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/128004
Motocross Round 7: U nadillaValle Sports Center . .. ' 3-1, giving LaRocco the ha rd -fough t overa ll win and putting him right back into the 1999 series points chase. "I fe lt good going in to the race," laRocco said . "I had a real different attitud e - a little more ready-to-win . Things we nt my way because of that. I just had to di g deep - at this poin t of the series, if 1 d id n ' t sta rt making thi ngs happen, ii would be over." Desp ite just missing out on the overall win, Albertyn was perhaps the happiest rid er of th e d ay , leav ing the Unadilla r ou n d of th e . AMA M a zd a T ruck s National MX 250cc Seri es as the new series points leader. " It wa s just an all-arou nd good da y for me," Albertyn said . "I'v e been work: ing extremely, extreme ly ha rd for this. I just had to keep pushing. It was on the edge - Mik e was goi ng well, the track was really gna rly - it was so easy to be on the ed ge." Albertyn over took To rtell i in th e points race with five ro u nds left in the series and now enjoys a 21-point cushion over Tortelli and Kevin Wind ham, who are currently tied for second place. But that won 't last for long, because Tortelli will most likely be forced to sit out the rest of the season with a badl y d islocated wris t, wi th possible fractu res, that he su ffered in a second -mo ta get-off. After coming from behind and finishing second in the first mota , Tortelli was again mak in g his way to the fron t and had just pui himself in a good posi tion to claim his second overall win of the season w hen things suddenly wen t ba d : Tortelli ta ngl ed w it h Yamaha's Dou g Henry whil e making a move for second place on th e second lap. To rtell i w ent d own hard, man gli ng th e wrist. Initial re po rts have it tha t Tortelli w ill most likely miss the rest of the season bu t is still hoping to be read y for the 250cc U.S. I GP at Budd s Creek on sep tember 12. "We took him (Tortel1i) to the hos pital," said the Wor ld cham p's team manage r at Hond a, Cliff Wh ite. "It (the wrist) By Kit Palmer Photos by Karl Ocke rt NEW B 'J, NY, JULY 18 ERLL ho would ha ve though t fou r years ago th at Mike LaRocco wou ld not score h is n e xt National mota victory un til jul y 18, 1999? As strange as it may seem, that 's exactly what happened, as the form er 250cc and 500cc National MX Champion pull ed off " his firs t 250cc ou tdoor mot o win since !IIi 1995 (Millville), and his first 250cc overall :Iii win si nce 1996 (Wa s hougal) A nd hOe ~ didn't just luck in to it, either. No way. iii On a hot and humid day, in front of hI more than 12,000 spect ators at th e :::I famous Unadilla track near Utica , New ~ York, laRocco pr evailed followin g som e :iii of the closest and most exciting Nati onal " MX racing seen in a long, long time. ., LaRocco, on the Factory Connection /jack en in the Box Honda, scored a nail-bitin g g: first-m ot a win over Sebastien Tortelli :- th e 1998 250cc World Champion - and N Greg Alberty n - a thr ee-time World MX ~ champion. In the second mot a, how ever, -, laRocco finished second to Albertyn, but 22 Lak occo's 1-2 was superior to Albertyn's (Above) Mike laRocco worked hard for his first 250cc overa ll National win s ince 1996. He scored a thrilling win in the first moto at Unadilla, and a second place in the second moto was enough to sew up the overall. (Right) Greg Albertyn rode aggressively in both motos, going 3-1 for second overall. He's now the new series points leader.