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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128010
Round 11: Broome-T Sports C ioga enter MAlMAZDA TRUCKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES (Left) SplitFirel Pro Circuit/1-80oCollect/Foxbacked Ricky Carmichael wrapped up his third consecutive 125cc National M otocross Champions hip by posting two moto wins. (Below) Tys on Vohland was bac k to his old se lf at the Broome- .. Tioga Sports Center, finishing second overall on his FMF/Honda CR125 with a 2-3 moto tally. Vohland trails teammate Brock Sellards in the point race by 27 points . By Dave Dering er Photos by Karl Ockert BINGHAMTON, NY, AUG 29 o @ en ~ :f ~ 1l ~ n a beauti ful day in front o f 16,000 specta tors, 19-year-old Florid ian Ricky Carmichael di d exactly w ha t he wanted to d o for the d ay, wi n both motos and wrap up the 1999 125cc Na tiona l Champio ns hip . Aboard a Chad Watts-tuned SplitFire / Pro Circuit /I-800-Collec t /Fox-backed fac tory Kawasaki KX125, Carmichael ro de to a perfect 1-1 moto score enroute to his eighth overall victory of the year and his third consecutive 125cc National Championship title a t round 11 of the Mazda Trucks 125cc National Motocros s series at Broome-Tioga . Carm ichael became only the fourth rider in history to win three consecu tive 125cc titles joini ng Mark Barnett, Broc Glover and Ton y Distefa no in the history boo ks . Wit h t h e overa ll win , h e moved to jus t one wi n sho rt of tying Barn ett 's all-time win recor d of 25 overall wins . Ca rmichael will be looking to tie tha t record next week at Steel City . " I 'm happy," Carmic hae l said of another record day . "I've ha d a great 125cc career with Kawasaki and it 's a bumme r that I couldn' t break Mark Barnet t's record . He actua lly called me this week and sai d tha t he wou ld have been bu m med if I b ea t h im but he wou ld have bee n ha ppy to see me right next to hi m." When as ked if this was the best feeling of his career, Carmichael ha d a su rp risi ng rep ly . "Actua lly , th efi rs t cha m pio nship was th e best because it wasn' t really expected, but don 't ge t me wrong, I'm pumped ." Onl y needi ng thr ee points on the da y to w r a p up th e cha m pi on s h ip, ~ ~~~~~~:n~mr~~:~eh~\~~~~~~:r~~~ 14 plate from the AMA 's Duke Finch in the winners circle. The ha ppy bu t not completely satisfie d Ca rmichael came ou t sw ingi ng again in th e seco n d mo to , grabbing the ear ly lea d a nd checking out for the win. "I'm glad I go t the cha mpionship ou t of th e way in th e fir st m oto, " Carmic hael said at the end of the day. "That way I we n t into the seco nd moto just wan ting to win the race and take the ove rall. I'm really pum ped on the championship, but I'm actually more happy that I won the ove rall. Lately my starts have been killing me, bu t I got them today." Second overall on the day went to the recover ing and res urgent Tallon Voh lan.d . The FMF / Th o r / 909 / Du n lo p sponsored Honda-rider took his po tent CR125 to a 2-3 ride and is looking like th e Vo hland we a ll knew bef o re h is nasty cras h at Unad illa back in July. "I got to train abo u t four or five days before this race and I'm starting to feel like myself, " Vohland said of the event. " l 'rn happy w ith my result tod ay an d 1 really tried to win here tod ay, but I really wa nt to show them next week. I need to work on my starts too. It's really hard to win when you star t out in tenth." Yamaha of Troy / Sinisalo/ Ren thal's Step ha ne Ron ca d a ro d e to anot he r strong podium finis h of third overall on the day after finish ing sixth in the first mo to and charging to a strong second p lace ride the secon d time ou t. An impressive late season charge by Roncada has moved the lika ble French man up to seventh in poin ts wi th one round to go. " It was too bad that 1 cras hed in the second turn d uring the first mota," Ron cad a said . "I really pu t it in har d during the second mot o and was go ing for it but mad e some mistakes and d ecided to keep it cool an d get second p lace." Carmichael' s Sp litFire / Pro Ci rcuit/ Sixth ov er all w ent to t he Pl an e t Hon da / Pro G ri p / M ich eli n -ba cke d Jason McCorm ick. A co nfid ence-build ing moto wi n several weeks ago at the Washougal nati ona l has the Washington state native ridin g bett er tha n ever, and hi s consisten t 5-6 sho wing proves just that. FMF/ Ho nda's Brock Sellards rod e to a sev ent h place finish after injuring his shoulder one week earlier at a race also in New York. Sella rds finished seventh the first time ou t after go ing down while -ru n ning fifth, the n crossed the lin e in fifth in th e secon d moto. Sellards was the on ly ri d er ca pab le of d e th ro n ing C a r m ic hae l fro m the cha m p io ns hi p coming into Bingh amton, bu t the cards were not dealt his way, and he will go in to th e fin al ro u nd of the se ries next week battling for seco nd -place ho nors. "My shoulde r was so re ou t there and th en I wen t down in that first mo to," Sella rds comme n ted. "That sure didn't he lp eit her, bu t I just d idn' t feel that grea t tod ay." Eighth overa ll went to SplitFire /Pro Circu it/Kawasaki's Nick Wey. Coming off a big overall wi n two weeks earlier Kawasaki tea mma te Na than Ram sey rode to a fourth ove rall wit h a consis tent 4-4 s howing . Th e 1999 125cc Western Regiona l Su pe rcross cha mpion proved th at he has w ha t it ta kes ou tdoors as well,and that he may be a big facto r in the Y2K 125cc ou tdoor series. " I fel t p re t ty good tod a y b u t .just cou ldn 't fin d th a t li ttle b it ex tra th at would take me to the fron t," sai d Ram sey. " I mean four th is goo d, bu t there are three spots that are bett er ." Menifee, Ca lifornia's David Pingr ee h a d a decen t d a y a fter fi nishi ng an im pressi ve thi rd in moto one. A lessthan-stellar ninth in moto two relegated the Prim al Impulse / Bill's Pip es /Shiftsup po rted Suz uki-ride r to fifth overall , bu t non e-the- less he was pl eased with - his performance. "I had two grea t sta rts toda y because • m y Su zuki is w orkin g grea t," Pingree sai d . "I ran into Danny Smith in the second moto and dropped a bunc h of position s, but fifth overall is okay ." at Millville, Wey rode to two qu iet mo to finish es of eight and seven. The easy- . going Michigan-na tive was seen icing a sore wrist between m o tos, Yamaha of Troy's Casey Johnson finis he d ni n th overa ll (9-8), an d Cen ter Valley, Pen nsylvania's David Kratz took his Montgom eryville Cycle / RRP / MSRspo nso red Yamaha to 10th overall an d top 125cc privateer with a 12-10 rid e. FM F' s C hris Gosselaar, Ya ma ha of Tro y ' s Ernesto Fo nseca , F&S Suzki 's Paul Currie, No Fear / Spy' s Keith Johnson and Yamaha of Troy's Casey Lytle roun ded out the top 15, respectively. Since Carmichael w ra p p ed u p the cha m pions hip , the battles are now for the posit ions behind him. Sellards holds down seco nd with 381, while Vohland is closi ng and gu nning for that posit ion, w it h 354. Wey sits in fou rth with 303, ' and Ram sey ho lds fifth wi th 270. MOTa 1 It was MSR/B el-Ray's Damien Plotts