Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

tha t he already passed me. Then, wh en he came up on me and almost got me on the uphill, it pumped me up and I just pinned it. I couldn't think of a better way for it to happen oth er than a 1-2." "We' re showing that the No rthwest can do it," McCormick said , whil e bench-racing with Huffman after th e race. "Wha t can I say? We ca n show these boys ." Team FMF / Ho nda /Tho r 's Da vid Pingree fi nis hed six th , followed b y Yama ha /FMF /Fi rst-ba cked Da vid VuiIle mi n, Sp li t Fire /Pro Ci rc uit / Kawasaki's Nathan Ramsey, Stiffie / Westwood /Tom Morgan Racing-sponsored Jeff Willoh, and SplitFire/Pro Circuit /Kawasaki's Jeff Matiasevich, who rounded ou t the top 10. Ramsey jumped out to an early lead in the first 125cc heat race, followe d by Bra ndes, H uffman and the rest of the squirm ing, slid ing pack. By the middle of the first lap, Brandes had moved past Ramsey into the lead, and Huffman followed suit to move into second. Pingree was also near the front and moved into third by the end of lap one, followed by Stiffie-backed Frenchman Je ro m e Hemery , Matiasevich, Ramsey, Moto XXX's Bria n Deegan, and Team Motoworld's Dus tin Nelson. Brand es and Huff ma n pulled away from the battle for third and finished in that ord e r over Pingree a nd Matiasevich , Deegan moved up to fifth, Clawson Motorsports/ AXO-sponsored Rusty Holland finished sixth, Ramsey fell back to seventh, Nelson got eighth, and Suzuki Sports / FMF/ Fox-backed Jason Partridge took the final transfer spo t to the main event. McCo rmick s na red th e ho les ho t in the second heat, with Dowd, Jefferey Pestana, Roncada, Stiffie teamster Shaun Perolio, and White Knu ckle Sports / KTM/Sinisalo-sponsored Jimmy lamastus in tow. Dowd and then Roncada moved by McCormick in the opening laps and th e three r em a ined in this orde r until the checkered flag, althou gh very spread ou t. Perolio stayed up front to grab fourth ahead of Vuillemin, wh o mov ed up through the pack after a med iocre start and held off Pri mal Impulse /Bill's Pi pes/Suz uki 's Ji ri Dostal fo r fif th. Suzu ki/Pit Pro /FMF's Chris Wheeler moved up to seventh after running near the edge of the top 10 during the ea rly laps. Willoh held steady to earn eighth, and World Champion sno wboarde r and fa me d Sp eci aliz ed fac tory downhill mou ntain biker Sha un Palmer took the final qualifying position, winning a bet with Pro Circuit owner Mitch Payton by qua lifying for a main event. No Fea r /Pro C ircu it-s p o nso r ed Bader Man neh, who is now racing in the Un ited States after yea rs raci ng overseas, holeshot the las t-cha nce qu alifier over F&S Suzuki/ Bill's Pipes /JT-backed Travis Prest on , Mot oworl d / Yamaha / Pro Gri p's Greg Schnell and FMF/Mission Yama ha /Sinisalo-sponsored Espe n Blikstad , from Sweden. Sch nell and Preston blazed off to snag the firs t two qualifying positions, while an in tense ba ttle raged between Blikstad , Manneh, Pestan a and eventually Lamastus for the fina l two transfer po sitions . Manneh and Pestana p revailed and took the last two picks on the gate for the main . Huffman laid claim to the $500 1-900PRO-RACE money after grabbing th e holeshot in th e m ain eve nt, ah ead of Dowd , Ramsey, Deegan (last year's winner), Perolio, Pingree and a host of other podium hopefuls. Ramsey