook features the Canyon Lake rider in his Honda regalia.

“It was something that just sort of happened,” McGrath said Friday as he looked over the Coliseum football field, which workers were converting into a twisting racecourse. “I felt like I needed a change, and I’d always wanted to work with Roger DeCoster, so this seemed a good way to do it.”

DeCoster, a five-time world champion, is Team Suzuki’s manager. Although McGrath will ride as an independent and not part of the factory team, DeCoster also will act as manager of McGrath’s team, known as Nac Nac Enterprises.

The opening ceremony will start at 7, with the first heat at 7:30.