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/128003
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . By Geoff Meyer Photos by Mitch Friedman and Meyer LOS ANGELES, CA, JULY 10 im Ferry rode the last tw o laps of the Los Angeles . Coliseu m Su m merc ross wit h h is heart ra te soaring a nd hi s mind in ta lters. Yet the Cha pa rral Yamaha rider kept it all together to hold off six -time Su percross Cha mpio n Jeremy McGrath to win $20,000 from the to tal $103,000 purse that wa s up for grabs at the ina ugural Summercross race. "I w as rea lly nervous," Ferry sa id. "I w as going th ro u g h the Peri style and was breathing reall y ha rd . I wa s reall y g; nervous." en en en McG rath, who man y w ere pred icting w ould easily pocket th e money, es p eciall y since just abou t all of the top factory rid er s di d not appea r, was in fact . lea d ing the final wi th only two la ps to go w hen he hit a rut in th e track and went d own. "I felt good all nig ht; I didn't even hav e to rid e hard in the pr evious races," McGrath said . "Then, co m ing into the m in e-field section of the course, I got my front wheel stuck in a ru t and fell." McGrath rem ount ed quickly enough to hold o n to second p lace a nd even pulled up to Ferry with severa l corners rem ain ing, o nly to have ano the r mistake cos t him an y last chance at the w in. " I th ough t, 'You better go and get him : " McGrath sa id. "Then I got on to his back whee! and tho ug h t I had him, but anoth er sm a ll mistake too k that chance away." Ferry, who man y were ex pecting to back up his fellow Cha pa rra l team rid er . on the rostrum, instead be came th e win. ner of th e firs t Su mmercross race, a nd Ferry was more than happy wit h that. " W hen ( sa w Jeremy d o wn o n the track, I thought th is is my cha nce to ma ke history," Ferry said. "Any time you can beat Jeremy McGrath, you can feel good about yourself, and to win the first-ever Summercross is special." In the 125cc class, Pr imal Impulse Suzuki's David Pingree scored the win over Yamaha rider Greg Schnell and KTM rider Andy Harrington. In front of a claimed 33,000 spec tato rs , the fir st-ever Summercross race began with an explosion of fireworks and the sou nd of America ' s ational anthem. With a m ix tu r e of 125 and 250cc races, as well as a demonstration by wheel ie king Doug Domokos and a Freestyle exhibition, the 1999 Summercross w as any thi ng but a failu re . Also, wi th a total purse of $103,000, all the riders in a ttenda nce were r u bbi ng th eir hands with expectations. Wh at wa s perhaps a litt le puzzli ng, though, was the noninclu sion of se ve ra l of the top supercross and Nati on al rid e rs . Of co u rse, s u pers ta rs s uch as Sebastien Tortelli, Greg Alberty n, Ezra ~ 20 Tim Ferry put his Mazda/Chaparral Yamaha VZ250 into the winner's circle at the inaugu ral Summercro ss main even t at the Los Angeles Memorial Colise um.