Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Braet (Suz); 15. Travis Trieb (Yam); 16. Shaw Dunkel (Yam); 17. Todd Dehoop (Yam); 18. Phil Lawrence (Suz); 19. Joseph OehIof (KIM); 20. Brian Stone (Kaw); 21. Jim Neese (Yam); 22. Jasco Frenette (Yam). Time: 5 min., 5.720 sec. 250 MAIN (20 laps): 1. Jeremy McGrath (Yam); 2. Mike LaRocco (Han); 3. Mickael Pichon (Han); 4. Damon Huffman (Kaw); 5. Ezra Lusk (Han); 6. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 7. Robbie Reynard (Suz); 8. Jimmy Button (Yam); 9. Larry Ward (Suz); 10. Sebastien Tortelli (Han); 11. Steve Lamson (Yam); 12. Nathan Ramsey (Kaw); 13. Heath Voss Gioo); 14. 'Greg Albertyn (Suz); 15. Jean·Sebastien Roy (Han); 16. Pedro Gonzalez' (Kaw); 17. Grayson Goodman (Han); 18. Timmy.Ferry (Yam); 19.Jsaiah Johnson (Yam); 20. TylerEwlfls (Sux). Time: 16 min., 16.770 sec. Margin of victory: Ii.DOl sec. 250ccTOYOTA TRUCKSrrnORIPARTS UNLIMITEDI AMA U.s. SUPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 11 of 16 rounds): 1. Jeremy McGrath (266/6 wins); 2. Mike-laRocco (216); 3. (TlE) Mickael Pichon/Larry Ward 084/1); 5. Ezra uusk <179/3); 6. Kevin Windham (166/2); 7. Damon Huffman (1S3); 8. Sebastien TortelU (134); 9. (TIE) Greg A1bertyn/John Dowd (117); 11. Steve Lamson (115); 12. Timmy Ferry (02); 13. JeFf E01ig (96); 14. Jimmy ~utton (88); 15. Robbie Reynard (87); 16. R;cky Carmichael (SO); 17. Heath Voss (63); 18. David Vuillemin (62); 19. Jean· Sebastien Roy (44); 20. Phil Lilwrence (39). Upcoming Rounds: Round 12 - Pontiac, Michigan, April 10 Rou'nd 1,'3 - New Orleans, LA, April 17 , AMA Eastern Regional 125cc SX series Round 4: Trans World Dome Fonsecas knockout By Henny Ray Abrams Photos by Karl Ockert ST. LOUIS, MO, MAR. 27 or the fourth race in a row, Yamaha of Troy's Ernesto Fonseca delivered a knockout punch to the 125cc Eastern Regional class, but how he did it was what both ' impressed and angered a few people. The Costa Rican champion went down in a pile in the first turn, remounting to finish the first lap in 15th of 22 riders. His progress through the pack was relentless, and in time it became clear that he had a shot at the win. For the final two laps, the only rider standing in his way was KTM's Kelly Smith, who led the entire race. On the last lap, Fonseca was on him, chasing him through the first few turns before making his decisive and controversial move along the north-end jumps. All night long, Fonseca had taken the three jumps at the north end of the stadium as a triple, with everyone else making it a double and a single. On the final lap, Fonseca nailed the triple, but landed on Smith, who had gone the conventional route. Fonseca's bike appeared to hit the left side of Smith, jerking the handle-· bars out of his hand and sending him to the ground. Fonseca completed the race slowly, then stopped as Smith, who was on the ground for some time, approached him after the race, trying to push him over. When they got to the podium area, Smith continued his tirade, getting into a scuffle with Fonseca's mechanic, Kenny Germain, among others, before they were separated. "Kind of like a little bad thing at the end," Fonseca said. "It wasn't my fault. We both jumped and kind of like, 1 think, moved a little bit in the air and I hit him a little bit on the side. It's not like I did it on purpose or nothing. It's part of racing and hopefully it'll never happen again. It's nothing that I go out there and try to do. 1 was trying to be nice and we all are friends here, and we're not here to (ight. It's all right. Hopefully it ends here." Smith wasn't as forgiving, though he had little to say. "What can I say?" he said to the sta- F (Above) KTM's Kelley Smith led 14 and a half laps in the 125cc main, then was rearended by Fonseca and got bumped back to 14th. Needless to say, he was not happy with Fonseca. (Ri.ght) Suzuki's Jiri Dostal made the 125cc podium· with a third-place finish. dium announcer. "Some people don't have respect for others, but hey, it'll come some day. I'll be the one that blasts off next time." The end result was that Fonseca's season remained perfect, this being the most impressive of his four wins, by far. '1 crashed on the start and picked my bike up and started going," the 17-yearold Fonseca said. "Lot of traffic and it took me a little bit to get going to see a clear track. There were a lot of riders out there. Rode a good race. I think 1 played it smart and I'm glad everything came up good. At the end 1 had a little more clear track - just went for the three (the triple jump, which was where he hit Smith)." Second went to ProteI/Triad Yamaha's Jim Neese, who'd hung with the leaders the whole race and earned his best supercross finish ever. "It felt awesome," Neese said. "1 knew they were going to get me on tlle triple. 1 just didn't get through the whoops good enough to get over it. 1 knew that's where I was going to be losing time. 1 was going to make it up everywhere else. 1 haven't had a good year so far and 1 was just ready tQ come out there and have a little break, show everybody what 1 can do. I rode my 250 today for extra track time. 1 think it worked. 1 felt awesome. 1 like standing up here and 1 want to be up here again." Shift/Primal Impulse's Jiri Dostal took third, the same spot he held on the first lap. "1 got a good start, 1 got out there quick, and those guys were pulling me at first, and ,they had a good pace going," Dostal said. "1 was pretty stoked to be back there, and it was the best ride 1had for a while." SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Nicholas Wey was fourth after a stumbling start; then came Joseph Oehlof on the AM Leonard KRW KTM. Fonseca's perfect season gives him 100 points - three more than Team Moto Planet Robbie Horton, who was sixth tonight. Wey is· third at 65, with Stephane Roncada, Fonseca's sidelined teammate, fourth at 64. HEATS The night's racing began with 125cc heat one, a two-rider spat between FMF's Brock Sellards and Kelly Smith. Sellards got the jump, but Smith was the aggressor and was soon out front. The pair left third behind. At the end of the third lap, Sellards closed right up on Smith, the pair racing side by side on the next lap, with Sellards taking the lead on the east-side jumps, punctuating the spot with an acrobatic move that thrilled the crowd. After that, he wasn't headed, though Smith stayed with him and FMF's Danny Smith made a late move to close up. "I· experienced some bogging in the motor," Sellards said. "We'll get it handled in the main event. We'll get it all dialed. I was a little scared to do the triple at first and I was losing time. Once 1 got confident, 1. started jumping it." F&S Suzuki's Matt Shue and Tyler Evans were strung out behind in fourth and fifth. Fonseca got a jump on the second heat, escaping a pileup that claimed four riders. But he wasn't out of trouble yet. Two turns later, he got together with Wey'. Wey went down, with his bike hooking Fonseca's and being dragged briefly down the track. Once free, Fonseca had to run down Dostal, whom he had passed early on the second lap. Neese was second from the second , lap on, with Dostal. slotting into third. It would turn out to be the same finishing order as the final. Fonseca didn't have much to say, except that he found the sand section tricky and that he expected a. showdown with first heat-race winner Sellards in the final. Suzuki Sport's Jacob Martin was '" '" '" ~ 9

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