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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127957
MOTOCROSS F-- - - -- - - - - -~i ~~::fe~J:H~~NSHIP } Round 10: Spring Creek Mofocross Park 1 M SERIES 25cc X Ricky Carmichael leaps off Spring Creek 's huge downhill do ub le jump en route to his eight h wi n of the season . By Dave Deringer Photos by Kinney Jones '0 R " 8 ~ ~ ,"'ILLVIU E, MN, AUG. 16 ometimes luck - whe ther it be good or bad - play s an im po rtant role in racing, and o nce again a littl e bit of good lu ck fe ll in to the hand s of Sp lit Fire / Pro Circu it / Axo /Kawa sa ki ' s Ricky Carm ich a el - but a lot ()f u re speed a nd de term ina tion didn't hurt him, either. After finishing second in the first moto , Carmichael recovered and put tog ether an al most perfect seco ndmoto ride to take his sixth straight 125cc I a tio na l wi n, which also marked his eig th of the yea r. A nasty crash wh ile performi ng aerial tr icks on the last la p in moto tw o, ho wever, could have ruined wh at ended up bei ng a go od day for Carmich ael. But, w it h an IS-second a d van tag e on . eco n d p la ce , Carm icha e l w a s lu ck y enoug h no t to ge t inju red in the highspeed get-off but inst ead p ick himself up to w in the race with a still comfortabl e cushion on seco nd place. "I jus t landed and it spit me off," said ' a r m ich ae l o f hi s la st-lap bail. " I' m going to take it easy these next two weeks and hopefully wrap it up at Bingham ton." A di sastrou s s ta r t for Robbi e Revnard in moto two was Carmichael's second stro ke of go od lu ck. After flat out smoking everyo ne in the first moto, the Primal Impulse /Suzuki / Answer -backed rid er missed a shift coming ou t of the gate in moto two and was second to last roundin g turn one. After th re ad in g through the pack, Reyn ard caught up to th ird pl ace, which m ade fo r s eco nd overall on the day. " I jus t w ant to fin ish off th is year good and ge t as ma ny w ins as I can ," the ca lm Reyn a rd ex pla ine d fro m th e shade of a tree while watching the second 250cc moto. "I wa nt to win an ove r. all before it' s over. I'm strong and rea l ha ppy wit h my bike, and I'm comfortable, and confidence makes a big di fference." Finishing thir d on the day was Tea m Ya rna ha / Fox / Brid gestone-su ppor ted John Dowd. Severe arm pump in moto one kept Dowd in fifth for most of the moto before he passed Team No lee n's Tim Ferry for fourth wit h thr ee laps to go. A great start in the second moto was all Dowd nee ded to stay up fron t and, aft er Carmichael pulled awa y, Dowd rode alone in second the entire race. "I was jus t rid in g a lit tle ten se ou t there toda y; u sually I like this track, but I d id n' t feel that comfo rtable all day, " Dowd said. "I had a tough time making pass es in that firs t moto, and it wore me out a bit." Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit / I-SOD-COLLEC T / Ka w a s a k i' s Casey Johnson put in a no ther solid outing for fourth over all. Johnson, who has finish ed in th e top five for the last s e v e n rounds, is s h o w ing th a t he ha s w hat it takes to ru n w ith the boy s. A q uiet th ir d an d fi fth on th e d a y. hold s the Californian co m fo rta bly third in the point s. Fifth ove rall on the day went to Ho nda of Tr o v / Sin is a lo/ O a kley '; Mi ke Brown . A fall w hile ru nning up front in the first mot o made for a seven th- place finish , but Brown cam e back to finish fourth in the seco nd moto to sa ve his da y. Sixth on th e d a y w ent to Brown ' s Ho nda of Troy teammat e Stephane Ron cada . Cha pa rra l Yam ah a's Jimmy Button took seve nth overall and top pri vateer honors with S-6 mot o scores. "I' m rid ing good right now - it's just bad starts," Button said of his so-so day. "You can' t start ou t too far behind , especially with those guy s up front." Spli tFi re / Pro Cir cu it /Ka w asaki 's Nathan Ramsey took eighth, and ninth went to FMF/ Hond a-backed Brock Sellards. Roundi ng out the top 10 was Mot o XXX /Pro Grip's Paul Cu rrie, w ho also took runner-up pri vateer honors. Wit h two rou n ds a nd fo u r m o tos rema in ing, Ca rmic hael has a 62-poin t ad va n tage o ve r Dowd , 45 4-392. Ca rm ichael can clinch his second .125cc Na tio nal title at Broome-Tioga in tw o weeks if things go his way. Dowd needs luck to fall into his hands at the last tw o ro unds if he p lans on wrapping up his first outdoo r title. Johnso n, as stated earlier , sits in thi rd wi th 332. Brown is in fourth with 290 and the recent hot s treak of Reynard has the Oklahoman only six point s back in fifth with 284. - -- -_ MOTO ONE . Carm ichael nailed the ga te perfectly and was lead ing into the first turn with teamm at e Jo h ns o n , No lee n / T hor/ Yamaha' s Tim Ferry , Honda Research and Developm ent' s Christo pher Gosselaa r, and Revnard close beh ind . Revnard- m oved in to th ird behind Carmichael and Jo hnson as they we nt through the famous Millville sand-wash whoop section for the first time . Brown and Dowd w ere in eighth and ninth , wi th Button even farther back. Reynard w as on the move and was int o second before the middle of the first lap . The tw o rod e together in unison for a no th er lap be fore Reynard mad e his move by Carmichael in the rou gh sand wash. Johns on w a s s ti ll running third , while Brown w as picking himself up after a fall while running four th . Ferry and Dowd took advantage and moved in to fourth and fifth. Reynard bega n to dista nce himself from Carmich a el up front , whi le Carmichael was already a good eight seconds ahead of third at the lO-minute ma rk. . A t th e halfway p o int of th e 30 minute-plu s-tw o-lap mot o, Ca rmich ael bega n to close in on Reynard and looked to b e r ea d y to s tr ike bac k . Joh nso n, Dowd a nd Fe rry were so me d is tance back, in tha t order. . Ca rm ichael pulled al ongsid e Reynard as they began lap seven, but Reynard picked up the pace a tad and slowly pulled awa y aga in. For the next few laps, Carmicha el rod e amazi ng ly fast as always -.but he see med to se ttle for second, as Reynard was di stan cing his lead even mor e. Wit h three lap s remaining, Reyn ard and Carmicha el wer e gone, while Johnson was alon e in third . Dowd made his move by Ferry for fourt h as the two-lap board came out. At the fini sh, it was Reynard who took his third moto win of the vear, follow ed by Carmichael. joh nson finished a lonely third , while Dowd a nd Ferry cross ed in four th and fifth. Reyn ard was ha ppy with hiS ",'in but was a little exhausted . "O nce I go t out fron t, I rod e a little cau tious and sta rted hold ing my br eath and wa sn't conce n tm ting on ridi ng - '1 was thinking about Ricky. 1 finally settle d d own p a st h a lfw a y a n d pull ed som e d istan ce." "I rode well but he rod e better ," said Carmichael o f his second-p lace fin ish. "I'm go ing to save some for the second mota." "I wa nted to run wit h those guys, but they kind of los t me at the beginning," Johnson said of his strong th ird-place