Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Eastern Regional 1 25cc Supercross Series Round 1 : RCA Dome (Right) Pastrana leads Mike Brown (100), who rode to a s1rong third-place finish. (Below, left to right) Ramsey, Pastrana and Brown celebrate on the podium. his way forward several positions before settling into fifth. Sellards, on the other hand, started in sixth and lost and gained control of that position several times before eventually finishing seventh. After coming off a very successful 125cc Supercross series result of second overall last year, Sellards was not extremely happy with his first performance of the year. "I just made some mistakes out there," Sellards said. "The bike is great, it's fine; it was just me." Western Regional rider Greg Schnell rode his MotoworldRacing.com/ Answer/FMF-sponsored ride to sixth. Because SchneJl is out of the top 10 in points out west, he is eligible to ride the Eastern Series, although he won't be eligible for points. Two riders who made their firstever Supercross appearances were amateur sensations Bobby Bonds and Ben Riddle. Bonds, who joined the SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki-crew several months ago in what is said to be a very lucrative contract, finished 10th in his 125cc Supercross debut. The Bakersfield, California, resident broke his elbow while testing several weeks before the 125cc West opener and had to switch to the Eastern Series. "Bobby had fun tonight and did basically what I expected," team owner/manager Payton remarked at the end of the night. "He's only been riding for about a week now. He was wearing a brace on his elbow and when his arms pumped up, it kind of cut off the circulation and his hand fell asleep." On the other end of the spectrum was Riddle. The Campbellsville, Kentucky, native rode his Team Suzuki RM125 to a strong and promising third in his heat but crashed later in the final and finished out of the points with a disappointing 21st. Both riders should make things interesting later in the series. The surprise of the night was SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Tallon Vohland. His result was not the surprise, the fact that there was no result was. Vohland failed to qualify for the final after crashing in both his heat and the last chance. Needless to say, Vohland was not happy and was nowhere to be found after the event. Planet Honda's Paul Currie was a surprise non-qualifier, too, after crashing in his heat and missing the final transfer by one in the LCQ. The Floridian will be looking to redeem himself in two weeks at Atlanta. CiUALlFVING Sellards grabbed the start of the first 125cc heat on his new KTM in front of Pastrana. Vohland was left behind as he was picking himself up off the ground after going down. Pastrana motored his number-199 12 FEBRAURY 21,2001 • cue I Suzuki past Sellards .on the first lap, while Plano Honda's Travis Elliot and Suzuki's Riddle settled into the next two positions. Pastrana pulled away throughout the next few laps, while Elliot and Riddle got by Sellards for a short time. Riddle would then get by Elliot, as did Sellards. Sellards also got by Riddle with a few laps to go and took the runner-up spot, with Riddle following for third. Elliot crossed fourth with Planet Honda's Matt Walker, Plano Honda's Billy Payne, Pro Source's Tommy Hofmaster and Kelly Smith following. Thousand Oaks Yamaha's Jonathan Shimp took the final transfer in ninth. Ramsey grabbed the start of heat two on his YZ250F with teammate Weyand Kawasaki-mounted Brown on his tail. Brown moved past the two Vamaha riders into the lead early and began to put some distance on the duo. Wey never challenged, but he did keep Ramsey honest and the two followed Brown in for the top three positions. Motoworld of EI Cajon teammates Isaiah Johnson and Greg Schnell were fourth and fifth with Motosports Outlet's Matt Shue and F&S Suzuki's Charlie Dunaway crossing next. Rookie Bobby Bonds took eighth in his first ever Supercross race and Husqvarna's Christopher Gosselaar took the last transfer in ninth. Brown was upbeat about his first heat race win in over two years and said, "I'm pumped. I got a good start and one more race like this [the final] would be real good." Yamaha-mounted Tyson Taylor nailed the start of the LCQ with Jesseman and Vohland on his tail. Jesseman made his way by for the lead early and took off, but Vohland went off the track on the second lap and lost many positions. n __ s e F&S Suzuki's Danny Carlson and A.M. Leonard's Joe Oehlhof followed Jesseman in for the transfers, and Santa Fe Motorsports Ryan Clark passed Planet Honda's Paul Currie on the last lap for the final transfer. MAIN Ramsey gated best and earned the $500 SFX Holeshot Award at the start of the 125cc main. Pastrana, Brown and Wey filed in behind