Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(lett) Robbie Reynard looks to be getting comfortab le on his new Suzukls. Reynard nearly ran down Carmichael us ing excellent lines, but eventually finis hed second in thel25cc race. (Right) 125cc National Motocross Champion Ricky Carmichael keeps rlght on rolling, as he won the 125cc Pro Supercross. (Below) Tortelli accepts the winner's cash from announcer larry Naston and company. and I'm glad I could start off the season with a wi n," Carmic hael contin ue d . "I had to dig dow n deep in the last couple of laps after I'd seen what line he (Reynar d ) was taking . I wish I would ha ve taken that line, because I wouldn' t ha ve had to work so hard, bu t that's racing, and he was loo king for the better lines and I wasn't. Lu cky I won . I'm looking forward to the East Coast Supercrosses." Reynard greeted the checkers in second for a successful debut of his Suz uki rid e for 1998. "I started on the far outside and just didn' t get a good start," Reynard said . "I wo rked my w ay up so far in th e firs t ha lf of the race and then, in the second pa rt, I sta rted passing people and made it into second pla ce and I had a little gap to Ricky and pu lled it in but I d idn't hav e en ough time to catch all the way u p . The la p pers were a little bi t of a p ro blem.they we re just kin d of go ing every whic h way and you just had to be smar t and pick yo ur own lin e a nd go aroun d them." Schnell finis he d all by himself for a well-deserved third after starting off the day well out of the top 10 and never givingup. "I go t a terribl e start and just starting picking off rid ers one at a tim e, lap after la p, a nd came ou t in thi r d p la ce ," Schnell explained from th e pod iu m . "I fou nd some different lin es during th e second ha lf of the race and they seemed to be bet ter and it w orked o u t pretty good. " Brand es brought h is Stiffie-ba cked Suzuki in for fourth-place money, ahea d of Sellards , Ramsey and Holland . Lytle held on for e igh th, with Tea m Moto XXX rid ers Mike Me tzg e r a nd Brian Deegan rou nd ing ou t the top 10. When the gate dropped for the 2SOcc class, it was another Hond a of Troy bike running out front ; this time Browrn was at the contro ls. Tortelli held d own second.Tollowed by Tim Ferry, wh o was making hi s Te am Noleen Yam aha debut. 1997 250cc Supercro ss and National Champion Emig gated fou rth , ahead of hi s Kawa sa ki te a m m a te Damon Huffman and Honda of Tro y' s Michael Cra ig. Within a la p, Bro wn h ad nearly a five-second cushion on Tortelli, w ho was being hou nded by Emig after passin g Fer ry . Tortelli brok e a w a y from Emig and sta rted ree lin g in Brown. By lap th ree, To r te lli ha d ca u g h t Bro wn and started showing him his fro nt fender in nearl y every corner. Tortelli came up a little short on a d ou ble jump and cased it, allowing Brown a little breathin g ro om, but Brown b ob b led a few tu rns later , erasing any advantage he ha d gained. Emig then got back into the hu n t, making it a three-rider battle for the top s p ot, as Craig made his way p ast Ferry to ho ld d o wn fourth. Brow n' s lea d la sted until the six th lap, w hen Tortelli fin a lly mad e the pass. Emig tri ed to follow suit bu t was find ing it hard to get a ro u n d Bro wn . Tortelli held off Brown to collect the $1000 bonus for leading a t the h alfw a y point and earned the pole position for the restart after the five-minute break. It was Craig over Emi g by a few inches fo r