Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ki's Ryan Huffman. The rider fro m Orego n ma d e sever a l aggre s sive pass e s comin g thro ugh th e field af ter sta rti ng in seven th . Teammates Brandes and Perolio fin ished fourth a nd fifth, respectively, wi th KTM-mou n ted Guy Cooper fin is hing s ix th. Ka w a s a k i of Mexico/Tecate's Erick Vallejo, Jeff Pesta na a nd Isa ia h Jo h nson were th e n ext th ree q ualifiers . Chr is to p her Whe el er wo n the lastchanc e qu alifier , follo w ed by FM F/Honda 's Jason M cC ormick. Ryan Duff and Ad ri an Robert from Costa Rica s nagged the fina l two tr ansfers . Hu ffm an n ailed h is secon d m a ineven t h ol e shot in as m any w eeks a n d was foll o w ed by Schnell, Do wd, Roncada, Pingree , Ramsey and Vuillemin . At th e e nd o f th e first lap, Schnell and Dowd had m oved by Huffman into the top tw o s lo ts. Huffma n cou n te red w ith a pass o n Dowd over a triple jump two la p s later, but o n lap four Dowd a n d Roncada raile d a n inside rut p a st Huffman to m ove into second and third, respect ively . Vu ille m in, w ho d iced early w it h Ramsey , was n e xt to p a ss H u ff man. Hu ffm a n , w ho h ad rep ortedl y injured his thumb, s ta rted to fade. Schne ll w as looki ng good o u t front for the n ext three laps, w it h Roncada n ow in seco n d, and D owd a n d Vuillemin third a nd fo u rt h . The s ta ge w as set. Roncada made the firs t m o ve w hen h e p a ss ed Schn ell fo r t he lead o n lap seven. Schnell held secon d for o ne m ore lap befo re falling victim to D owd an d V u illemin w it hin tw o corners o n la p nine. Ron c a d a led t h e Dowd-a n dVuillemin freight train for three m ore la ps, as Ramsey had also passed Schnell, moving into fou rth. Dowd pressured Ronca d a h e a v il y , th en m ade his m o ve as he g rabbed a bi t m ore throttle off the finish -li ne ju m p a n d m o v e d into th e le ad o n la p 12. Vu illemin trip led over th e H o nda rider in to second soon there a fte r as Roncada was d ealing with la ppers. Vuillemin w as all over Dow d for th e la st tw o la ps, but Do wd h eld off the a ttac k to take th e wi n as th e fa ns rose to th eir feet . Vuillemin finished directly b ehind him, with Rams ey cross ing for th ird , the r e sult o f Roncada taking a . brief o ff-trac k excursion . Schnell rod e w ell, d e fending hi s p osition and fini shin g fifth, follo w ed by Pin gree, Presto n, Perolio, Brandes a nd Deeg an . "T h a t was fu n ," D o wd sai d o f h is secon d win of th e year . " Ever y time I l ooked a ro u n d, there was so meo ne th ere. I needed th at o ne." "Jo hn (Dow d) d id not m ake any mi stakes ," th e fri endly Vu illemi n ex p la ined . "I m ade too m any mistakes an d m y suspens ion was a little too s tiff, but I'm happy because I ca m e from be hi nd ." " It took me a cou p le of laps to g et goi ng ," Rams e y said a bou t hi s fi rs t pod iu m fini sh of the year, "bu t I got o ne under m y belt now : ' Ron cad a was u n ha ppy wi t h h is (Rig ht) Dowd's mechanic , Brian Berry , provided part of the motivatio n in, ar gua bly, the best Supercross main of '98. fourth-p lace fin ish. When asked what he must do to win the championship , he replied, "Go to church!" 0Qua lcomm Stadium Sa n Diego , California . Results: February 7, 1998 (Ro und 5 of 7) 12 5 H E AT 1 (6 bps, 1-9 t ran sfer to m;lin) : 1. Stepha ne Roncada (Ho n): 2. Gre g Schnell (Ya m); 3. John Dowd (Y .1m ); 4. Nat ha n Ram se y (Ka w ): 5. Tr avi s Pres ton (Su z); 6. Jeff Wi110h (5 uz); 7. ]i n Dos tal (5uz ); B. Brian Deega n (Ka w ): 9. Tyler Eva ns (Suz): 10. Kris Rourke (KTM); 11. Scott Da vis (5uz); 12. Jason Partridge . (SUl); 13. Jacob Mart in (Suz); 14. Jerry Aleman (5uz); 15. Jake Windham (5 uz) ; 16. Bader Man ne h (Ya m) ; 17. Doug Parsons (Ya m); 18. Da vid De rnan g os (Ya m); 19. Tommy Ha rrison (Ya m); 20. Fra nk Meco no (Kaw ). Ti me: 5 m in., 20.820 sec . 