Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1999 02 10

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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Round 4: Seattle'Kingdome TOYOTA TRUCKS/THOR/PARTS UNLlWTED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES AMA Western Regional125cc Supercross Series, Round 4: 5eatlIe Kingdome Ramsey ยท right place, right time By Kit Palmer Photos by Frank Happen SEATILE, WA,jAN. 30 t might not have been the most dominating win of all time, but, like all racers, Nathan Ramsey will take 'em however they come, and this one came on a silver platter. handed to ltim by Casey Johnson. Having just spent the last 11 laps of the l5-lap 125cc feature at the Seattle Kingdome watching race leader Johnson disappear around each bend at the end of each traighta.way, Team SplitFire/ Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ramsey was probably getting used 'to the idea of finishing second when he suddenly saw johnson sprawled out on the track. Ramsey accepted the gift and rode on to his second win in as many weeks in the Western Regional l25cc Supercross Series. "He (Johnson) kind of gave it to me, but I was digging in/ Ramsey said. "1 was coming after rum. I was ready to race." Things started off well for Johnson on the Yamaha of Troy YZ125, as he jumped out to the front of the pack and established a solid lead by the second lap. Ramsey, who had gated about fifth, q uickly had' con trol of second by the second lap but had already lost sight of the ltigh-flying Johnson. Inspired by his earlier heat-race win over Johnson, not to mention his mainevent win the previous week in Phoenix, I Ramsey kept ltis Kawasaki pinned but was unable to put a dent in Johnson's approximately five-second lead, wltich Johnson maintained for much of the race. However, approaching the 10-lap point and while maneuvering through heavy, lapped traffic, Ramsey started chipping away at Johnson's lead, though Johnson still seemed to have control of the race - at least until the 11th lap, when a slight'miscue caused rum to go down, costing rum a sure win.. (Above) For the second week In a row, Nathan Ramsey won the 125cc main. (Below) Casey Johnson fell on the 11th lap while leading. He stili finished second. "I cross-rutted coming out of a tum and ran into the back of a lapper," johnson said. "I'm bummed out. Sometimes you're just not supposed to win; I guess tonight I wasn't." Still, Johnson had built up a bigenough lead to hold on to second, wltich now gives rum two wins and two second-place finishes to date. He still has a firm grip on the series points lead. Finishing third in Sea ttle was Primal Impulse/Bill's Pipes/Suzuki's Michael Brandes, who was followed by Boulder Yamaha/FMF's Isaiah Johnson and Yamaha of :rroy's Casey Lytle. Ryan Clark, Chris Wheeler, Travis Preston, Charlie Bogard and Erick Vallejo rounded out the top 10. HEATS 10 Bogard put his Primal Impulse Suzuki into the lead at the start of the first 125cc hea t race and kept it there the whole way. It wasn't until late in the race that Bogard actually felt some heat from a fast-closing Lytle, who had gotten off to a less-than-spectacular start. Running just inside the top 10 after the start, Lytle quickly threaded his way. to the front, settling into second place at the halfway point. From there, Lytle still had some ground to make up, and he closed to wi thin a few bike lengths of Bogard by the last lap. Bogard and Lytle dueled to the finish, with Bogard barely holding on for the win. Finishing a distant tltird after starting off in seventh was Brandes, followed by Wheeler on his Siefert Motorsports Yamaha. It looked as though Casey Johnson

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