th ird, wi th Huffman, Ferry, Phil LawTence, Yam aha YZ400Fmoun ted Doug Dubach and KIM's Lance Smail trailing at the restart. Tortelli and Brown went a t it rig ht from the restart, w it h Brown s tuffing h is way under TorteIli in a tight right-h and er to retak e th e lead. TorteIIi stayed glu ed to Brown as Emig switched p laces with Craig for third. Hu ffman also passed Craig, but Craig wasn't letting him ge t aw ay. Ferry held do w n six th over Dubach and Rey na rd , w ho was again working up from a bad start. Wh ile Torte lli was doing a double jum p in fro nt of the announcing tow er, Emig was using a fa ster lin e that allowed him to make up time d own the front straight. This allowed the tw o rid ers to meet at th e end of th e s tra ig ht, wh ere Emi g was a ble to p in ch off Tortelli on the face of a tabl etop jump and move into seco nd . TorteIli retaliated a few turns later to regain the ru nn er-up position, and a lap later Tort elli passed Brown for the lead. Emig used the same tech n iq u e to se t up Brown d own the front straig ht to move into secon d place and continue after Tort eIli. Th e last la p sa w Tortell i and Emig slice th eir way through la p pe rs, wi th Tortelli coming out on top by a few bike lengths for the win. "It was good for me. It was my first time ra cing s ince my injuries , so I'm v ery glad to win here," Tortelli sa id while accepting his briefcase full of cash on th e podium. " Irn doing the fi rs t seven Supercrosses here, then I go home to d o Grand Pri x beca use of my contract." Emig go t the biggest cheer from the cro wd as he acce p ted his second-place troph y. "I wa s rea lly tryi ng to use my head ou t there and rid e smart," Em ig sai d. "Every year a t this race, I th ink every rider gets arm pump, and I had a little bit of arm pum p, so I was trying to stay relaxed and mostly just ha ve a good GFllnvitat ional Supercross Perris, California Results : January 3, 1997 125 S X: 1. Rick y Ca rm ich ael ( Ka w ); 2 . Robbie Reyna rd (Su z); 3. Greg Sc hn ell (Ya m ); 4. Michael Brandes (Su z); 5. Bro ck Se lla rd s (Hon) ; 6. Natha n Ramsey (Kaw); 7. Rus ty Holland (s uz); 8. Ca sey lytle (l-fan); 9. Mike Metzger (](aw); 10. Brian Deegan IKaw ), 250 SX: 1. Sebastien Tortelli (l(aw); 2. Jeff Emig (Kaw), 3. Mike Brown (H an); 4. Mite Craig (Ha n); 5. Da mo n Huffman (Ka w); 6. Tim Ferry (Yam); 7. Doug Dubach (Ya m); 8. Phil Lawrence (Ka w) ; 9 . Marco Co lvaline (lion ); 10. lance Smail (K"Thl). 50 (4-6 ): 1. Alan Jiron (Cob); 2. Johnny Ie lderda (K"Thl); 3. Matthew Dormack (K"Thl); 4. Richard Stephng (KTM); 5. Ronni e Goodwin (Cob) . SO (1-8): 1. C1.lvton Murill o (Cob); 2. Matt Harrison (K"Thl) . • 50 O PEN: 1. Bryce Terzian (KTM); 2. Chad Gore s (l EM); 3. Ca sey Huntley (K"Thl). 60 Fff: 1. Ronnie Goodwin (Ka w) : 2. Den nis Howell (Kaw). 60 BEG : 1. Cha se Takacs (Ka w): 2. C had Her bert (Ka w ); 3. Austin Whi te (Kaw); 4. Justin Mulford (Kaw ): 5. Jak e Hul ett { Kaw). . 60 NO V; 1. West on Peick (Ka w): 2. Brandon H uncr (Kaw); 3. Ca sey Hinson (Ka w); 4. Wesl ey Harris (](.lw); 5. Chad Gores. 