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/127984
What went on behind Ward between Pichon and McGrath for the third spot got ugly at times, e pecially on the white-flag lap, when the two riders swapped paint more than once. The altercation marked the duo's second of the night, as Pichon had pas ed McGrath to win the second heat race earlier in the night. At the end of the main event, Pichon's arms and defensive riding style had held up to grab the final podium position, but neither Pichon nor McGrath was too pleased about what went on in the final few laps. "My arms pumped up after about 12 laps, and after that I wa just trying to save my position and ride defen ive, which is not really good," Pichon said. "When the guys behind you are catching you, it is really hard to concentrate. I wasn't doing so good because I was concentrating on what was behind me and not what was in front of me. They caught me pretty quick. When they got right behind me, it was like two or three laps to go, so I ju t didn't give up. I know Jeremy tried to make a move on me, but I had the inside and I kind of touched him a little bit because I wanted that podium really bad. I worked the whole 19 laps and I didn't want to give up a podium, so 1 didn't give up. He got kind of pissed at me, but that's racing and 1 tried as hard as I could." "By the end of the race, those guys had their tongues in their spokes," McGrath said about his charge from an 11 th-place start. '1 wa coming around Pichon and he couldn't do anything but try and dart me. Twice in one night - 1 mean, how many times do you need to do that? 1 left him plenty of room and he just up and rails me. Overall, it was good because of the points, but it wa shitty because guys were banging me around out there." In terms of points, it was an excellent night for McGrath. The defending champion pulled ahead with a 27-point lead over Factory Connection/Jack in the Box/Honda's Mike LaRocco, who finished a distant 12th. LaRocco, the series' early points leader, had his hopes of a top finish end on lap nine when Team Honda hopeful Ezra Lusk experienced a horrible crash in which LaRocco got hung up. The crash took the wind out of both riders' sails, ending Lusk's night completely. Still, Lusk sits third in points with 131 to LaRocco's 139. Lusk was not the only rider to suffer poor results due to a crash. Team Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael got off twice in the main event, once on lap four dropping back from fourth to 15th and again on lap five dropping out of the race completely. Although Lusk and Carmichael's crashes looked bad, both rider were up lim ping around the pits after the race, no doubt looking forward to round 10 in Daytona. Carmichael's teammate Jeff Emig fell victim to a first-tum get-off, leaving the one-time series champion in dead last on the last lap. Emig soldiered through the rest of the main event, finishing 14th and grabbing any series points possible. Finishing fifth behind McGrath in the main was Yamaha's John Dowd, who held second place behind Windham for the first four la ps. Dowd came close to thrOWing a wrench in the Pichon/ McGrath battle on the final few laps, but he just could not get more than a front wheel in, probably for the better. Suzuki' Greg Albertyn followed Dowd across the finish line to claim a distant sixth. Noleen Motorsport-backed Tim Ferry, Mazda /Chaparral- Yamaha's Steve Lamson, Honda's Sebastien (Left) Ricky Carmichael (9) remounts his bike after crashing for the first time in the main as Damon Huffman (31) passes his Kawasaki teammate. Carmichael crashed a lap later and headed to the pits, calling it a night as Huffman went on to finish 11th. (Below, left to right) Pichon, Windham, and Ward accept their rewards in front of the Dallas fans. Tottelli and Suzuki's Robbie Reynard rounded out the top 10, respectively. HEATS Both heat races were by far the closest fought in the series thus far. In the first heat, Emig got the holeshot that he has been looking for all year. Behind him were· Albertyn, Dowd, Lam on, Heath Vo s and the entire Honda team minus Pichon, who was slated for heat two. After exiting the first turn, Sebastien Tortelli was allover Ernig' rear wheel. On the third lap of the eight-lap race, however, Emig went down in a turp, allowing Albertyn to shoot past Tortelli and move into the lead. Emig resumed his race in fifth place, but not before letting Tortelli, Windham and Lusk by as well. Tortelli and Albertyn went back and forth for the lead, as Windham, Lusk, Emig, Dowd and Lamson all fought rather closely for third place. Emig eventually gave way to Lamson but held off Dowd, who ultimately finished sixth, two places out of a transfer spot. As former 250cc World Motocross champion Albertyn and current World Champion Tortelli banged around the track, Windham and Lusk sneaked up behind the lead duo and in one fell swoop on lap four, all passed Albertyn when he bobbled in a set of small double . [fhe sea of red did not last lon~, as AlbertYn got Lusk back to claim third, but the damage was already done. Windham went around TorteIli just before the white flag came out and went on to claim his first win of the night. Torte.lli filed through in second, followed by Albertyn. After being passed by Albertyn, Lusk found himself in a heated battled with Emig and Lamson· for the final transfer spot. The three riders swapped fourth place back and forth several times before Lusk could edge them out, putting himself in the main. In heat two, Planet Honda/Pro Grip's Jean-Sebastien Roy rocketed his way to the first turn in the lead followed by Ward, McGrath, Tim Ferry, Pichon, Damon Huffman and Carmichael. Before the race was a lap old, McGrath shot around Roy and Ward to take the lead. Pichon moved into the runner-up spot on the second lap when he too went around Roy and Ward. As McGrath and Pichon began to check out, Roy rather quickly fell back to ixth, behind fourth-placed Ferry and fifth-placed Carmichael. Ward was the next to fall victim to the hard-charging Ferry and Carmichael, as the two Floridians went by the veteran when the lick track got the best of him. "1 slid out in a corner, and then little Ricky (Carmichael) got around me," Ward said. '1 hate it when he passes me. He's my good friend, but he' too young to be passing me already." Meanwhile, McGrath was having problems getting rid of Pichon. Just before the white-flag lap, Pichon pulled up beside McGrath. As the two riders made contact in a turn, Pichon went by to take the lead. McGrath retaliated with great rage but could not regain the lead. Pichon took the checkered flag, setting the stage for the knock-down battle that would later break out in the main event. While McGrath and Pichon were fighting for the lead, Carmichael passed Ferry to claim third place when Ferry's front end washed out in a turn. Ward also went back around Ferry, grabbing fourth place and the final transfer spot. The crash moved Ferry back to eighth, behind Damon Huffman, Robbie Reynard and Roy, all of whom were headed for the semis. SEMIS Honda-mounted Heath Voss grabbed the holeshot in the first emi. Behind Voss wa the hard-charging pack of Lamson, Dowd, Emig, Phil Lawrence and LaRocco, who got hung up in the gate during his heat race. Voss and Lamson bumped elbows veral times before Lamson finally pa sed Voss on the start straightaway just before the midway point of the six-lap jaunt. £mig worked his way around Dowd at about the same time that Lam on grabbed the lead. From the first tum on, LaRocco was trying to pass Mota XXX/Suzuki's Lawrence, and he did so when Lawrence high-sided in a turn and also lost a spot to Kawasaki of Mexico's Pedro Gonzalez. While rUllning in second behind Lamson, Voss got out of control irl the whoops and found himself stuck in the blocks that line the outside of the track. As a result, Dowd ra.n into the back of Voss, allowing Emig to go by Dowd to claim the third spot. Voss somehow managed to get back on track without crashing, but, as Lamson took the checkered flag, Emig passed Voss just before the finish-line jump to claim second. Voss finished a close third, followed by ,. ~ Ii I IIiii ~ " ~ ... Q • ! ~ o ~ 9