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/128000
Motocross Round 5: Budds Creek MX Park MAZDA TRUCKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES ~ § ~ 26 (Top) Ryan Clark (94) gets a good jump at the start of the 125cc National. Kelly Smith (64) led much of the second moto before getting passed by Ricky Carmichael. (Above) Tallon Vohland put his mud-riding experience· learned fr!!m his many years on,the GP circult~ to good use grabbing his f1rat..ver National win. The FMFlHonda rider went 1·3. BOODS CREEK, MD, JUNE 20 -;J hey say "V" is for vi~tory, but on I a rainy, overcast Father s Day In Maryland, victory was spelled V-o"h-I-a-n-d, as FMF/Honda's Tallon Vohland used consistent riding to capture the overall win at a rain-soaked round five of the 1999 AMA/Mazda Trucks National Championship 125cc MX Series, held at Budds Creek MX Park. Vohland, who has been forced to play second fiddle to Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael for all of the outdoor season, put his wet-weather riding skills - honed from years of Grand Prix competition in Europe - to work, sailing around the muddy, puddle-strewn circuit in a flawless display of mud-riding prowess. After starting the first moto in fourth place, Vohland steadily and calmly climbed through the pack, taking over the lead just after the halfway point a:,d charging in for the decisive moto WIn, his second of the outdoor series. In moto two, Vohland started in fifth place before eventually moving past his teammate Brock Sellards and - a few laps later - Team Primal Impulse/Suzuki/ Bill's Pipes' Buddy Antunez to .secure third - and the overall victory. Vohland's win, combined with Carmichael's lackluster sixth-overall finish, was just the break the 27-year-old from Citrus Heights, California, was looking for as the series approaches the halfway point. "I'm very happy," said Vohland. "I was really waiting for this. I was a little bit bummed about last week (Southwick) in the sand - I was really expecting more out of myself and maybe put too much pressure on myself, crashing four times in that first moto. I feel like I'm riding so good right now. 'I just tell myself that.I need to keep my work ethic'strong. It's going to come around for me. This gives me a little bit more momentum, a little bit more motivation. I'm close in the points again, so I'm just going to keep working hard. I'll try to keep my discipline working for me. 1 think that the championship could be mine." Finishing in the runner-up position for the second week in a row was Vohland's FMF/Honda teammate Brock Sellards. Sellards, who has recently put in a string of strong mota finishes, briefly inherited the lead in the first mote>., before being zapped by Vohland just after the halfway mark. Sellards backed up his strong fi'rst-moto p.erformance with a solid fifth in moto two, giving the 21-year-old from New Philadelphia, Ohio, second overall, matching his career-best. I "It's seems like things have gone our way for the last couple of weekends," said Sellards. "All of us (the FMF/Honda team) have been up there. Hopefully, it will continue. Maybe we can get up there 1-2-3 from now on." ! Filling out the podium in third over, all was Antunez. In the first moto, Antunez started just inside the top 10 and rode steadily for a solid fifth-place finish. The 26-year-old rider gated better in moto two, following KTM/FMF/ Thor-backed Kelly Smith through the. first turn for an impressive second-place start before being dropped to fourth at the two-thirds mark by the rapidly advancing title rivals, Carmichael and Vohland. ? '1 feel really good about today," sai~ the three-time National Arenacross Champion. "My Shift/Primal Impulse/ Bill's Pipes' Suzuki really got off the line well. I contribute a lot of it to the starts " I got two good starts. Good starts definitely helped here in the mud." Finishing fourth overall was Team: Yamaha of Troy's Casey Johnson. John-