Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SUPERCROSS TOYOTAlrHORIPARTS UNUMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Round 1: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Team Yamaha's John Dowd switched to the Western Regional 125cc Supercross Series for '98 and won the opening round in LA. , place, that's good. There 's room for im p rovemen t, bu t I realize tha t." Sixth -p la ce fi n is h e r A lbe rty n co nc u rred : " It was tou gh , tou gh to stay o n two w h eels - g r uellin g:, f~ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, California Results : Ja nuary, 1998 (Round 1 of 16) 250 H EAT 1 (8 lep e, 1.-4transf er i. M ik e C raig (Ho nl: 8. Damo n H u ffm an ( Ka w) : 9. Lan ce Sm a il CKTM: ); 10. Yos hitaka Atsuta (He n): 11. Ti m Ferry (Ya m); 12. Ja son dro Go nza lez Thomas (l<.1w); 13. Pe (Kaw): 14. Ry an H ughe (Kaw) : 15. s T o n y Ama ra d io (Ya m) ; 16 . Ste v e Drew (KTM ); 17. Scott Pinson (Suz); J8. Mi ke Ulrich (l i on); 19. Angelo ln gr ande (Suz); 20. Bra nd on Roberts (Ka wl . Tim e: 10 min. , 51.570sec. 2SO HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1-01 tr~ n5f rr to m~in): 1. Mickeel Pichon (Suz) ; 2. Lar ry Ward (Su z ): 3. Jeff Emig (Ke w ): 4. G reg Albertyn (5uz); 5. Sebastien Tortcl li ()(aw); 6. Frederic Be lle y ( Ha n); 7. Jim m y Bu tt o n (Yam); 8. Ta kes h i Kciked a (Yam); 9. Phil Lawrenc e (Kaw ): 10. T y Bird w e ll IKaw ): 11. Bill y M er cier (Kaw ); 12. Pa t Poster (Ka w ); 13. Billy Bincklry (Yam); 14. Austi n Squires (Han); 15. Rob b ie Skaggs (Ya m); 16. Jo h n Se re ika Jr . (Ya m ); 17. Ry an Te rl e cki (Suz ); 18. Sh awn 10 prett y mu ch the high est point in the air. I hope he d oesn ' t have any har d feelings." Lusk was unavailable for co mment after the race. Man y positions changed qui ckly, and the running order by the 15th lap read: Hen ry, Emig, McGrath, Tortelli, Pichon, Windham, Ward , Craig, Albertyn and laRocco, who had earli er slid out in the mud . As most of the riders began to tire, Tortelli seemed to get stronge r, pa ssin g riders left and right. He had the fastest line down the Peristyle jum p and mad e a number of passes there, includ ing one on McGrath for third. "He made a great pass on me the re," McGrath said. A lap later, Tortelli did the sa me to Ernig, and , with only two laps to go, o n ly Henry s tood in h is wa y . The Fren chman wasted no time in closing th e ga p to Henry a n d he p assed h im when Henry go t a little sideways over a double jump. "I rea li zed I was in a good p la ce w h en I go t b ehind Jerem y, because I kn ew Jeremy had a good start," Tort elli sa id . "I was th ink in g, This is good : I was n' t rea lly thin king ab out winning, I was just trying to be consistent lap after lap : ' Then, on the last lap, Henry cras hed over th e sa me ju m p a n d th e e ngine stalled . By the time he go t the engine to refire, eight riders had passed him. "To rtelli had jus t passed me, and I we nt ove r the finis h line, and it was the first time so meone was right in fron t of me when 1 we nt in ther e, and I could n' t look ahead to see my rut; it was like I was looking at him. I just kind of crossru tted and fell over. I wanted to turn one way and the ru t went that wa y." And the n the motor stalled . " I sh o u ld ' ve done things be tter, " Henry said of s tar ti n g the b ike. " I shou ld ' ve put it in neutra l an d d one things right the first time but, you kno w, I was tired:' At the finish, it was To rt elli - with room to spare. " I was s o happy," Tortelli said o f winning, "es pecially because my bi ke was so perfect, and for my mechanic - I am his first rider, an