Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 6: Red Bud Track 'N' Trail AMAlMAZDA TRUCKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES (left) Mich igan 's own Nick Wey (23), Ernesto Fonseca (100) and Ricky Carmichael (1) lead t he way at the start of the first 12Scc National moto at Red Bud. (Below) Carmichael fared better In the Mich igan heat than he did In the Mary land mud at the prev ious Natio nal. The defend ing 125cc champ dom inated bo th motos fo r his fifth overall vic to ry of the year. By Davey Coombs Photos by Kinney Jones ~ .., 14 BUCHANAN,MI, JULY4 , ou have to give defending twotim e 125cc Nationa l Cha mpion Ricky Carmichael cred it: Wh en he does lose a race - as he recently did in the mud of Ma ryland - it doesn ' t take h im lo ng to get back into the wi nne r's circle. The 19-year-o ld Kawasaki rider from Ha vana, Florida, ave nged his only defeat of the 1999 AMA / Mazda Trucks Na tional MX Champions hip 125cc MX Series two weeks ago by com p le te ly d ominating the sixth-round actio n at the s mo lderi ng-hot Red Bud Na tiona ls in Michigan. Rid ing as if he had a lit fuse u nder him tha t might go off if he slowed down even for one moment, Carmichael domi nated the Fourth-of-July action wit h tw o runaway moto wi ns on the Chad Wattstuned Kawasaki KXI25. In both motos, Ca rmicha el wa tched ot he r rid ers grab th e h ol esh ot o n t he r ou gh Red Bud track, but before the' first lap wa s complete eac h tim e out , the champ was in the lead and running away . He finish ed more than 20 seconds clear of ru nner-up Tallon Voh lan d each time ou t to reaffirm his con tro l over the class and the series. "I ju st had a good day an d enjoyed myself out there, and when I do that, it usua lly works ou t pret ty well," sai d the Fox I Sp li tFir e I Pro -Ci rcu i t I Oak ley I Alpi nes ta rs-ba cke d Kawasaki fact or y rid er. "It was really hot and th e track wa s pretty tou gh, so I u sed my head and ro de sma rt. I d idn 't ha ve a very good race la s t ti me (22- 1 a t Bud ds Creek) and I really wa nted to come out here an d get back on top . The last time I had a really bad race, I wo n six Na tionals after that, so if I can ge t back on that kind of strea k, it wi ll be a great summer from here on ou t no matter how hot it gets." As 'for Tea m FMF/ Ho nda's Vohlan d , t h e ve te ra n rid er co nti n ues to b e the o n ly rider th at can keep Carmichael in sight, let alone cha llen ge him for a win. In his firs t v is it to Red Bud since he left for the Grand Prix circuits of Euro pe in 1991, Vohland wa s impressive on the number-711 Honda C R125, r is in g up fr om dece n t s ta r ts ea ch tim e ou t to second, bu t he wa s no match for the onform Carmic hael. "What can I say? Ricky didn't make a mistake today , and when that ha ppens, he' s ve ry tou gh to b ea t, " sa id Voh la n d . "R icky is in grea t s hape - a nyone can see th a t. I can beat most of the other guys wit hou t a problem, but now it' s ge tting to the poin t where I need to pick up the pace here in the seco nd half of the season and get after Ricky a little more. I'm in this for the championship, and I'm less than a moto down, so I still feel goo d abo u t how I' m doing at this point of the series. But I can ' t be disappoin ted with tod ay, because I rod e 100 p ercent ou t there, and when you do that, you can ' t be d isappointed in yourself. I will keep working hard , doing more train ing, and pick it up eve n mo re." Third ov erall went to Carmicha el' s SplitFire /Pro-Circuit Kawasaki teamm ate N ick We y , who was born a nd ra ised just up the road in DeWitt, Michi- ga n. Wey must ered a 6-3 tall y for his fi rs t-ever p odiu m fini s h a t w h a t is es s en ti all y h is ho m e track . H e a lso delighted the crowd in the second moto w he n h e s n agged th e THQ ho leshot from the far insid e ga te and briefly led Carm ichael aro und the Red Bud track. " It feels so grea t to come her e and get a good fini sh, es p ecia lly af ter havin g su ch a lou sy d ay her e last year," said Wey. "I' m trying to im prove with each race and pick up some points and so me positions in the stand ings. Today was a go od d a y for m e beca use I' m u p to fou rth now and ca n s ta rt working on thir d . I was just stoked to rid e ou t there tod ay with all of the peopl e cheering me on like they d id ." Fou rth overall we nt to the surprising Ste p ha ne Ron ca d a of th e Yamaha of Troy squad. The finish wa s surprisi ng in the sense that the Fre nchm an has been struggling wit h injuries and conditio nin g a ll ye a r lon g , a nd th e rou gh Red Bud track , combined wit h the heat and hu midi ty, wer e not the ideal con d itions to start ge tting it togeth er. uI guess it is a surprise, yes, but I've been working very hard to ge t back up there and I th in k I wi ll d o even better now ," said Roncad a. "I have carpal-tunnel syndrome an d that has been caus ing me a lot of trouble, but I keep tra ining and riding as best as I can to at least ge t some good finish es bef ore this seaso n is over."

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