125 HE AT 2 (6 laps. 1-9 tra nsf er 10 m ain ): 1. Da vid Vuille min (Ya m) ; 2. David Pi ng ree (Hon) : 3. Ryan Huffman (Sua ): 4. Michael Bra ndes (Su z): 5. Shaun Pero lio (Suz ); 6. Guy Coope r (KTM); 7. Erick Vallejo (K aw ): 8. Jeff Pestana (Ya m); 9. Isaiah Johnson (Ka w ): 10. Ad ria n Robert (H a n); 11. Marc Rtst ori (Han); 12. Chris Whee ler (Suz); 13. Josh Tarantino (Yam); 14. Brian Swe a ny (Su z ); 15. Dax Kastrin (Suz ); 16. Ryan Du ff (Hon ); 17. Mark Easley (Suz); 18. Espen Blikstad (Ya m); 19. Jason McCormick (H en ): 20. Jimmy Varis (Suz) . T ime: 5 min.• 19.820 sec. 125 LC Q (4 laps, 14 tra ns fe r 10 m.lin) : I. C h ris Wht."eler (5oz ); 2. Jason McConnick (Han); 3. Ryan Duff (Han); 4. Ad rian Robert (Hon): 5. Jacob Ma rtin (Suz); 6. Marc Rist ori (Hen ): 7. Dou g Pa rso ns (Ya m); 8. jake W in d h a m (Su z): 9 . Jimmy Va r is (Su z ); 10 . Ja s o n Partridge (5o z); 11. Ierry Aleman (Suz); 12. Da x Kastrin (Su z) : 13. Espen Bliksta d (Ya m ); 14. josh Ta ra nt in o (Yam); 15. Scott Davis (Suz) ; 16. Brian Sweany (Suz); 17. Tommy Ha rrison (Yam); 18. Bade r Manneh (Yam); 19. . Frank Mecono (Kaw): 20. Dav id Demangos (Yam); 21. Kris Rourke (KTM); 22. Mark Easley ISuz) . Tim e: 3 mi n., .w.180 sec . 125 MAIN (IS laps): 1. John Dowd (Y am) ; 2. Dav id Vuillemin (Yam); 3. Nat han Ramsey IKaw ): 4. Ste pha ne Roncada (Ho n): S. Greg Schnell (Yam) ; 6. David Pingree (Hen): 7. Travis Preston (Suz): 8. Sha un Pe rol io (Suz ); 9. Mich ael Brandes (Suz); 10. Bria n Deeg a n (Ka w): 11. C hris Wh e e ler (Suz): 12. Jeff Wi1Ioh (Suz ): 13. Jeff Pes tan a (Yam) ; 14 . Erick Va ll ejo (Kaw) : 15 . Rya n Huffman (5uz) ; 16. jiri Dostal (Su z): 17. Guy Cooper (KTM); 18. Tyler Evans (Su z): 19. Ryan Duff (H a n ); 20. Ja son McConnick (Hen): 21. Isa ia h Joh nso n (Ka w) : 22. Adrian Robert (Hen). Time: 13 min .• 2.600 sec . Margin of victory: .e St.'C. X)] , 125<, WESTERN REGIONAL SUPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (Afte r 5 of 7 rounds b 1. Joh n Dow d (112/ 2 wi ns); 2. David Yuil lemin (111/ 3 wins); 3. Step hane Roncada (98); 4. Da vid Pingree (84); 5. Nathan Ramsey (73); 6. m E) Michae l Bran des /Greg Sch ne ll (66); 8. Jason McCormick (49); 9. Jeff Willoh (46); 10. Ryan Huffman (43); 11. Travi s Preston (40); 12. Shaun Perolio (33); 13. Danny Smith (30); 14. (TIE) Tyler Evans/liri Dostal (28); 16. Brian Deegan (27) ; 17. Erick Va llejo (26); 18. Jeff Mat iasevich (25 ); 19. Isaiah Johnson (23 ); 20. Chris Wheeler (20 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ma rch 21 Round 7 - Dallas, Texas, April 25 Jason McCormi ck will co ntinue to contest the We st e rn KTM/ Husa be rg's Guy Cooper sho wed upIn San Dieg o and ' Region. -while S mith will join Broc k Sellards in ,the Eastern rode a 125SX that Tom Moen had 'prepared for him. Instea dof Reg ion. -We've opted to move Danny to the Eas t for two rea-' irying to qualify 'for: two' clas ses as he unsucces sfully did 'two' sons, - team 'manager Bobby Moore explained, "First. we think , weeks ago in Phoe nix. the former 125cc National Champion and that he can benefit from it. from gett ing more race s under his belt' Vet-class hero won his aftemoon qUalifier. qualified for the main ' The 1·900 -P RO ·RAC E Holeshot Aw ards went to Jeremy Mc Grath in the 250cc clas s and Team S uzuki"s Rya n HuH · - he's bee n improving with eac h race and we want to keep him . with a s ixth place in,his heal and finished 17th in the main after , m a n in the 125cc class . McG rat h picked up $ 1000 for , his , going -- and secondly. for our sponsors, we want to have two guys running as high as l l th.' "The KTM 125SX is so fun." Cooper ' under the tent.. He almost wasn't eligible .because he was 'in 10th said: "And the AMA said it was okay to race ,the class because efforts. while Huffman' earned $500 for the 125cc holeshol . ' place going into Seattle . but he had a crash and that dropped him I've never ridden an 125cc SX. I plan on going to Bike Wee k. the Greeting the return of Supercross to San Diego' s Qu alcomrn Sta- ' back to 1'1thoHe 's not eligible for points in the' East. so he won't ,.Tarripe S X. the GNCC .