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/127991
Toyota TrucksfThorlParts Unlimited/AMA Western Regional 125cc Supercross Series Round 6: New Orleans, Louisiana FOHSeCU$ first By Matt Freeman Photos by Karl Ockert NEW ORLEANS, LA, APR. 17 osta Rican flags waved under the lights of the Louisiana Superdome when Yamaha of Troy's Ernesto Fonseca won his fifth 125cc Eastern Regional supercross main. More important than that, though, was the fact that Fonseca clinched the series championship. A fifth-place start in the main event provided for heated race action in the early going for the 16-yearold Costa Rican Champion. Leading up to the halfway point of the IS-lap main event and surrendering to Fonseca was Team Moto Planet/ Yamaha-mounted Robbie Horton. Horton went head to head with Fonseca twice throughou t the night, the first time coming in the second heat race. The young rider from Tennessee finished second to the' new East Coast Champion in the heat as well, but he put up a brave effort in both matches. SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Nick Wey turned a 10th-place start in the main into a podium finish. Wey went from fourth to third in the last two laps with the help of Planet Honda/Pro Grip's Jason McCormick, who was running third him elf until crashing on the white-flag lap. McCormick got up to finish sixth. KTM's Kelly Smith and Tom Morgan Racing/Protei/Triad Yamaha's Jim Nee e also capitalized on McCormick's get-off, finishing fourth and fifth. FMF /Honda /Thor-backed Danny Smith suffered a horrible 15th-place start and worked his way up to seventh by the end of the main. KTM-mounted Joseph Oehlhof, Excel Motorsports/ Yamaha-mounted Jason Thomas and Suzuki-mounted Tyler Evans rounded out the top 10 in the 22-rider main event. C HEATS Last week's main-event winner, FMF /Honda's Brock Sellards, nailed down the holeshot and the win in the first of two 12Scc heats. Filing in behind Sellards at the start was Shift/Primal Impulse/Suzuki's Jiri Dostal, Weyand McCormick. The lead four bikes stayed within close proximity of one another for the entire six-lap heat. "The hea t race, I got a pretty good start, but I just couldn't put anything together," said Wey. "I was riding a little bit tight. I don't know why. 1was just out there trying to make the main, pretty much, and it seemed shorter than I thought it was going to be. 1 was trying to make some passes and it just didn't work out. 1 ended up fourth. I raced a little bit with McCormick and Dostal. All four of us were pretty close. Sellards ended up winning, but it could've been any of us." Dostal held on to second, followed by McCormick, who moved past Wey fo! good after the first lap. Smith rounded out the top five. Earning sixth and seventh were Suzuki riders Robbie Skaggs and Charlie Bogard. Two Wheel Kawasaki/MSR/Oakley-backed Doug Dehaan finished eighth, and Bromley (Left) Ernesto Fonseca raises his fists in victory after taking his fifth 125cc main-event win and the series championship in New Orleans. (Below) Robbie Horton led until getting passed by Fonseca. Suzuki's Barry Carsten grabbed ninth to take the final transfer spot. The heat-two holeshot went to Horton, but Fonseca was quick to claim ti,e lead after exiting the first turn. By lap three, the gap between first and second was rather large, and the gap between second-placed Horton and thiJ:d-placed Evans was just as big, and it remained that way to the finish. Fifth-placed Neese moved up a spot, past Excel Motorsports/Yamahamounted Josh Demuth, on the third lap. The two Yamaha riders used their fourth- and fifth-place spots as tickets to the main. Jason Thomas, Banzai Motorsports/Suzuki-mounted Thomas Hofmaster, Kelly Smith and Kawasakimounted Brian Mason also transferred into the main by rounding out the top nine. LAST-CHANCE QUALIFIER Kawasaki of Missouri-backed Brian Stone, competing in 250cc competition as well, headed to the 12Sec LCQ just as he had done in the 250cc class. Practice made perfect in the starting department for Stone, as he grabbed the 125cc LCQ holeshot ahead of the 22-rider field, all of whom were vying for a top-four finish and a trip to the main. Stone, however, fell off the pace and failed to qualify for either main event. Joseph Oehlhof came away the winner, followed by Suzuki-mounted Kevin Crine, the Team Moto Planet Yamaha of Matt Walker and Yamaha-mounted Ty Wallace. All four lined up to challenge Fonseca in the main. MAIN McCormick wrung out his CR quickly enough to reach the first turn in the lead, followed by Horton, Skaggs, I I] III Demuth, Dostal, Sellards and Fonseca. Kelly Smith, Weyand Danny Smith were even further back in the pack, trying to work their way out of the tricky first section of the track. By lap three, McCormick had worked his way into third, and Fonseca, of course, was already sitting in fourth, hounding second-placed Skaggs. ~ lii Kelly Smith and Wey were also on Q the move. '''The first couple of laps, I was running 11th," said Wey. "1 just kept plugging ~ away and riding my best. I got in a battle 00 with everybody out there. I started 10th N and I moved back because I was trying to .~ get by guys quick, and I ended up (going) Cl: backwards because I was trying so hard." 9 m