60 t NT : 1. Dani el Sa ni (Ka w): 2. Phillip Bru scella ti me . When we h ad th a t fiv e-m inut e break in the middle, my team manager came up and gave me so me words of wisdom for ra ces lik e th is where yo u tak e a break. He said, 'Don' t get hurt: I'm wo rkin g up to my peak here for the fir st race (Supercross) of the season, doin g a little more riding, a littl e more racing. I like to come out here to su ppo rt Goat (Goa t Breker promofes the G FI Invitational) and all of the local racers, a n d es p e cia lly a ll of the lo cal fans, becau se I really like being here." Third went to Brown, who recently returned to the Honda of Tr oy team a fter a year of racing th e 250cc Gra nd Prix circuit in Europe. "Last week (at the Glen Helen SX), I ran a g ood race," Brown sa id. "T his week, I got a good sta rt and th en my arms go t a little tight and then I killed the motor over there in the corner and Tort elli go t pa st me . I came back out the second time around and got a good start and got into the lead , and my arms got a little tigh t and I coul d n't ha ng on. I've been trai ni ng ha rd, but I just can' t ge t over the a rm pu mp. I can 't w a it u nt il next weekend (for the Supercross Seaso n opener in LA):' T he fo u r t h- p la ce mon ey we n t to Craig af ter h is la st -lap p ass on Huffma n. Ferry fin is he d a ll by himself in sixth, with Vet Wo rl d Cha m pion Dubach in seventh. Past GFl Invitational winner Phil Law rence brou ght h is Kawasak i of Mexico-backed KX250 across for eighth, followed by Marco Col valine and Smail. (~ (Kaw). bO O PEN: 1. Jake W cim er (Ka w) : 2. C as S w if t (Yam ). 80 BEG : 1. Brandon C u r r ie (K aw) : 2. Bruce Pr ochanuk (Hen ): 3 . [i m i Ha rr is (Ya m) ; 4. Se a n Hampton (Suz); 5. Jeff Vaughn (He n) . 80 NO V: 1. Ch ad Gaumer (H an); 2. Dan iel Sani (502) ; 3. BrettMarka ria n (Yam) ; 4. Eric McCrummt"n (Yam); 5. Kevin Payne (Yam). 80 INT: 1. David Booth (Ha n); 2. Chris Niha n (Suz); 3. Jimm v Nelson (Yam); 4. Justin Owechowski (Kaw): 5. An thony Bruscella (Yam). 80 Ex: 1. [esse Casilla (Yam ). 80 S/MINI: 1. Jess" Ca"I'" (Yam); 2. Dav id Booth (Han) ; 3. Micky Griffin (Yam); 4. Brandon Haag (Hun); 5. Joey Page ( Kaw ). 12 5 BEG: 1. Ricca rdo Bosch! (Suz); 2. Adam Hamman (Ho n); 3. Gabriel Obese (Kaw) : 4. Matt Dymond CYam 5. Jeff Pawlisa (Yam ). ); 125 NOV: 1. Jas on Bu rt (Yam ); 2. C ole Sleeter (Yam) ; 3. John King (Yam) ; 4. Derek Chase (Yam ); 5. Brian Brandon (Yam). 125 [NT: 1. Sean Hamblin (Yam) ; 2. Micha el Sleeter .< rn); 3. ~anit"1 So ndergeard (TM ); 4. Craig Truglio Ya (Kaw); 5. Tim Olson (Hon). 250 BEG: 1. Ma rk Eckmann (Yam ); 2. Cory Ayers {Ho n): 3. Michelle Bednar (Hon). 250 NOV: 1. Ryan Doty ()(aw ); 1. Colter Anderson (Yam); 3. Kvle Baird (Yam ); 4. Iason Burt (Yam); 5. earl Chase (Yam). 250 11'.T: 1. Zeb Armstrong (Yam); 2. Akira Sunada ' (Suz); 3. Todd MitcheU (5uz) ; 4. Cra ig Truglio (Kaw ); 5. ' Bra nden Mils tead tSuz ). PRO: 1. Dona ld Upton (Yam); 2. Billy Me rci er (Ka w); 3. John Serieka (Yam); 4. John Murray (Yam ); 5. Scott Conley {Kaw). 2S+ BEG: 1. Ma rk Eckma nn (Y.,m); 2. Josh Larsen (Yam); 3. Brian Pappa lard o (Hon); 4. Rigo laFonta ine A a ~ ()(a w). 25+ N O V: 1. Sc o tt Marlo w (Ya m ); 2. M icha e l Diffenbau gh (Yam); 3. Mike Dougherty (Yam ); 4. Tim Konkol (Yam); 5. Da rin Pierce (Kaw). 25+ INT : I . Terry Ca stouniotis (Yam ). 2S+ EX: 1. Dustin Heikkine n (}(aw). 30+ BEG : 1. Cory Ayer s (H en) : 2. Dua ne Ra ha (Yam) ; 3. Michael Ponzio (Ka w ). 4. Dan Young (Kaw): 5. Dan Bemadickt IHon). 30+ NOV: 1. Sco tt Pierce (Kaw). 30+ [NT: 1. Chris Swif t (Yam). 30+ PRO: 1. Brian Manley (Ka w). 35+ NOV : 1. Mik e Dcughterty (Yam); 2. M icha el Fr ance (Ka w) : 3. Pe te r Neumme ller (Ha n) ; 4. Les Abernathy IKawk 5. David Eva ns (Hon) . 35+ INT: 1. Steve Pia ttoni (Suz) ; 2. Da vid Fontes (Ya m); 3. Randy Skinner (Ya m). 40+ INT: I. G reg McCarthy (Hen). 25

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