went do wn early and the running order was Huff- (Left) Stephane Roncada rode well and fi nished second overall in the 125cc class. (Below) Michael Brandes made good on his new Stiffie ride by winning his heat and fi nishi ng on the podium in thi rd in the 125cc main event. man, Dowd , Pingree, Brandes, McCormick, Deegan, Willoh, Roncad a and Matiasevich, with Perolio roun ding out the top 10 after the first lap . Dowd took the lead from Huffman over the finish-line jump to start the third lap, but Huffman retaliated half a lap la ter by doing a triple jump to take back the lead. It was sho rt-lived , however, as Dowd re too k the le ad for good before the lap was over. "I had a pretty good d ice going with Ryan Huffman," Dowd recalled . "He started doing this one tripl e behind me with another guy and I really didn't notice it right off. I mad e a few passes on him and then he'd pass me back over that thing. Once I go t back in fr on t of him again, I relaxed a little and sta rted making time on them on the rest of the track. 1 just played it conservative, because on a track like this , one stick in the mud off of a jump an d you 'll be pickin g yourself up off the ground." " It was great getti ng the holes hot in th e ma in ," Huffm an sa id. "I was just getting a littl e tense becau se this is my first lime with the factory ride and 1 had a lot on my shoulders. I just wanted to finish well ton ight. I was riding really we ll, but 1 just wasn't breathing all the time. 1 just had to get one under my belt, a nd it will be eas ier next tim e. Dowd was jum ping one double, so 1 went for the tripl e and got him back, but he got me after that, so..." Ron cad a blitzed his way up to take over seco nd by lap five and closed the gap on the fleeing Dowd to four seconds by lap 10, bu t he eventually finished second to Do wd , nearl y seven seconds back . 'T he track was pr etty good by the main, but really roug h with a lot of ruts and stuff," Ron cad a sai d . "I go t a bad start and tried to do my best to catch up to Dowd, but it was pr etty frustra ting. We ca ug h t up to some lapper s and it was ha rd to get throu gh them. 1am very happy because 1 d id my best a nd th e track was really rou gh ." Hu ffman held third until the middle of the 15-lap race, w hen Brand es latch ed on to the final pod ium position, where he remained un til the checkers waved. "I started about sixth in the main and passed, 1 think, Ping ree and McCorm ick and made a mistake a nd had to pass them again," Bran d es sa id . "We we n t back and forth for a while before I was finall y able to p u ll some distance on them . I stayed abou t equal with th e lead ers from there, but 1 wasn't able to catch them . The hardest part was that I knew 1 was in a podium pos ition, and 1 s tarted riding worse as 1 got cautious. When 1w as cha rgi ng, 1 was hilting all my lines. It' s a good way to start th e year, with my first podium finish and heat-race win on this new Stiffie team ." Huffman an d McCormick ba ttled for a few la ps d u ri ng t he middl e of the main eve nt before eventua lly finishing fou rth an d fifth , res pec tively . Pingre e finished sixth, Vuillemin moved up and too k the seventh s pot fro m Ramsey, Willo h got n in th , a nd Matiasavich ended up 10th. f~ Los Angeles Memo rial Colise um Los Angeles, California Resul ts: Jan uary 10, 1998 (Roun