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RACE WATCH

Superkid

News flash, Osaka, Japan: Ricky Johnson, Ron Lechien and Jeff Ward are not unbeatable. This much was proven at the Osaka Supercross by Yamaha’s 16-year-old recruit Damon Bradshaw. Bradshaw took the main event after a dramatic 15-lap battle with Ricky Johnson.

The Japanese fans were so impressed with Bradshaw’s abilities they named him “Superkid.”

Superkid was brought back down to earth the following week at the Tokyo Supercross where he crashed and finished ninth while Ward, Lechien and Johnson locked up the top three spots.

Freddie Spencer returns

Tearn Marlboro Agostini had a problem. When Eddie Lawson defected to Rothman’s Honda, the Yamaha team was left riderless. Freddie Spencer had a problem. When he quit the HRC Honda team last year, he was left bikeless.

Problems solved. In the 1989 GP season, Freddie Spencer will ride a Yamaha, replacing Eddie Lawson as Agostini’s top rider. Spencer’s health, his doctors say, is excellent, and the year away from motorcycles seems to have helped the tendinitis problem that originally caused him to quit.

Joining Spencer on the Agostini team will be Niall Mackenzie, who rode a Honda last year. Tune in next week as the soap opera continues. . . E3