·the Alligator Enduro. ,and either the Day- , dium afte r an absence ofa yea r for reconstruction was more be able to' act ually win a championship or anything. It's nol really a ' tona S X or GNCC number twO,lil Macon. Geo rgia. on March 7. rain . turning the San Diego SX Irack into a near carbon copy of major benefit for him other than getting more track time. He' s only And I plan on' racing the Dallas SX. because I co nside r thai a ' -yhometown race." . . ' , '" , the LA Coliseum round five weeks ago. The differences were that ". 17." .the San Diego track was more tight and technical. and the mud was sticky instead of s limy. The rain did bring about ,the cancella- .: WithOut'the luxurY of as~t practice track to jet to and from. where '..Team Primal Impulse/Bill's Pipe s/ S uzuki-backed Robbie Reytion ,of the ,regular 'practice and qualifying sessions. 'willi riders doesTeam Yamaha's Doug Henry practice when he's out on' nard showed up in San Diego; riding a works RM250: to shake ' getting ' 10 minutes of,practice 'on Saturday afternoon. The track the road inhis motorhome with his wife. daughter, doqs and cat? the' cobwebs out before his first East ern Regional'125cc race n ext 'conditions 'proved to be goo d for raCi ng and the rain held out until "It's pretty coo l." Hen ry, said about dnving the circuit. 7We' W wee kend in'l ndianapolis.· "I'm just o ut he re riding a 250 to get . ' ', leave Sunday. and I'll get to practice at Guy Cooper s placein loose for next week." Reynard said. "trying to just get the jitterit was allover - barely. . Oklahoma. Then. when W,re down in Atl nta: I'll look'forward to bugs out and ge t comfortable and see if I can run for 15 laps next E a TeamHond~ ' s Ste ve' La ~son returned to action in,San Diego ' practicing with Yogi (EZra Lus k).- Henry says he knows people in , week, I 'want' to see, how stro'ng' l am. 'If . pretty challenging out 'after missing the firstfour rounds ' due toa broken collarbone.. -I every sta te and' enjoys the variety of practice tracks he ge ts to there: with the,ruts forminq .Jt' s a little b it different out there. but it . feel pretty. good .- Lamson said. "l'rn at about 80 percen t. I've ride. : We just see whe re we ' re going and look for place s to s hould be good. -. Reynard qualified for the main' out of a se mi. but . . . ,. ,. . .. . ". cras hed on the third lap and didn't fin 'ish. . .. been riding pretty hard since last SundaY, so I've had a little' under st op.- . -a week to get ready, ridingwise. I think I'm readyto get out there . I'm going to play it a little mellow si~ce it's my first race back and , jer~;';y Mc G rath' s newfoundconftde nce and s peed may ' Rumors heard laie 'in' ihe ciosing hou~s ';f the San DiegOSX insist get through it.I' m' going ,10 go out ,there and put in a' good peifor- have something to' do with his contidencein his factory VZ250.. 'that defending champ JeH Emlg Will be unveiling his ownprfvate mance . ". Lamson w as ,also pleased with his current bike se tup. .., -We kee p working on the .bike , -, McGrath explained. •J ohn R. tour bus at the next round ' nlndianapolis. The bus will be much e -We had most of our testing done before I got injured. and Ezra's (Rosentiell has been,working with the suspension: We didn't ge t lik 'the one that snowboarder/dmvnhill mountain-biker extraordi- , been doing so me stuffs ince I've been off..and everything's work- ". a lot done thts week because of the weathe r. but I'm in love with naire Shaun f'almer had when he ,qualified for the'125Ccmain',in ' ing great. I'm definilely confident in my bike ..! went out this week my bike right now.. If we go test ing arid it.doesn't get be tte r.: Los Angele s . Ins iders sa y the bus was almost re ady for San ' Diego and will be a place for Emig to -hang out" and get away imd rode it and it feels good." Havi !9,to ride a 'q ualifier to' get into ' , the n we just go right back to what I had. It works fine. - : ! from the confines of the Kawasa ki hauler.. ' the show was so mething that the two-time AMA '125cc National MX