Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SUPERCROSS THORH'ARTS UNUMITED SUPERCROSS SERIES with his instincts was Huffman, who nailed such a perfect holeshot that some of his peers felt that he might have even jumped the starting gate. "I don't know what happened, but the gate kind of flinched," Huffman said. "People kind of stopped and hesitated but I just went for it. I timed it so perfectly I couldn't even believe it myself. 1 looked around and there was no one there! I moved over, hugged the inside and that was it." By the time he went to his first shift, Huffman appeared to be two full bike lengths ahead of everyone. He went from the outside in to hold the holeshot and grab the $1000 prize from 1-900Pro-Race for its holeshot award. Left in the dirt in the first turn were Craig and Matiasevich, among others. Deep in the pack after stuttering with the starting gate was Henry. "Huffman probably just saw the gate twitch and took off," Henry guessed, right on the money. "I thought it was going to be a good track to ride and pass on, but it didn't seem to wear in the way 1 though t it was going to. It was tough, for sure." From the first lap, Huffman started clicking off 53-second laps and was never truly challenged, though his lead never got bigger than five or six seconds a t a clip. Emig assumed second right away, followed by a quick-starting Albertyn and McGrath, but Albee got a little too close to a cross-jumping Emig on a whoop-lined bend in the track and had his front wheel taken out before the first lap was cQmplete. McGrath placed the Nac Nac Enterprises/1-800-CoJlect/Suzuki of Troy / Fox Racing-backed RM250 in third for the rest of the evening, more or less. Ward started out a strong fourth ahead of HoT teammate Kiedrowski, while Lamson led Bradshaw, Hughes, Button and LaRocco. While the top three took up a close, clean groove at the front, Hughes was the man on the move from the back. He passed the Hondas of Kiedrowski, Lamson and Bradshaw to move into fourth and found himself slightly detached from the lead trio. But Ryno made a mistake and let his front wheel get away from him in the first tum, crashing to the ground and continuing his poor supercross season. "What can I say? 1 hit a hay bale and fell down," a dejected Hughes said later. "Hey, next week I can look forward to next week, just like I've said after the last five weeks. Next week the outdoor Nationals start (in Gainesville, Florida) and it's a whole new season. Honestly, all of my bad luck has to be gone by now." While everyone moved up a position, McGrath seemed to pick up the pace and started trying some alternate lines to get around Emig for second. He found a good inside corner to pull alongside and then slightly past the Kawasaki rider down one jump-lined stretch, but Emig held the gas on and made contact from the ·inside with McGrath and forced him out of the berm. "We got together and all that stuff, t---. we were side-by-side, both going for the ~ same line, no big deal," Emig said of the ..... brush with McGrath. "It's funny how things just seem and feel different now. 1 mean, 1 always give it 100 percent, last yeir included, but this year things are working out for me, not against me." That was the anticlimax of the race, as Huffman never missed a beat and Emig never got closer than three seconds. McGrath seemed to lose his (Right) Huffman (left), McGrath (middle) and Emig (right) douse el!ch other with the victory bubbly on the 250cc podium. (Below) Suzuki's, Tim Ferry got into the lead early and fought off Carmichael a number of laps before dropping to second and finishing there. He now leads the Eastern Regional 125cc series point standings over Team Yamaha's John Dowd, 44-43. Oowd finished fourth after a mediocre start. downed rider in the corner. Both of the leaders threaded their way around the roadblock, but Carmichael now had the advantage. "1 think it's really cool that Tim and 1 got to ride together like that," Carmichael said of his older friend. "I hope..it's always me and Timmy up front, along with my teammate David Pingree (who crashed). I felt comfortable riding with Tim, no problem." For the remainder of the race, the supercross rookie pulled away at a clip of one second per lap, though he did nearly crash when he landed on a hay bale at the finish-line doubles with two laps to go. The crowd roared with Southern pride as Carmichael and Ferry crossed the finish line first and second. (Right) Team Chaparral's Chad Pederson (left), Carmichael (middle) and Ferry (right) show off their trophies atter finishing third, first and second, respectively, in the 125cc feature. rhythm after the Emig incident, possibly due to the power-robbing dent in his pipe that he suffered. LaRocco, on the attack all night long, caught and nearly passed his new teammate for the final podium spot but ran out of time. "I'm not sure what happened to me after the thing with Emig, but [ just wasn't riding as well and 1 was clipping jumps everywhere," McGrath said. "All in all, it was a good night. 