d this was his first official race. So tha t's good: ' With h is s u ccess tonight, w ould Tortelli consider staying in the United States to finish ou t the su percross series? " Ah, I have a contract, yo u know , so the factory decides," Tortelli said . "That was just the first race. There are more races - I w ill do seven, and we' ll see after the end:' "I rode really relaxed tonight," Emig said. "I just wanted to use my hea d, get a good finish - 16 (ra ces) in a row is go in g to b e tou gh; it's g o in g to be important to ge t seconds:' Finis hin g a close third was McGrat h, while a d istant fourth went to Picho n. Windham was next across the line in fifth. " I kind of pum ped up a round la p 10," Windham said. "I ac tu all y got it u nder co ntrol toward s th e end of th e race and kind of se ttled into a groove. First race, I was r ea l ner v ou s - fifth MacDo na ld (Suz); 19. Trav is Gage (Suz); 20. Jl'ff Dement (Yam). . T im er 11 min., 05.740 sec. 250 SEMI 1 (6 I.a ps , 1· 5 tra nsfer to main ): 1. Dam on Huffma n (Ka w): 2. M ik e La Ro cc o ( Han) ; 3 . M ik e Brown (Han); 4. Mike Crai~ (Ha n); 5. Lan ce Smail (KT M); 6. Ry a n Hughes (K.1w ); 7. Yoshttaka Atsuta (H on ); 8. Ton y Amar ad io (Ya m); 9. Jason Thomas (Ka w) ; 10. Tim Ferry (Yam ); 11. Steve Drew (KTM); J2. Brand on Roberts (K.1 W); 13. Mik e Ulri ch (H an); 14. Sco tt Pinson (Suz); 15. Pedro Gonzalez (Ka w): 16. Angelo lngm ndc (Suz) . Tim e: 8 min., 19.070 sec. 250 SEM I 2 (6 l a pa, 1·5 tu n der t o m ai n ): 1. Se b as ti en Tortelli (Ka w ): 2. Phil Lawr en ce IKaw): 3. Fred eri c B elley (Han); 4. Jeff Demen t (Yarn ); 5. Tak eshi Koi ked a (Yam); 6. Jimmy Button (Ya m); 7. Billy Mercier IKaw): 8. Billy Binc kle y (Yarn ); 9. Pat Fos ter (Ka w): 10. Au stin Squi res IHon): 11. Rya n Terleck i (Suz); 12. Ty Birdwell (Ka w ): 13. John Sereik a Jr. (yam ); J4. Tra vis Gage ISuz): J5. Shawn MacDon ald (Suz) ; J6. Robbie Skaggs (Yam) . T im e: 8 min., 04.110 !Ot"C. 250 LCQ (4 lap s, 1·2 tran s fer to m ~ in ) : 1. Jimmy Button (Yarn); 2. Ry a n Hu gh es (Ka w): 3. Tim Ferry (Ya m); 4. Ton y Am a radi o (Yam); 5. Ja son Th omas {Kaw) : 6. Yoshi ta ka A tsu ta ( H a n ); 7\ BiUy Me rcie r (Kaw): 8. Ro bbie Skaggs (Yam); 9. Pedro G o nzalez (Ka w) ; 10. Ty Bird well (Kaw); 11. Billy BinekJ..-y (Yam) ; 12. Scott Pinson (Suz) ; 13. Stev e Drew (KTM); 14. Pa t Foster (Kaw); 15. Rvan Terlecki (Suz); 16. Mike Ulric h IHon): 17. AngeJo in gra nd e (Suz); J8. Jo hn Seretka Jr . (Ya m ); J9 . T ra vi s Cage (Suz); 20. Bra nd on Ro~r t s (Kaw); 21. Sha wn MacDonald (5u7.); 22. Austin Squ1Il.'S (Hon) . Tim e: 8 rrun., 14.200 min. • 2SO ~ AI N (20 laps.: 1. Sebasti en Tort eUi (Ka w ); 2. Jeff Emig CKaw) ; 3. Jeremy McGrat h (Yam); 4. Mickael Picho n (Su z ); 5. Kev i n W in d h am (Ya m) ; 6 . Greg Albertyn (Suz) ; 7. Larry Wa rd (Suz); 8. M icha e l Cra ig (Hon ); 9. Mike LaRocco (Ha n); 10. Doug H('J1ry (Ya m); 11. Frederic BoUey (Han) ; 12. Damon H uff man {Ka wl ; 13. Mike Brown (Ho n ); 14. Ryan Hu ghes (Kaw); 1S. Phil Lawrence (Ka w); 16. Ezra Lusk (Ha n ); J7. Lance Sma il (JaM); 18. Takeshi Ko ikeda (Ya m); J9. Jim m v Button (Yam ); 20. Je ff Dement (Ya m ). . ' Time: 25 min .