him Pastrana was quickly into the lead but made a slight bobble through a rhythm section on tl)e first lap and Brown took advantage, motoring by for the point position. His lead, however, would not last long. A lap later, Pastrana literally jumped by Brown in the whoops in an amazing pass. Brown went into the whoops the same way he had all day, hitting them all at a moderate speed. Pastrana changed it up. He grabbed a big handful of throttle and jumped as far as he could into the rockers and just held on. And it worked. He basically jumped by Brown and was back into the lead, sending the fans into a frenzy. "Man, he just jumped right by me in those whoops," Brown said. After that, Pastrana got into his groove. He put some major ground on the field and was four seconds ahead of Brown on the sixth lap. Ramsey was next to challenge Brown. The four-stroke rider pressured Brown for a short time before making the pass for second over the finish-line jump. Wey watched and followed in fourth, but was never really able to challenge Brown for the third position at all. Pastrana was now on a cruise up front and had clear sailing except for a slight bumping incident with a lapped rider late in the race. Ramsey was alone in second and Brown and Wey followed. Pastrana used his last lap to give the crowd a show that they were expecting. He saved the real good stuff for the victory lap though, making sure that he crossed the finish without doing anything too drastic. Ramsey, Brown and Wey followed for the top-four spots. Smith, Schnell, Sellards, Elliot, Gosselaar, and Bonds rounded out the top 10. "That's the way to start it off," Pastrana said with a big smile. "Brown had a faster qualifier and had that inside gate that I wanted. He's riding really good. It's going to be a great series." CIlI RCA ODme IndilonapDlis, Indisna Resul1s: Febl1lllry 10, 2001 125 HEAT 1 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Travis Pastnma (Suz); 2. Brock Sellards (KTM): 3. Ben Riddle (Suz); 4. Travis Elliot (Hon); 5. Mett Walker (Hon); 6. Billy Payne (Hon): 7. Tommy Hofmaster (Yam): 8. Kelly Smith (KTM): 9. Jonathan Shimp (Yam): 10. Joe Oehihol (Yam): 11. Randy Valade (Hon); 12. Branden Jesseman (Hon); 13. Tellon Vohland (Kaw): 14. Taylor Watts (Yam): 15. Michael Campbell (Yam); 16. Vincent Karnow (Yam); 17. Scott Metz (Yam); 18. John Kidd (Suz); 19. Jeson Fink (KTM): 20. Mark Wundrack (Yam). Time: 05: 11.940 125 HEAT 2 (6 laps, 1-9 transler): 1. Mike Brown (Kaw); 2. Nathan Ramsey (Yern); 3. Nick Wey (Yam); 4. Isaiah Johnson (Yam); 5. Oreg Schnell (Yam); 6. Mall Shue (Suz); 7. Charlie Dunaway (Suz); 8. Bobby Bonds (Kaw): 9. Christopher Gossellllllr (Hus); 10. Dlivid Hill (Suz); 11. Demien Plotts (Hus): 12. Danny Corlson (Suz); 13. Josh Whitmire (Yam); 14. Charlie Dagner (Hon): 15. Scott Carter (Yam): 16. Ryan Clark (Yam): 17. Doug Gall (Hus); 18. Eric Kowalik (Hon); 19. Paul Currie (Hon); 20. Brian Mason (Kaw). Time: 05:10.170 125 LCQ (4 laps, 1-4 transfer): 1. Branden Jesseman (Hon); 2. Danny Carlson (Suz); 3. Joe Oehihof (Yam): 4. Ryan Clark (Yam): 5. Paul Currie (Hon); 6. Damien Plotts (Hus); 7. Randy Valade (Hon): 8. David Hill (502): 9. Vincent Kamow (Yam): 10. Eric Kowalik (Hon): 11. Michael Campbell (Yam): 12. Mark Wundrack (Yam); 13. Charlie Dagner (Hon); 14. John Kidd (Suz); 15. Josh Whitmire (Yam): 16. Doug Gall (Hus); 17. Jason Fink (KTM): 18. Scott Carter (Yom); 19. Taylor Watts (Yom); 20. Tallon Vohland (Kaw); 21. Scott Metz (Yom): 22. Brian Mason (Kaw). Time: 03:37.350 125 MAIN (15 laps}: 1. Travi. Pastrano (502): 2. NlIthan Ramsey (Yam); 3. Mike Brown (Kaw); 4. Nick Wey (Yam): 5. Kelly Smith (KTM): 6. Greg Schnell (Yam): 7. Brock Sellard. (KTM); 8. Travis Elliot (Hon); 9. Christopher Gosselaar (Hus); 10. Bobby Bonds (Kaw): 11. Billy Payne (Hon): 12. Isaiah Johnson (Yam); 13. Matt Shue (502): 14. Joe Oehlhol (Yam): IS. Matt Walker (Hon): 16. Tommy Holmaster (Yam): 17. Ryan Clark (Yam): 18. BrzlOden Jesseman (Hon); 19. Danny Carlson (Suz); 20. Charlie Dunaway (Suz); 21. Ben Riddle (Suz); 22. Jonathan Shimp (Yam). Time: 12:54.260 Winners Average Lap: 0:51.617 Margin of Victory: 0:04.900 AMAJ EA SPORTS 125« EASTERN REGIONAL SOPERCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 rounds): 1. Travis Pastrana (25/1 win); 2. Nathan Ramsey (22); 3. Mike Brown (20): 4. Nick Wey (18): 5. Kelly Smith (16): 6. Brock Sellards (14); 7. Travis Elliot (13); 8. Christopher Gosselaar (12); 9. Bobby Bonds (11): 10. Billy Payne (10): 11. Isaiah Johnson (9); 12. Matt Shue (8): 13. Joe Oehlhol (7): 14. Matt Walker (6): 15. Tommy Hofmaster (5); 16. Branden Jesseman (3); 17. Charlie Dunaway (1). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Atlanta, Georgia, February 24 Round 3 - New Orleans, Louisiana, March 3

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