Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series Round 1 : Edison International Field of Anaheim Craig and Lamson. Craig held down third for most of the race until Lamson started knocking on his backdoor late in the race. On the last lap, Lamson cut to the inside of Craig, bumping into the Honda rider, and took over third. Craig ended up fourth, comfortably ahead of Kawasaki rider Craig Decker. Australian Michael Byrne led much of the second semi, but it was Nick Wey coming out on top when all was said and done. Voss ended up finishing second, while TheEdgesports.com Kawasaki teammates Casey Johnson and Byrne finished 3-4. Making the cut in fifth was Moto XXX/DGY/Atomic 22's Kyle Lewis. Missing a transfer spot by one position was Motoworldracing.com/Answer Yamaha's Damon Huffman in sixth. Huffman, however, came right back to lead all six laps of the Last Chance Qualifier, from which only the top two riders transfer. Isaiah Johnson was the last rider to make the main after finishing a distant second to Huffman. A few notable riders who went home early included Reynard, Blackfoot Motorsports/Honda Canada's Jean-Sebastien Roy and Fast by Ferracci Husqvarna's Jason Thomas. Champion through a section of whoops. Not long after that, Carmichael slid out in a turn and dropped well back but still kept control of third. With one lap remaining, McGrath made a last-ditch attempt to get around Windham and let everything hang out. McGrath chased the Suzuki rider to the finish but came up short by just inches. Windham took the confidence-building win, followed by McGrath and Carmichael. Ramsey grabbed the final transfer in fourth, followed by teammate Wey, Voss, Byrne and Huffman. Lewis took ninth, and Thousand Oaks Yamaha/Pete's RV /Reynard Modification's Robbie Reynard rounded out the top 10. Impressive as Windham's win was, it still wasn't the fastest heat race of the night, as Lusk's victory in the first heat race was just under a second faster than Windham's. "It's only a heat race, but this is the way I wanted to start the season," Windham said. In the semis, where the top five riders transfer to the main, Roncada, Lamson, Craig, Ferry and- Decker were some of the featured names in the first semi. The win ended up going to Roncada, but he had to work for it early on. Ferry, on the Yamaha four-stroke, kept the pressure on the Kawasaki rider until about the fourth lap (of eight), when Ferry began losing his grip on the leader. Roncada went on to win the first semi with a big lead over Ferry, who took the checkered flag all alone in second place. The battle for third, however, was anything but lonely for MAIN Just as he had done in the first heat race, Vuillemin shot off the line and beat everybody to the first turn handily, but out of nowhere came Roncada. The 2000 125cc East Coast Supercross Champion threaded his Kawasaki around heavy traffic and came out of the first couple of turns in the lead. But that wouldn't Travis Pastrana's debut in the 250cc class at Anaheim was nothing less than spectacular. After passing such riders as Tim Ferry, Stephane Roncada, Mike laRocco, Steve Lamson and David Vuillemin in his heat race (finishing behind only Lusk), and many of these same guys in the main, the reigning AMA 125cc National MX Champion certainly proved to everyone and his Suzuki team that he knows how to ride a 250 and is without a doubt competitive on it. "I defmitely felt good." the 17-year-old Pastrana said after the evening's racing was over. "I was super happy with fifth place. [Butl I got a little tired and got arm pump, and that [arm pump) has never happened to me before. The 250 is a different machine, but I feel a lot more comfortable on it. In the heat race, I felt great but was still making a lot of mistakes. I'm analyzing too much what I'm doing, but I really want to maybe get a podium pretty soon. Now, I know I have the speed, which is what I was wondering coming into the season." Despite his success at Anaheim, Pastrana says that he probably won't finish out the Supercross series in the 250cc class. "I'd say I'll probably drop back down (to the 125cc class] for a championship," he said while signing autographs for his many fans late into the night. "I didn't know what to expect tonight; I would've liked to have thought I was good enough shape to run back to back, 125 and 250, [but) after tonight, I know I'd have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks. "If I have a chance at a championship in the 250s, which after tonight I'm pretty sure I don't, but if I do, I would love