1 learned a lot about the bike, I gained some points and I'm making progress." "1 finally got my strength back and my shoulder has been pretty good the last couple of weeks," LaRocco said of his recent surge. "1 think that the week we had off helped a lot, especially with my timing and all." Kiedrowski was a solid fifth, followed by Lamson, Bradshaw, Henry, Lusk and Windham - the three Yamaha 250 riders having spent .the entire race trying to work through the pack together. ''I'm not happy but you have take every weekend as it goes," the nevertoo-depressed Henry said. "'there's a long way to go in this series." 125cc The first heat of the 125cc offered the last glimpse of Ricky Carmichael making a freshman mistake tha t the Georgia Dome crowd would see. After reeling in the leader Roncada, Carmichael tried an outside-in move on a banked comer but tipped over when he touched the Frenchman's rear wheel. The kid remounted for second while Roncada rode away with the win. Team Yamaha's Dowd passed local privateer hero Matt Shue for the second heat win, followed by moonlighting West Region rider Brian Deegan of the Moto XXX squad. Bromley Suzuki/MSR/Dunlopbacked Barry Carsten grabbed the holeshot in the main, but the privateer would finish the polar opposite of his start in 22nd. The new leaders were the Suzuki-mounted Ferry, Kawasaki- mounted Jeff Dement, AXO/Manchester Honda rider Robbie Skaggs and Carmichael. Roncada and Dowd, the two fastest starters a week earlier at Indianapolis, were at the back of the pack after gating badly; they were 13th and 15th, respectively. In an even worse situation was Team Honda newcomer Scott Sheak, who was involved in a firsttum pileup and started dead last. Sheak never stopped trying, but 10th place was all the higher he would get in the narrow parade. "1 got a mediocre start, but then 1 got jumped up in the first turn and really lost some spots," Dowd said of his poor early lot. "It seemed like everywhere 1 went on the first couple of laps someone was in my way or 1 was going the wrong way, people falling in ~ont of me or whatever." Within two laps, Carmichael was 'up to second and holding as Ferry, his former mentor on the Florida circuit, was setting a good pace. For the first half of the race the duo would remain in sync, but after the crossed flags Carmichael picked up the tempo. Within two laps he was on Ferry's fender, and by the time they launched themselves off the long triple jump just after the first tum Carmichael was beside him but going faster and farther. He landed a bike length deeper into the next turn. than Ferry, but was then confronted by a Finishing a quiet but comfortable third was Pederson, who started sixth and assumed the show position by the time the race was halfway over. "My suspension was a little too stiff last week and I wasn't riding real well because of it, but we got it all worked out now," Pederson said. "I'm telling you, I'm in shape! 1 screw~d up on the start tonight. Otherwise, 1 think 1 would have been right there with those guys." Dowd and Roncada swapped positions throughout the main event as they climbed through the pack in tandem. Dowd held the advantage when it counted most, leading Roncada past the checkered flag. "1 passed Roncada, like, three times," Dowd said. "There was so much stuff going on with people crashing and all that, and once 1 hit neutral and cased a jump and he got me back. It was a crazy race." Skaggs, a Kansan now living in Georgia, was a solid sixth, followed by Peacll State native Robbie Horton. Hammerhead/Bal1zee/Jim's MC Sales-backed Jim Neese was eighth, followed by the f~ poor-starting Deegan and Sheak. Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia Results: February 22, 1997 (Round 6 of 15) 125 HEAT 1 (6 laps, 1~9 transfer to main): 1. Stephane Roncada (Hon); 2. Ricky Carmich

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