d 1 of 16) 125 H EAT 1 (6 bps, 1· 9 t ra n sfer 10 m ain) : 1. Michael Brand es (Suz); 2. Ryan Huffman (Suz): 3. David Pi ngree (H an ); 4 . Jeff Matia sevich (Ka w) : 5. Bria n De egan (Ka w ); 6. Rus ty Holla nd (5uz) ; 7. Nat han Rams e y (Ka wh.B . Du stin N elson (Ya m); 9. Ja so n Partridge (Suz ); 10. Jer om e Hem ery (Su z); 11. Doug Parsons (Yam); 12. Robert Naughton (KTM ); 13. Dax Kastrin (Suz); 14. Isaia h Johnson (Kaw); 15. Mon te Mon tague (Yam ); 16. David Evilsizer (Suz); 11. Nathan Woods (Yam) ; 18. Brian Sweaney II (Suz); 19. Larry linkogIe (y a m); 20. Eigo Sate CSuz). Timer 9 min ., 18.240 sec. 125 HEAT 2 (6 Laps, 1.09 tr.ansfrr to main): 1. John Dowd (Ya m ); 2. Ste p ha ne Roncad a (H o n): 3 . Jason McCormick (Ho n); 4. Shaun Per olio (Suz); 5. Da vid Vuillemi n (Yam ); 6. Jiri Dostal (Suz); 7. Ch ris wheeler 8. Jeff WiIloh (Suz); 9. Shaun Palmer (Ya m); 10. Espen Bilks tad (Yam); I I. Tyler Evans (So2); 12. Greg Schnell (Ya m ); 13. Tra vis Pres to n (Su z); 14. Bad er Mann eh (Ka w ): 15. Sco tt Da vi s (Suz ); 16. Jef fe rey Pesta na ; 17. Erick VaUejo (Kaw); 18. Jimm y Lamastus CKT ; 19 . Mik e Me tzge r (Ka w ): 20. To n y Gr a ves M) (Yam); 21. Danny Smi th IHon) . Time: 8 min. , 57.090 sec. 125 LeQ (4 bps, 1-4 tran sfer to m Ol in ): 1. Greg Schnell (Yam); 2. Travis Preston (Suz); 3. Bader Manneh (Ke w): 4. Jefferey Pestana (Unk): 5. Jimmy Lama s tus (KTM); 6. Espen Blikst ad (Ya m); 7. Jer om e Hem er y (Suz); 8. Rob ert Na ug h ton (KT M); 9. Erick Vall ejo (K.J,w); 10. Dan ny Smi th (Hen): 11. Mike Metzger (Kaw); 12. Tony Craves (Yam); 13. Dax Kastrin (Suz); 14. lsa iah Johnso n (K.1w ); 15. Brian Sweaney U ISuz) : 16. David Evilsizer (Suz); 17. Doug Parso ns (Yam); 18. Scott Davis (Suz); 19. Mont e Mon tag ue (Ya m ); 20. Tyler Eva n s (Suz); 21. N a tha n Woods (Yam) ; 22. Larry Lmk og te (Yam). Time: 6 min. , 9.840 sec. 125 MAI N OS lap s I: t . Joh n Dowd (Ya m) ; 2 . Stepha ne Roncad a (H an); 3. Michael Brand es (Suz ); 4. Ryan Huffman (Suz) : 5. Jason McCormick IHon): 6. David Pingree (Ho n): 7. David VuiUemin (Ya m); 8. N a tha n Ram sey (Ka w ): 9. Jeff Willoh (Suz) : 10. Jeff Matiasevich (Ka w) ; 11. Jiri Dos tal (502); 12. Greg Schnell (Ya m); 13. Jason Pa rtrid ge (Su z) ; 14. Shaun Perolio (Suz); 15. Rus ty Holland (Suz); 16. Tra vis Pre ton (Suz); s 17. Jefferey Pestana; 18. Ch ris Whee ler (5 uz) ; 19. Dustin N elso n (Ya m ); 20 . Bad e r Ma nneh (Yam) ; 21. Brian Deegan (K,aw); 22. Shaun Palmer (Ya m). • Ttme of race: 20 eun., 2.420 sec. Winnrr's ave rage lap time: 1 min .• 20.161 sec. Mngin of vidOry: 6.001 sec. 1-900·P RO· RACE 12 5« W ESTERN R EGIONAL SUPERC RO SS SERIES POI NTS STANDINGS (Aler I Of 7 ro un ds ): 1. Joh n Dowd (25/1 win); 2. Step ha ne Roncada (22); 3. Michael Brandes (20 ); 4. Ryan Huffman (18); 5. Jaso n McCormick (16); 6. David Pingree 05); 7. David Vuillemin (14); 8. Na than Ramsey (13); 9. Jeff Willo h (121; 10. Jeff Matia se rvtch (11); II . liri Dostal (10); 12. G reg Schnell (9); 13. Jason Partidg e (B); 14. Shaun Perolio (7); 15. Rusty Holland (6); 16. Travis Preston (5) ; 17. Jefferey Pestana (4); 18. Chris Wheeler (3); 19. Dustin Nelso n (2); 20. Bader Manneh (I). (Suz); Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Houston, Texas, January 17 Round 3 - Phoenix, Arizona, January 24 11

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