Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series Round S: RCA Dome in a left-hand 180 at the end of the triple section. On the 17th lap, Tortelli also passed Ferry, and the order of the top five was set, though Tortelli fought for third right to the flag. "I really, really wanted to get back on the podium here tonight," Lusk said "I, was shooting for the middle position up here, but I'll take this. It's been a really long time since I did any races in the ruts like this. It's kind of new to me all over again, but I'm getting back there and trying to get that pa,:e back up. The challenge is to be able to stay focused for 20 It was a longer night for McGrath. The seven-time champion had a fight on his hands from the start and it wasn't resolved for 10 laps. Once McGrath 'pulled even with Ferry, it took about two more turns before he could drop in and try to move on. "I got a pretty good start, but I just got caught up behind Ferry," McGrath said. "There was really no way to pass him so I kind of got stuck in his race a little bit. RC rode a great race. He was out there pulling away from us." Two laps after McGrath passed Ferry, Lusk passed the Yamaha rider The fJTst eight· lap heat began and ended pretty much the same way. Lusk won the race to the first tum over McGrath, with Ferry booming his way forward on the YZ426F fourstroke. The order would be the same at the finish with the riders slightly spreading out, after Ferry had made a cursory attack on McGrath in the early going. On the long jump section just in front of the grandstands, Lusk was able to make shorter work of it than McGrath, who would close up almost everywhere else on the track, only to lose the time in a matter of seconds. Even in practice, it was clear that McGrath waso't as masterful on this track, albeit a different layout, than he'd been last year. It didn't help that he'd had a run-in with his fellow Yamaha rider David Vuillemin during practice, a get-together that Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Carmichael witnessed, before scooting by. Lusk would win the first heat, McGrath second, then Ferry. Australian Michael Byrne put TheEdgeSports.com Kawasaki in fourth, chased to the flag for the final direct qualifying spot Great Lakes AviatJon Honda rider Heath Voss. LaRocco took himself out of contention with another bad start that put him in the middle of a first-turn pile· up with Fast by Ferracci Husqvama's Steve Lamson and MotoworldRacing.com Answer's Keith Johnson. laRocco, who was riding with a broken left foot, was the fastest rider on the track, but ran out of time and ended up sixth. For a short time, Carmichael had a fight on his hands in the second heat. Windham rode by in the whoops on the first lap, with Carmichael striking back two turns before the end of the fJTst of eight laps, only to stall at the base of the finish jump. Carmichael ran Windham down on the second lap, flying past him in a jump sequence before the final tum leading to the finish line and sprinting to the lead. Ending the third lap, he had a cushion of more than 1.5 seconds and added more than half a second each of the next two laps. Race over. As Carmichael went away, Windham was slowly falling into the sights of Vuillemin. The Frenchman ran third the entire race, but it wasn't until near the end of the heat that he was able to pressure Windham, and it took a mistake by Windham to give Vuillemin false hope. Two turns from the end of the heat Windham bobbled and Vuillemin dosed right up, coming up about two bikelengths short at the finish. Another five or so bikelengths back came Tortelli with the last direct transfer. Reynard was fifth, by himself, and on to the semis. Reynard would win the second six· lap semi with a hard fought flag-to-flag performance. Off the start he led a four-rider break, TheEdgeSports.com's Casey Johnson, MotoworldRacing.com's Damon Huffman, and Blackfoot Honda Canada's Jean-Sebastien Roy along for the ride. .' With two laps to go, Reynard edged away and Roy dropped off, with only the middle pair fighting for position. Nothing changed and those four, plus Mota XXX's Kyle Lewis, were on to the main. LeWis spent the race holding back Torco's Robbie Skaggs, who was sixth, and into the Last Chance Qualifier. As they had in their heat race, LaRocco and Lamson tangled again in the first semi with laRocco coming out on top. Lamson got the jump in front of privateer James Povolny Jr. &TId LaRocco with Voss fourth.and Roncada fifth. Then laRocco started to advance, moving into second through the whoops on lap two and after Lamson. The pass came in the air in a series of triple jumps, the partisan crowd roaring for the rider from South Bend. Roncada was on the move as weU, passing Lamson on the fifth of six laps at the end of the triples. There was time to catch laRocco, and Roncada tried, but came up two bikelengths short. Lamson was third, Povolny fourth, and Ryan Clark fifth. Planet Honda's Mike Craig crashed in turn one of his semi, ending up in last place. In the Last Chance Qualifier, he and Arnsoil/Doc Martens/Competition Accessories Honda's Kevin Belay started fast with Craig soon to pull away and Belay soon to go down. Six laps later Craig was still in front and into the main, with Voss c1osin:;! in and taking the last transfer. laps, and that seems to be my problem right now." Lusk said when Tortelli caught him, he was "riding probably the worst of the whole main event or the whole day." There was enough in hand that Lusk could hold onto third by a length and a half, with Tortelli a content fourth. "The dirt was very soft and that's what I like," the Frenchman said. "I was going good and I came back on Ezra and I couldn't pass him to get third place_ I'm happy for my teamm

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