Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127978
(Left) Nearly 49,000 spectators filled the Bank One Ballpark stadium in downtown Phoenix. This was the first supercross race held at the venue. (Below) Pichon took runner-up honors for the second time this season. mate Sebastien Tortelli. But Windham found a second wind late in the race and managed to repass the Frenchman. Ditto for Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig, who finished right behind Windham. Tortelli ended up ninth, while Mazda/Chaparral/Yamaha's Steve Lamson, another rider who is still getting used to his new mount, rounded out the top 10. Eleventh went to Yamaha's John Dowd, the rider who inadvertently ran into Lusk early in the race. Dowd also went down in the get-together with the Honda rider and re-entered the race in 13th before finishing 11 tho Team Suzuki's Greg Albertyn had another tough night, starting off in ninth only to crash on the second lap and fall back to 17th. He then started a steady climb that netted him 12th at the end of the race. Team oleen's Tim Ferry couldn't really recover from his 17th-place start and finished 13th, followed by a sore David Vuillemin, who had been shaken up in an earlier heat-race crash. Vuillemin was followed across the finish line by Moto XXX-backed Suzuki pilot Phil Lawrence, Lusk, Team Yamaha's Jimmy Button, Suzuki privateer rider Kyle Lewis, and FMF/Honda's Brock Sellards, whp made it to the main for the second time this series. Plano Honda's Grayson Goodman was 20th. HEATS Emig let it be known right away that he came to Phoenix to race, grabbing the early lead in the first heat race ahead of Ward, Reynard, LaRocco and Pidlon. A few places back came Windham and Tortelli. Goodman was running up front for a while before dropping back. Emig settled in and looked in control, but Reynard was on the move. The young Suzuki rider first worked on his teammate Ward and passed him, and then reeled in Emig. With three laps to go, Reynard made an inside move on Emig and claimed the lead. Reynard then moved out and ran away for the win. Emig held on for second, while Ward finished a distant third. The race for fourth and fifth went down to the wire between LaRocco and Pichon. The two Honda riders traded places a few times, WiUl LaRocco passing Pidlon over the finish-line jump for fourth. Way back in sixth was Windham, followed by Tortelli. Elsewhere in the race, Vuillemin was involved in a first-lap pileup that left him walking off the track with a sore shoulder and a mangled bike. The second heat race featured what many expected would be a prelude to the main event: a McGrath-vs.-Lusk duel. It started out with McGrath powering into the lead, foUowed closely by Lusk. Canadian Jean-Sebastien Roy was third, followed by Dowd, Albertyn, Button and Ferry. Up front, McGrath started to edge away from Lusk while setting a blazing- ly fast pace. Late in the race, Lusk started to close on the leader, but McGrath was up to the task and gained back a few bike lengths before taking the win. Finishing a distant third was Albertyn, who managed to stay clear of a Dowd-Huffman slugfest. Their shootout went down to the wire, with Huffman passing Dowd right at Ule finish. Sixth went to Lamson, who was followed by Great Lakes Aviation's Heath Voss. SEMIS It was a French freight train at the start of the first semi, with Vuillemin, Tortelli and Pichon leading the way off the start. Right behind them was Windham, followed by Ohio's Brock Sellards on the FMF Honda. Vuillemin led the way forp couple of laps until both Tortelli and Pichon slipped by on the same go-around. Then Windham broke the French chain by getting around Vuillemin for third. Pichon made it fairly dose at the end, but Tortelli held on for the win, followed by Pichon, Windham and Vuillemin. FWshing one spot out of a transfer was Sellards. The econd semi turned out to be one of the closest races of the night, with Dowd, Ferry and Phoenix's own Jimmy Button mixing it up for the entire race. The three Yamaha rider traded positions back and forth, with Ferry making the final pass for the lead OR Dowd through the last turn. Ferry took Ule popular win, followed by Dowd, Button and Lamson. Phil Lawrence, who led the first lap of the race, finished fifth. 7