Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Opposite page) Team Honda's Kevin Windham stepped it up a notch at the Tampa Supercross. He passed Ezra Lusk, Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath en route to the victory. (Right) Jeremy McGrath, who said he played it safe at Tampa, led for six laps before getting passed by Windham three laps from the end. wanted to go out and ride the best of my ability and have as much fun as 1 can." Lusk, meanwhile, rode his Team Honda CR250 across the finish line in third after putting a late-race pass on Carmichael, who was feeling the effects of not having raced for four weeks after getting hurt at the San Diego Supercross, as well as nursing a new arm injury suffered during a midweek crash while practicing. Rounding out the top five but nearly half a la p down on the leaders was Team Yamaha's Jimmy Button, who .put his thumper into third right off the start but just could not latch on to the lead group. Finishing right on Button's rear fender was Mike LaRocco on the Factory Connection/Jack in the Box/Honda CR250. The one-time series points leader gated poorly and rounded the fir t lap in 12th place, but LaRocco rode hard to salvage sixth. Team Honda's Mickael Pichon finished a distant seventh, while Yamaha's John Dowd, Suzuki's Larry Ward and Kawasaki's Damon Huffman rounded out the top 10. Chaparral/Yamaha's Steve Lamson could not do much with a midpack start and settled for 11th, while World Champion Sebastien Tortelli took the checkered flag in 12th. Tortelli started off well, but the Team Honda rider crashed on the fourth lap, dropped back to 16th and had to work his way back up. West Coast 125cc rider athan Ramsey, on the SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki KX250, scored an impressive 13th in what was his first ride in the 250cc class. Taking the checkered flag next wa Great Lakes Aviation Honda rider Heath Voss, followed by Kawasaki Mexico's Pedro Gonzalez and then Yamaha' privateer rider Billy Binckley, from Woodinville, Washington. The remaining four riders who started the main did not finish; they were Noleen Yamaha's Tim Ferry, Kawasaki's Jeff Emig, and Team Suzuki riders Robbie Reynard and Greg Albertyn. Ferry, a local favorite, pulled out of the race with a tweaked back, while Kawasaki's Jeff Emig was left high and dry with a busted rear axle while running seventh. Reynard called it a night when he uffered a hard get-off while dicing with LaRocco, and Albertyn also threw in the towel after experiencing his fourth crash of the evening. Even though he did not win, McGrath extended his series points lead to eight over LaRocco, 123-115, while Lusk stays close in third with 110 points. Tampa winner Windham now sits in fourth with 84 points. HEATS Lusk breezed to victory in the first 250cc heat race, but he first had to pass Yamaha rider Kenny Yoho, who took the holeshot, before running away from the pack. Behind Lusk, it was LaRocco and Reynard mixing it up over second place, until Reynard finally got around the Honda rider for good. Reynard then set out after Lusk but had no chance of catching the already long-gone Honda rider. LaRocco finished out the race in third, a safe distance ahead of Ramsey, who grabbed the final transfer spot. Pichon retired early to the pits when Ward landed on him over a jump and sheered off his right footpeg. SEMIS The first semi saw four different leaders, and when it was all over, it was Carmichael who was leading at the most important time - at the finish. Canadian Jean-Sebastien Roy led the first two laps before Albertyn got him and started pulling away. The Suzuki rider was way out in front when he crashed all alone. He came up short over the track's toughest triple jump and rode the front wheel for about 15 feet before finally finishing off the endo. It was a brutal crash, but Albertyn got right back up and continued on. Obviously shaken up, however, Albertyn never got back up to speed, and he coasted back to the pits. Dowd inherited the lead when Albertyn crashed, but he had a fast-closing Carmichael to contend with. Carmichael, who had started the race in ninth, latched on to Dowd's rear fender on the last lap and passed him. Dowd tried coming back but came up just short, with Carmichael taking the win. Emig was a distant third, followed by Gonzalez and Tortelli. In the second semi, Pichon scored a wire-to-wire win, while Ward and lamson spent the whole race dicing back and forth for second. Lamson came out on top of that battle, with Ward taking third. Fourth went to Voss, while Lynnwood Yamaha rider Binkley finished fifth, earning a trip to the main. Earlier in the race, on the first lap, Suzuki rider Phil Lawrence and Huffman got together over a double jump :md went down in a heap. Both riders were shaken up and limped back to the pits on their bikes. The last-chance qualifier included two factory riders: Huffman and Albertyn. When the gate dropped, Huffman powered his Kawasaki into the lead, while Albertyn was taken down by a couple of riders in the first turn. Albertyn got right back up, but he was nearly dead last. The former World champ did not give up and started a do-or-die charge to the front. He soon had control of fourth place and with two laps to go passed Suzuki rider Ryan Terlecki for third. Then all that stood between him and the main was Roy. Albertyn didn't waste any time and passed the Canadian just before taking the white flag, and, from there, he went on to finish second and grab the final transfer of the night. MAIN EVENT Finishing one spot out of a qualifying position in fifth was Emig, who battled with Dowd all race long. Other nonqualifiers included Tortelli, Carmichael and Albertyn, all of whom were involved in a first-lap crash. "It's real slick out there," heat-race winner Lusk said. "1 was just trying to be cautious." McGrath came out and won the second heat race, but it wasn't easy. Ferry, who hails from Largo, Rorida, jumped out to an early lead and was determined to pull off a win in front of his home crowd, but McGrath settled into the second-place position and started picking on the Noleen Yamaha rider. McGrath made a couple of attempts to pass Ferry by diving to the inside of the turns and blocking his lines for the jumps, but Ferry maintained his lead and actually pulled out a small lead until stalling his bike in a turn. McGrath and Button rode around Ferry, while Windham, who got off to a sixth-place start, closed in. McGrath inched away from Button for the win, followed by Windham, who got around Ferry late in the race. Finishing one spot out of a transfer in fifth was Lamson, followed by Voss, Binckley, Brian Stone and Ward, who had crashed earlier in a whoop section. "I was trying to get to the inside of Tim (Ferry)," McGrath said of his race. "The track is hard and really slick. U you don't use the right line, you're going to go on your head. You have to ride smart." EI ewhere in the pack, Damon Huffman finished way back after running off the track while running fifth, and Carmichael powered his Chad Wattstuned KX250 into the lead at the start of the main event, followed by Lusk, Button, McGrath, Windham, Emig, Tortelli and Pichon. On the second lap, McGrath launched his Yamaha around Button's thumper, as did Windham a lap later, and then the top four riders detached themselves from the rest of the pack and took off. For the next seven laps, Carmichael, Lusk, McGrath and Windham rode around in single file, seemingly studying eacl1 other's lines for future attacks. McGrath was the first to make a move, as he made a clean pass on Lusk on the ninth lap. Not wanting to let McGrath get away, Windham immediately responded by also getting around his teammate. At this point, Windham was approximately three seconds behind McGrath, who continued the charge that carried him up to Carmichael. At one point, Carmichael had carved out a small lead, but that was now gone. 9

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