Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127777
Lake W itney Cycle Ranch h , oumlc oe comes 0 0 e (left) Ricky Carm ichael (167) leads the 125cc Intermediate pack. Carmichael was simply unbeatable, leading every lap of every race he entered for an eight-moto sweep on the day. (Below) Kawasakimounted Casey Johnson fought his way thro ugh the pack to land the overall in both 125 and 250cc Pro classes . By Tony Alessi LAKEWHITNEY TX, MAR. 15-17 , eam Gr een ' s Rick y Ca rmichael ha s serve d notice to his current and fu ture comp et i tion . Th e young rid er has clear ly mad e the some what d ifficult transition from the mini ranks to full-size m achines. Hi s overwh elmin g d isp la y o f dom in an ce en route to an eigh t-mote sweep o! the Stock and Modified 125 and 250cc Intermediate divisions during the 20th annual running of the GNC-prDmoted Grand Na tional Champion sh ips held at Lak e Whitney Cycle Ran ch showed that. By posting the week's fastest lap time of 1:45 and by leading every lap of every mot o that h e en tere d, Carm ichael s ilen ce d doubters who felt hi s shor t sta tu re and la ck o f exp erien ce on th e full- si z e m otorcy cle s w ould en d hi s am ateur domi n an ce. After this week's performance, most industry experts believe Carmi chael has establishe d himself am on g the most elite of amateurs, joining the ranks of Dam on Brad sha w, Robbie Reynard a nd m ost recen tly Kevin Windham , all of w ho m competed as amateu rs at Lake Whi tney before going on to factory contracts , In fact, there is alread y talk of a SplitFire rid e in the works for Carmichael in the not-s o-distant fu ture . "A ctua lly, what we are doing is eva lu ating h im . We are using this race as kind oi a place to mea sure hi s prog ress ," sa id future Team Green mana g er RDn H ebin. "Rick y's had a kn ee op eration and we didn't know how we ll he was going to adapt to the bigger bike. But h e has adapted very well. Ricky ha s been w ith th e Team Green prDgram for se veral years and w e hav e a n in vestment in him. We feel that the Pro Circuit /SplitFire program cou ld be a good step ping stone in the future." T I Of all of Carmichael 's races, arguabl the most di fficu lt wou ld ha ve been the 125ccStock Intermedi ate race. The over 50-rid er field was spl it int o two divisions w ith the top 15 from each transferring to the final run oii. Carmich ael w on d ivisi on A, while Californ ian [osh Tarantino took tDP hon ors in di vision B. . When the gate dropped in the runoff, it w a s Team Yamaha ' s Danny Smith who pulled the h oleshot. v 'Danny's the sleeper in this race, " said Team Yam ah a 's Mike Guerra . " N o bo dys see n much of h im - he' s fro m Idaho. H e' s been getting help from BDbHannah." Smith led for about half a lap before Carmichael m ade hi s m o v e. "He (Carmichael) came inside of me," sa id Smith. "I am no t sure how he go t th e tra ction , but we hi t, my fra me got bent and m y clutch lever broke." Ca rm ich ae l brok e away and pulle d ou t a lea d wh ile Sm ith settled for a clutchless second. Former Northe rn Ca lifornia mi nicycle king Tyler Evans was impressive as he held off repea ted pass atte mp ts from 14-year-o ld Costa Rican MX ama teur cha m p Er nesto Fonseca, while Shane Bently rou nded ou t the tDPfive. In the end, Carmichael proved do rninant as he baffled industry reps, spe ctator s and even hi s fu tu re comp etiti on with a ir -time m an euve rs th at wou ld have even Gu y Cooper taking no tes. Carmichael wrapped u p his weekend righ t wh ere he left off in Minis - as the mo st su ccessful amateu r racer of recent tim e. Kawasaki Tea m Green also h ad all the bases covered in the Pro classes with Casey [ ohnson, w ho s co re d both 125 and 250cc Pro-class champion ships, The first 125cc Pro race saw Robbie Horton , Chris Wheel er, Robbi e Skaggs, Ch arlie Bog ard, Casey Lytle and Casey (left) Idaho's Danny Smith won the 125cc Schoolboy (12-15) class in addition to hIs pair of seconds in 125cc Intermediate racing behind Carmichae l. Johnso n lead the field of 38 riders for the opening laps. Local favorite Bogard was th e firs t ride r to step up to the p late and charged p ast the pack o f front-runne rs to steal the lead. [ ohnson was bu mped back to sixth and w as visibly up set as he shoo k h is head coming th rou gh the mechanics' turn. Horton also 'encou n tered probl em s tha t even tuall y drop ped h im back to seven th w hile Wh eeler p icked u p the pace an d moved to second after passing Skaggs. "I wanted this to be a Suz u ki sweep," Wheeler sai d, "so I was tryin g to stick w ith Bogard." Johnson made so me key"passes near the en d of the race and collected third at the fin ish beh ind Wheeler and winner Bogard, Skaggs led the start of th e second 'm oto while first-m ote wi nner Boga rd we nt down, "1 have bronchitis and a little pne umonia , so I couldn't train," Bogard said . "I knew I was go ing to be rusty, and I made some bad mistakes." Movi ng in to second was Team _ O'Neal rider Cory Bauder, and hot on h is h e e ls was Lytle, [o hnson, Eric