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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127837
Ricky Carmichael
scored the 125cc
main win at
Charlotte, his third
of the year.
Carmichael ended
up third In the series
behind Ferry and
Stephane Roncada.
never a factor among the leaders. He got
off to a mid pack start and cautiously
made his way through the pack until he
was fifth.
"1 rode really stiff and tight, and it
showed," Ferry said of his heat-race performance. After nailing the holeshot,
Lorusso settled for sixth, followed by
Manchester Honda's Robbie Skaggs,
who, at one point early in the race, led
the field but dropped back with a
painful leg injury suffered at the previous race at Pontiac. Pro Action's James'
Evans took eighth, while Streitz Motorsports' Jason Thomas completed the top
nine.
Kratz came back and won the LCQ
followed by Currie, Performance Engineering's Andre Pene and Heath Voss.
MAIN
Neese nailed the holeshot at the start
of the 15-lap main, but Ferry shot his
works Suzuki into the lead corning out
of the turn and managed to avoid a
huge first-turn pileup that claimed
such riders as Skaggs, Horton, Schnell,
Deegan, Buehl and Dement, among
others.
Also avoiding the carnage were
Carmichael and Roncada, making the
top three riders in the series points
chase filling out the top three slots in the
race. Neese came around the first lap in
fourth.
Ferry's lead would only last one lap
before Carmichael tripled by the Suzuki
rider and into the lead. And before the
second lap was completed, Roncada
would also get around the title-conscious Ferry, who seemed more than
happy to stay right there and let
Carmichael and Roncada go at it for the
event win.
Roncada made a valiant effort to
hang with Carmichael and keep it dose
for over half the race before falling
down. He managed to get back up
before Ferry could get him, but on the
same lap Roncada got kicked before a
series of dou ble jumps, lost his momentum, and Ferry went jumping right past
the Honda rider. However, in the exact
same location a lap later, Ferry got
kicked over the same jump and Roncada
sailed right passed the Suzuki rider and
back into second place.
By this point, Carmicha.el, on his.
Chad Watts-tuned KX125, was long
gone and enjoying a 15-second lead over
Roncada. Carmichael would cruise the
-remaining few laps and post his third
win of the series. Roncada took second
and Ferry third.
''I'm really happy," Carmichael said.
'Tin glad 1 got my head together this
last race, won and didtt't crash."
As far as his first year on the supercross circuit, Carmichael is pleased with
his results.
"This is my rookie year and hopefully 1 will take advantage of this (finishing
third in the series) and win the East
Coast next year. I'm glad for Tim to win.
We grew up together, he came to my
house during the summers, and we'd
practice our butts off, and he's up here
in the winner's cirde, winning the East
Coast title."
''I'm r~