Champion didn't really expect. ' 1 wasn't sure if I would have Sebastien Tortelli returned to the 250cc class in San Die9~ to ride a qualifier or, not, being a 'past champion' and all, but I'm after injuring his knee and missing the last tWo rounds. -I think I'm' Team Pro Circuit/Spl itRre/Kawasak i"s JeH Matiasevlch' sat actually okay with ridinga qualifier today to get out there and get back 100 perCent.,· Tortelli sa id, ·"The injury was not that big of a out the San Diego' round due toa cracked kneeCap s us tained in a some riding,in. Normally: I wouldn't want t o ride one : though:- deal and Ijust took 15 days bff.T ve bee n riding withoui much'pain race altercation ,with Stephane Rancadi..in Seattle last' week. He , Lamson won his qualifier. qualified for the main' by getting fourth in .. and I feel good.- Insiders couldn't help drawing comparisons to is expecied to be oUt for fou'r ,to s ixweeks: ' .... .-, " 'ase mi. and eventually firiished 16th. . . the muddy Los ' Angele s Sup ercros s that Tortelli handily won. -The track is not that muddy. It's preity good. Ithink the ground is Wh'i1e ~ost of the 'Southern California ride rs consider itie San ' Yamaha 's John Dowd will make the 't ranSition ffom a VZ125 to' . a little less wet here and more 's ticky, but n's still like a'mud race ;" Dieg'o SX a "homecomlng-,race, Team Kawasaki's Ryan Hugh; a VZ250'when the series ,moves to the Eastern Reg ion next week ' The' difference ' is that Ihis one is a little more tight and tricky. B. t, e s : from very nearby Escondido. had to feel most at home: ' You u ' in lndianapolis ; but he feels he's ready for the, tran.s ition': ' You . thafs okay -,I'll just try to get a good start. Anything can hapPen': , get:tliat extra little sPark:' said Hughes about raCing 20 minutes .have a lot more power to deal with on the 250. so 'you can',t just ' ' ana there are a .lot of othergood riders out there.: Tortelli didn't from ~ome. - My family is here ,l ~Iept in 'my own bed and ale hit thin wide open like'on a 125: Dowd explained.-.- For me; if s get the ,good start he ,had hoped for and ended up 'f7th ,after a . home cooking. If II be a Iittle 'like just going out to the track ,to gs ' .', ' ride .- Hughes ran'a s liig~ as fourth in' the main before ending' up ' not that hard of a transition. I actually" feel more comfortable on a ' slew o(mishaps late in the main. . , . ,' ' " ' 13tt,after some late-race mishaps. ' ' " , , , 250. even though I haven't 'ridden one,yetth!s year.'" Dowd's win ' 'in the 125cc main event ga've him a one-point lead 'over David Th'e' 250SX ol.Team KTM-spon sored rider La rice "s..." ii l was VUillemin" 11 ,2-111. ' ' ,. ' " seen in the pits in San Diego With an SRC (Summers Racing Con- · ' It looks like Wess ,McCoy is still the manager,ot"Team Honda. .; . cep ts )"conventio'nal fork brac e mount ed ju'st above,' the front " but will conduct 'it from Honda's offices :in,Torran'c e, Ca lifornia. ' S ince the' attendance of Scott Sheak at the ,start'of the AMA ' wheel of his works WP 50mmforks . ,-We 've been running the : - He 's still the manage r of the team ;". said Honda's ,Cliff White brace since Seattle .- factory mechimic Tom ,Moen explained. -II' when asked about McCoy's role at this Point. -I'll be in charge at ' "N ational Motocros s Ser ies ·in May is 'i n question . due to his' infured Achilles tendon. Team FMF/ Honda's Danny Smith will . keep s the s tee ring mcire precise in the ruts and when. landing , '. the race s. with Jeff (Stanton) working directly"with the riders." rrombigj umps. Lance says it does s tee r a little heavier, bUt it' s White added that he will handle the "meChanics and machines.- . 'be switched over to the Eastern Regional 125cc class to give the ' . " ,. ' . '. while St,mton will handle the ." ins pirational end oi things. team a two-rider' presence "n that s eries. David Pingree and · still better . _. i . :': '. . . -. . .. .', . . '. . .. . " . .. . .. Briefly.--,----'----'-----'---'-·., '. ' 9

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