• 58.270 sec. • Ma rgin of vict ory: 04.008sec. 250« AMA TO YOT AfT H O RJPA RTS UNLIM ITED SUPERCROSS SERIES POI NT STA NDINGS (Aft., 1 of 16 ro unds): 1. Sebastien Tortelli (25) ; 2. Jeff Emi~ (22); 3. jeremy McGrath (20); 4. Mlckael Pichon (18); 5. Kevin Windham (16); 6. Greg Albertyn (15); 7. larry Ward (l 4); 8. Mi chael Cra ig (13) ; 9. M ik e Lakocco (12); 10 . Do ug Hen ry (1t); 11. Frederic Bollcy (t o) ; 12. Damon Huffman (9); 13. Mike Brown (8); J4. Ryan Hugh es (7); J5. Phil Lawren ce (6); 16. Ezra Lusk (5); 17. Lance Smail (4 ); 18. Ta kcsh i Kolk ed a (3); J9. Jimmy Button (2); 20. Jeff Dem en t 0). KTM J R. SU PERCROSS CHA LLENG E, Ca ncettd d ue to m uddy co ndition. . s Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Houston, Texas, January 17 Round 3 - Phoenix, Arizona, January 24 Dowd does his job By Cameron Coatney Photos by Kinney Jo nes LOS ANGELES. CA, JAJ\j. 10 h il e the s e n s a tio n a l Rickv Carmichael see ms to b e th e cl ear-cu t favo rite to win t he AMA Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross "Series, thin gs on the Left Coast didn't seem to be so read ily apparent - that is, until Thursday' s p ress da y before th e event. Con tra ry to the tea m' s origina l pla ns , Yamaha re vealed that ve teran racer Joh n Dowd wo u ld be con testing the Wes tern Regional Series rat her than the Eastern Series in which he has traditionally competed. If Saturday night's 125cc main event is any indication of things to come, it was a good plan , as Dowd went on to handily w in th e open ing ro und of the series after an ea rl y-race tu ssel with Suzuki-mounted Ryan Huffman . 0 , neither the slick, ra in-soaked track no r the 21 other competitors in the main event could st op the notoriously good m ud rider from securing the first Western Region win of his career. " I don 't kn ow w hy we switched coa sts," Dowd r eplied w he n asked abou t w hy he was moved over to the Weste rn Regio n at the last minute. "It was basically Yamaha's decisio n, but for me, it really doesn' t matt er . I just asked which one I'd be riding and they said, 'West: I didn't have any problem wi th it and I never heard any reason s: ' Dowd go t good sta r ts a nd m o ved in to th e lead by lap th ree in bo th his hea t race and the ma in eve nt en rout e to his win. " I d on't know if I rea ll y had th at mu ch of an advan tage :' the New Englander said when asked about his mudri di ng skills . "It w as n't rea lly all th at bad by race time. It was kinda d ry and ru tty , wi th one good line aro un d. I d on 't really like rid ing su percross tracks in the mud, a nyway. It' s ha iry hitting jumps all slipping and slid ing, an d I was nervous abo ut tonigh t. "It's a good wa y to start a season, but I know I've go t a lo ng way to go ," Dowd continued . "I rea lly hope I can put it together this year. Last yea r I felt I was right in there, and then I broke my ha nd practicing. I'd rea lly lik e to win somethi ng this year because I feel like I've had a lot of thirds and seconds:' Team Hond a of Troy / Sin is a lo ' s Stephane Roncada, who finished secon d to Tim Ferry in the Eastern Region series las t year, started the yea r off well by finis h ing seco n d to Do wd , a n d Stiffie/ Westwood /Tom Morgan Racingbacked Mich ael Brandes took the final position on the podium. The Pacific No rt hwest had plenty to be proud about in the form of tw o rookie fact ory rid ers, Answer-backed Primal Impulse /Bill ' s Pipes /Su z uki Ra cin g Tea m ' s Hu ffm an a nd FMF /H o nd a / . Thor -backed Jason McCorm ick, who finished a very respectable fourt h and fifth, respectively, in their firs t AMA appearances. "I couldn't believe it was Jason tha t go t fif th ," Huffm a nsaid . "I ac tu a lly th ou ght th at Roncada was Jason, a nd W to m. in): 1. Ez ra Lu s k {Ho n) : 2. Dou g Henry (Ya m); 3 . Kevin Windham (Ya m); 4. Jere m y McGra th (Ya m); 5. Mik e Lakocco ( He n) : b . M i k e Br o wn ( Ho n) : ToyotalThorlParts Unlimited AMA W rn este Regional 1 5 2 ccSupercross Series Round 1 Angeles Memorial Coliseum :Los

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