Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~ ...-. ~ GlUALIFYING PHOENIX. AZ. JAN. 27 AMAlEA Sports 1 25cc Western Regional Supercross Series Round 4: Bank One Ballpark After taking over the lead on the first lap of heat one. Smith held the point to the finish, though he did have to fend off a late challenge from Fonseca. The Yamaha rider tried to cut under Smith in a tum on the penultimate lap, but caught his rear tire and tipped over, stalling his thumper. That left the runner-up spot to Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/SplitFire's Shae Bentl.ey, who led Fast by Ferracci Husqvarna's Travis Preston across the finish line. Plano Honda/MSR Racing's Jiri Dostal was fourth, followed by Yamaha-mounted Kevin Johnson, Mexican Kawasaki pilot Erick Vallejo, Motoworldracing.com /Answer Yamaha's Greg Schnell, Planet Honda's Tyler Evans and Yamahamounted Stephan Demartis. Fonseca missed out on a direct transfer spot by one position. Buckelew ruled the second heat from start to finish, tuming in a time lO-seconds faster than Smith's. KTM Red Bull's David Pingree was a distant second, holding off Pro Caliber Suzuki rider Jason McCormick at the line. Plano Honda's Ivan Tedesco and Gomez Racing's Jeremy Chaussee completed the top five, with Santa Fe Motorsports' Ryan Clark, Langston. Suzuki's Rodrig Thain and Gomez Racing's Levi Reid also taking direct transfers. Fonseca kept his thumper running for all four the of LCQ laps, taking the win over Fast by Ferracci Husqvama's Bryan McGavran and Pro Circuit/Kawasaki! SplitFire's Casey Lytle. Planet Honda's Johnny Marley was the final rider to make it to the main. MAIN Fonseca's newfound points lead comes at the expense of teammate Justin Buckelew. whose strong starts and consistency had him at the head of the title chase coming into Arizona. But if you live by the sword, you die by the sword, and the first turn that has been so nice to Buckelew bit him in Phoenix, throwing him down hard and limiting him to an eventual 11 th-place finish. The New Mexico resident is now six points back in second, 83-77, with Team Suzuki's Danny Smith another seven back at 70. "That program's working good," Fonseca said. "I've gone to the Last Chance two weekends in a row, but I don't want to ta ke those chances anymore." "I'm very happy to be on the podium again, for the second week in a row, and I'm really looking forward to that first victory," Langston said. "Before the season, if someone would have told me this, I would have been pumped. I was hoping for a podium, just at one race, but I think now I can aim at looking for a victory." By CHRIS JONNUM PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN fter Ernesto Fonseca took his YZ250F to a walk-away win at this year's opening round, there were those (this reporter among them) who wondered if the all-new bike might make victory easy against 125cc two-strokes. Three weeks later, the Yamaha of Troy rider once again finds himself at the top of the points standings, but you'd have a hard time convincing Fonseca that he has an unfair advantage. The Costa Rican lost to teammate Justin Buckelew at round two, then won the main events at the following two rounds only after getting into them via the last-chance qualifiers. At this week's event in Phoenix, where the soft, clay-like soil somewhat negated the tractability advantage of his fourstroke, Fonseca discovered in the main that he's got a new rival in the form of KTM Red Bull's Grant Langston, who finished a close second - the best Supercross finish of his limited indoor career. Apparently, the 125cc Motocross World Champion wants to be a Supercross racer. A 10 FEBRAURY 7.2001 • G U G I e n • _ s The 250cc class has offered some unusually close racing so far this year. but In Phoenix, it was 125cc racers Emesto Fonseca (above) and Grant Langston (below) putting on the best battle of the night. Buckelew had a holeshot streak to be proud of heading into the 15-lap 125cc feature, and he didn't appear willing to let it end without a fight. As the 22-rider pack roared down the

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