Cycle News

Maxxis T1resNP Racing Fuels Western Four-Stroke Nationals Round S: Albany Motorsports Park PHOTO S BY CLAY LIG HT Corder Connects at Albany! By CLAY LIGHT ALBANY, OR, MAY 22��23 ike Corder had his say at rou nd five of the Maxxis Tires/VP Racing Fuels Western Four-Stroke Motocross Nationals at Albany Motorsports Park. Rainier, Oregon's Corder was the top perfo rmer in t he Premier class on Sunday, using a 1-2 ta lly to stand atop the rostru m at the complet ion of the two-day even t. Corder easily won the first 41-ride r mota and then batt led with Craig Anderson in moto two; Anderson won that mot a , but a mota -one DNF on the Australian's part aided in Corder's scoring his second overall win of the series. MotoSport Outlet/Honda-backed Ande rson assu me d t he lead at the start of t he first Premier mota, but it was short-lived; Anderson fell in a heavily rutted comer and handed the lead to forme r Team Suzuki rider Shane Bess, w ho was tra ile d by KT M rider Jaso n McConnick. Bess' stay in the point was brief, too , due to a broken shift lever. McCormick was next in line to lead, although last year's overall winner didn't have any answers for Corder and wo uld trail the Tro y Le e/ Re nt hal/ Co lum bia Rive r Honda-backed Corder to the finish by some 16 seconds. Jos h Cavanaugh rode a so lid mota to finish th ird , followed by Dustin Nelson and Matt Karlsen. Anderson fared bett e r in the second mota , surv iving a w heel -to-wheel duel to the finish with Corder to score an impre ssive victory. Bess' sol id mo ta-two performance saw him placing third, ahead of Ty Lacey, altho ugh bot h ride rs didn't finish mo to one. McCormick's overall chances also e nded when th e Washingto nian fell - twice - in the early stages , and he ret ired fo r t he day wi th an injured sho ulder and tweaked knee . M Nelson progressed through the fiel d to finish fifth - behind Corder, Anderson, Bess and Lacey - and finished second overal l. Cavana ugh (3-8) , Kar lsen (5-6) , Leighton Lillie (7-7) , Anderson (36-1) , Rory Sullivan (8-9), Eric Nye (9- 10), Greg Crater (6-13) and McConnick (2-36) ro unded out the top 10. Tw o Oregon riders , La c e y and Rya n Huffman, split moto victories in the 250F Pro class, but when all was said and don e , Huffman was the overall winner. The Yamaha rider fro m Rose bu rg held off an ons laught of challe nges from Bess in mot o two to snare 3- 1 finishes and top Bess (2-2) and Lacey (1-5) overall. Was hington's Philip Ehnat, a secon d-year Pro rider, grabbed the lead at the start of the opening 250F Pro mo to but crashed. 8ess and Lacey assumed t he front two sp ots early o n. T hen Lac e y crashed on the first lap b ut mo unted an inspiring charge , while Bess held a cozy le ad on Huff man . Lacey and Huffman stayed in close quart ers for several laps be fore Lacey got ar o und Huffman and set out after Bess. The two then dueled for the remainder be fore Lacey narrowly edged Bess at the finish. Hu ffman pre tty much co mmande d mota two fro m start to finish. Lacey was among the leade rs until he was slowed by a nat rear t ire and even tually finished fifth, trailing Huffman, Bess, Nye and Sean O 'Connor, Overa ll, Hu ffman (3- 1) , 8 e ss (2 -2) an d Lacey ( 1-5) filled the podium, w hile Nye (9-3), O 'Con nor (7-4) , Pat McMullen (6-10) , series points leader Kar1sen (11-6), justin Keeney (4- 14). Shane Smith ( 10-9) and Trevor Broo ks (16-7) co mpleted the top 10. eN ALBANY MOTORSPORTS PARK AlBANY, OREGON RESULTS: MAy 22��23, 2004 (ROUND 5) Mark Burkhart rounds the final corne r in the Premier-class final at the SuperMoto Canada Provincial Championships opener in Toronto. SO JUNE 16,2004 ��� CYCLE NEWS Ryan HuHman topped the 250F Pro class at Albany Motorsports Park. PREM : I. Mike Corder" (Hoo); 2. Dustin Nel son (Yam); 1. Josh Cavan augh (Han): -4 . Matt Karlsen (Hon); 5. Leighton lillie (Ho n) : 6. Craig Anderson (Ho n); 7. Rory Su llivan (Hon) : 8 . Eric Nye (Y ); 9 . Greg C rater (Hon ); 10. Jason am McC orm ic k (KTM): I I. Shane Bess (Hon) : 12. Ty Lacey (Hen): 11. Mark Bunker (Yam) ; 14. Jeremias Fernandez (Hon); 15. Terry lee Hamness (Hon): 16. Chau n McAJ ister (K'TM); 17. Shane Smith (Hoo) ; lB. RossJoh nson (Hon): 19. Travis Murphy (Hon); 20. Trevor Brooks (Yam). 2 50 F PRO: day 's racing , it was finally determined that it would be omitted due to excessive amounts of mud being carried on to the pavement. Though riders were looking fo rw ard to racing in the dirt, all understood the safety concerns. The spectators were in for a treat . Throughout the qualifiers, many riders showed fast lap times. with Premier-class racer Steve Beattie setting some quick early laps aboard his Inglis Cycles Honda CRF450R. Beattie was one of several riders pulling double d uty, as he was also racing in the newly established Teknic 250cc Pro/Am class . Some of the day's best racing could be found in this class, as many Pros - inc luding Motovan KTM' s Allan jaggard , Kawasaki's Adam Ja bo uri , an d the 2 003 SuperMoto Canada champ, Hon da ' s Dave Arnold - were entered to race . Qualifiers saw many of the Pros break away from the rest of t he pac k. Th is conti nued into t he finals , as Beatt ie and Arnold fought for first place early on . Beattie managed to mainta in enough of an advantage to take first at the checkers. Arnold ca me across the line in se co nd, wit h D ave 40th A nniversary I . Ryan Huffman (Yam): 2. Shane Bess (Han); 1. Tiger lacey (Ho n) ;

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