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Round 1: Glen Helen Raceway Park 1\1otocross MAZDA TRUCKS AMA NA TlONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES By Matt Freeman Photos by Kinney Jones SAN BERNARDINO, CA, MAY 9 fter spending the last four months behind the handlebars of a KX250 contesting the PACE Supercross series, reigning 125cc National Motocross Champion Ricky Carmichael returned to the outdoor circuit that treated him so well in 1998. Last year at Glen f-!:elen Raceway Park and the year before that, for that matter - Carmichael attacked the mountainous Southern Californian circuit, dominating every moto he entered. This year was no different, as the SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider recorded two moto wins and the points lead after the first of 12 rounds in the series. Finishing econd on the day with two third-place moto finishes was Carmichael's KX125 teammate Nick Wey. Last year at Glen Helen, Wey did no better than eighth overall, via a 9-12 moto tally. His results this year were much improved - from the drop of the starting gate to the final lap, as Wey flogged his eight-liter Kawasaki to the holeshot and to the early lead in both motos. The only other riders that Wey succumbed to, besides Carmichael, were Yamaha of Troy's Casey Johnson in the fir t moto and FMF /Honda's Tallon Vohland in the second. A first-turn pileup in the opening moto left Vohland in the back of the 40rider pack, but the 27-year-old, who has spent the last few years contesting the 250cc World Motocross Championship in Europe, came up to finish an impressive sixth at the conclusion of·the 35minute-plus-two-Iap moto. In moto two, Vohland fared much better, as he circuIa ted the first lapin the top 10. By the fourth lap the CRl25 pilot was in second, behind Carmichael. Lap seven would find Vohland in the lead. "I just worked my way back up to him (Carmichael) and got by him in my better section up there,"'said Vohland about the pass he made on Carmichael in one of the many high-speed straightaways on the track. "I got him there and I just wanted to smooth it out a little bit. Then I washed out in a slick, slippery comer and crashed. It was just a mistake by me. I'm still very happy. I came into today not knowing any of these kids that I'm racing now. I did not know what to expect. I've worked really hard and [knew I would get a good result. Now I know where I'm at and it seems that I've only got one person to really even focus on, if that. I feel my speed is good and I wish the moto was longer. I don't think I will make that mistake again." After the crash, Vohland resumed to finish second in the moto, netting him third overall in the final results. Finishing one spot off the podium and turning in two impressive rides was Primal Impulse/Suzuki/Bill's Pipesbacked Michael Brandes. Suffering from poor starts in both motos, Brandes worked his way through the pack, running down all kinds of talent to finish fourth in moto one and fifth in the sequel. "The first moto, I got a horrifying start," said Brandes. "I was 30th around the first tum. I weaseled through like 15th or 16th over the finish-line jump the first lap. Then I looked up over one of the jumps and I just saw a big, long line of people ahead of me, so I put my head down because I knew that was what I had to do. I charged it out the whole way. I was just going for it and got fourth." Brandes' second moto started the A that made up the top five. By moto's end, Fonseca found himself in seventh after several heated battles with the likes of Sellards, Brandes and Splitfire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Scott Sheak. Traditionally, when the outdoor series starts, Sheak is a threat. Previous results and his riding style fa vor motocross, not supercross. Though a 14th-place fini h and an injured elbow in moto one hurt hi overall results, an impressive ride in the second moto served notice that Sheak cannot be counted out during the long motos of the upcoming summer. A fourth place in moto two was the result of a good tart and aggressive bar-to-bar racing from start to finish. Sheak's first-round effort was good for ninth place. Rounding out the top 10 was the Moto XXX/Suzuki of Travis Preston, who posted a 11-9 moto tally. Eleventh overall went to FMF/Honda-mounted Danny Smith (10-16), followed by Suzuki/Primal Impulse/Bill's Pipes' Buddy Antunez, who finished eighth in the first moto and floundered in the second due to a bad start. SplitFire/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki's athan Ramsey could not repeat the success he had earlier in the year when he captured the 125cc Western Region Supercross crown. Ramsey went 16-12 to fini h 16th overall, ahead of Planet Honda/Pro Grip's Jason McCormick (24-8). The Primal Impulse/Bill's Pipes Suzuki of David same way and ended very similar as w~. • "It's a good season start," continued Brandes about his fourth-place finish. "I'm happy with it. Everything worked good - the bikes - and the team is just working really hard right now." Making a successful comeback from a broken arm that he suffered at the Anaheim II Supercross in the first week of February, Casey Johnson amazed the spectators and his competitors alike by finishing fifth overall at Glen Helen. The Yamaha of Troy rider gated in the top 10 in the opening bout and was running a fairly close second to Carmichael just after the halfway point of the moto. In the second moto, Johnson did not get the start he was looking for, and to make things worse, a crash dashed his hopes of a podium finish. Still, he charged on from the outskirts of the pack to finish 11 th in moto two - good for fifth overall. "It went real good," said Johnson about his return to ra<;ing after a fourmonth layoff. "My conditioning is not all there yet but my speed is slowly coming back. Actually, it's coming back pretty quick. I've only been back on the bike for like three weeks:' Posting his best-ever results at a National Motocross with a sixth-place finish was FMF/Honda's Brock Sellards. The youngster from Ohio rode consistently all day, gating w~ in both outings and posting a 7-6 moto tally. Finishing seventh and eighth on the day was the Yamaha of Troy duo of Casey Lytle and Ernesto Fonseca. Lytle got a great a start in the opening moto, running third at one point before falling back to fi.fth when the checkered flag (Above) For the. third consecutive year in a row, SplitFireJPro ClrcuitlKawasaki's Ricky Carmichael came to Glen Helen Raceway Park and won both 125cc motos. (Right) Nick Wey grabbed both moto holeshots and led until being passed by carmichael. Wey went on to finish 3-3 for second overall. came out. In moto two, Lytle was not as fortunate, working his way up to a 10thplace finish after gating well out of the top 10. Fonseca's starting procedure was the total opposite. As Lytle challenged the leaders in moto one, Fonseca raced from midpack to finish ninth in his first outing. In moto two, however, the newly crowned 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Champion rounded the first few corners in a rapidly moving pack Pingree circled the track lap after lap in the first moto with a brake pedal wrapped around a footpeg due to the first-turn altercation. Still, Pingree finished 12th in the opening moto, but a bad start in the second moto relegated him to 17th, 15th overall. Rounding out the top 20 were Matt Walker (19-14), Stephane Roncada (3613), Rusty Holland (l3-21), Tyler Evans (15-20) and Greg Schn~ (21-15).