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: Unadilla Valley Sports Center tired . M a ybe I need to s ta r t do ing sprints or so me thing." Filli n g o u t th e 125cc pod ium a t Una dilla was Carmichael's SplitFire /Pro Circuit /Kawa saki teamma te Ramsey . Ramsey took th e ho lesho t in moto one before eventually se ttli ng in to fifth. The frie nd ly 24-year-old rider fro m Te nnessee w as able to im prove u pon that n u mber in th e second mot o, fin ishing . fourth, and he was visibly stoked to ea rn his first -ever ou tdoor podium finish. "Th is is my first podium, so it's pretty cool," sa id the 1999 Western Regi on Su percross Champion. "I felt p retty good today. I'm definitely happy to ge t third place, but I still feel like I could have rid den better. I go t reall y good starts an d stay ed up there, but [ d idn 't do an ything spectacular. I just kind of hu ng in ther e and fin ishe d the races. I s till feel like I need to step it u p a little bit if I wa nt to get u p there every weekend." Fourth overall went to Brandes, who, after fi nishing a solid second to Ca r michae l in the first moto, again fou nd himself in the runner-up spot in moto two - a position that had him poised to take the overall win - before falling in a slick left-hand ed turn w hile attem p ti ng to di ve und er early-race lead er Michael Craig. While Bra nd es w as ob viously d isappo inted by what could have been, the Northern California nati ve was still able to ad van ce fro m fif th 10 fo u rt h in the series ' p o int sta nd ings. By Jerry Athey Photos by Kar l Ockert NEW BERUN, NY, JULY 18 8l ~ 00 N -5 ..., 26 hat can one say about Ricky C a r m ic h a el ? The two-tim e and d efendin g Nati onal Motocro ss Champion ha s been in control of th e 1999 AMA /Ma zda Truck s 125cc o u tdoor series since th e sea so n o pe ne r, a nd ro u nd seven, held at the famo us Una d illa Vall ey Spo rts Center, was to b e no d ifferent , as th e Team Spli tFi re /Pro Ci rc uit-backed fa ct o r y Kawasaki rid er flew to the commandi ng o ver all w in in fro nt of 12,186 d ie-h ard racing fans . Whi le Ca rmichael's I-I pe rformance com es as little surp rise, it was th e manner in which the 19-year-old from Havana, Florida , too k the wi n that will forever so lidi fy his position as one of the most d ominant 125cc rid ers in the history of the spo rt . Afte r s ta r tin g the fi rs t moto jus t in sid e the to p five , Ca rm ichae l chased d o wn h is Team SplitFire /Pro Circuit team ma te Natha n Ramsey, takin g over th e lead before th e completion of the fi rs t lap a nd racing to th e moto wi n o ver Tea m P ri ma l Impuls e /Su z u ki / Bill 's Pipes' Mich ael Brand es. But, o n this day, Carmic ha el' s best was still ye t to co me. As th e pack roa re d through t h e sweep ing Unad ill a fi rs t turn to b e g in m o t o two, Ca rmi cha el we n t d own , re-e n terin g th e race a d ista n t 35th. With the fans cheering his every m ove, Ca rmic hae l we n t to w ork , picking off ride rs on virtuall y every sec tio n of the track . By lap eigh t of th e 15-lap rno to, C a rmichael w as nipping a t th e heels of ra ce lead er Jason McCormick o f the Plan et Ho nd a /Pro Grip team . With just four laps to go , Carmichae l d ived u n d e r McC ormick a s t h e pair a pproache d Unadilla's famo us Screw-U (Above) Ricky Cannlchael (1) easily won the first 125cc National moto at Unadilla. In what his mechanic, Chad Watts, said was Cannlchael's best ride ever , Carmichael came from way beh ind to win the second moto as well. (Right) Brock Sellards put In another strong ride, finis hing second overa ll with a 6-3 tally. sect io n, seizi ng th e to p s po t - a posit ion h e wou ld never relin quish. " It w as a r ea ll y good da y ," sai d Ca rmic hae l. "The second moto was just awesome . I seem to stru ggle a littl e bit at th is track; I d on't know why. Eve r since I'vebeen comi ng here, it's bee n a struggle - sliding all over the place an d everyth ing. This year I turned it around and rod e good . I had a really good lim e." Finishing second overa ll for the third time this seaso n was Team FMF/ Honda's Brock Sellards. After sta rting well ou t of the top 10 in m oto one, Sellards charged throug ho u t th e race to fin ish six th. In w hat has become som ew hat·of a tradem ark fo r th e 21 -y ea r-old rid e r fro m Ohio, Sella rd s imp roved upon his first- m ot o score with an impres sive third-place ride in the seco nd ou ting. . " I' m ge tti ng pretty co ns is te n t with th ese second -p lace fini sh es," sa id Sellards. " Ho pe fully, someday I'll ge t a win . I' m a li t tle disap p o in ted in m y s elf, because the first motes -ar en ' t goi ng how I wou ld like them to. It see ms like I keep relying on m y stre ngth and end ur ance to carry me throu gh. The second motos are always good for me becau se everyone else seems to get a little tired . Tha t's not the way [ wa nt to ride, I want to be the fastes t rig h t off the ba t in s tea d of waiti ng around fo r those g u ys to get " It w as definitely a letdown after that » first mot o," sai d Brandes. " I felt lik e I ) should have been in conten tion for th e w in tod ay, espec ially w ith Ricky go ing d o w n . They la id d own q uite a bit of wa ter an d I wen t down m yself durin g th e fi rs t co u p le of laps. Tha t prett y much ended my chances for doing anything good for the day. I made a cou ple . of po int s on Weyand moved back int o ' fou rth. Unfortu nate ly , Ta llo n got h u rt and will probably miss a few rounds, so