to stay 250, but I'd have to be in the top two in points to stay strictly 250. "I'd rather try for a championship, where I know I have a legitimate chance - in the 125s. I'd rather be first than fifth." Despite all the attention, this was not really Pastrana's Pro 250cc debut. He contested the 1999 U.S. Open on an RM250 in his first-ever race as a pro. Kit Palmer 8 JANUARY 17, 2001 • cue • e n e _ 50 last for long. McGrath slipped by Roncada and tried to get away, but Roncada didn't want any part of that. The Frenchman came right back and passed McGrath; so after the first lap, it was Roncada leading the way (01lowed by McGrath, Lusk, Vuillemin, Carmichael, Ferry, Pastrana, Ramsey, LaRocco, Windham and Lamson. For a couple of laps, Roncada was the fastest rider on the track, but the pressure of being up front and having the master of intimidation right behind him quickly got the best of the Kawasaki rider. Pretty soon, McGrath was on the attack and the inevitable pass was just about to happen. McGrath pulled alongside Ronca· da, who promptly brake-checked the reigning champ in the next turn. The two exited the turn side-by-side, and together launched over the finish-line double jump. In mid· flight, McGrath looked over his shoulder and gave Roncada the "I'm-in-charge" stare, then took over for good. A lap later, Lusk rode around Roncada in a rhythm section and claimed second place. At this point, only three seconds separated Lusk from McGrath, but that would be about as close as Lusk would ever get to McGrath, who steadily pulled away. Meanwhile, Carmichael was on the move. He quickly forced his way into fourth by passing Vuillemin, and then he powered past his teammate, Roncada, down a bump·free straightaway. Once into third, he caught sight of Lusk and tried reeling him in. Carmichael had some success, closing to within a few bike lengths, before he started feeling his right anm pumping up. "I wanted to charge," Carmichael said. "On lap II, I closed in, and I thought I had him [Lusk]. I thought, 'Okay, I caught up to him, I'm going to get him.' Then my right arm pumped up, so I must've been holding on too tightly when I closed the gap. So I had to back it down and try to ride a steady pace, [and I thought] maybe he'll make a mistake and I'll luck out and get by him. But he kept his cooL" From the halfway point on, the three podium spots were all but set, as McGrath continued to roll on in flawless form. He had plenty of time to do some on-track celebrating over Team Suzuki's Travis Pastrana (199) was impressive in his 250cc AMA Supercross Series debut. He and early leader Stephane Roncada (21) played demolition dertly for a while in the 250cc main. the jumps on the last lap, scoring the first win of this year's series and the 71 st of his career. "That was a great, great win," McGrath said from his team's new trailer. "Just like every year, there's a lot of hype going into the first race, and it's good to get this one over with. "I think today was a really important tire-selection day. Yesterday the track was excellent; this morning was good, but then they put a little water on it, then it got cold and moisture came back up, and it was slick as snot. It took me a little while [to get the tires dialed in]. In the heat race, I was overly excited and making mistakes and then studied the video. I knew going into the final I was fine. "It was a night where you could get really excited, and because the track was really slick, I decided that there were certain lines I needed to take no matter if anyone was around me or not; I stuck to my plan. Ezra stayed close to me, and Roncada was there for a little bit. Ezra was five to six seconds [behind] for a long time, and I was having a little problem with [arml pump at first; I was really having to talk to myself a lot out there and ended up working it out. The last eight to 10 laps I was really solid." "Things just clicked," Norfolk said, "We had a few things we needed to work on throughout the day - tires, carburetion. At first, we managed to take some of his [McGrath's] confidence away that he was trying to build up, but the guy just pulls it out. I mean he's incredible; he gets out there and figures things out. I think that was a big thing tonight." "This was a big win," said Mazda Yamaha's team manager Larry Brooks. "The success of this team relies on Jeremy, and when he wins, we all win, and for him to be a team owner and now to win an event, it's a first - again - for the guy. It's another milestone. "

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