Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128094
AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series Round 7: Georgia Dome By HENNY RAY ABRAMS PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN ATl..ANTA, GA, FEB 24 here had we seen this before? Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael was speeding into the night, while Mazda Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath was helpless to stop him, the defending Supercross Champion stuck behind the thundering Yamaha YZ426F of Tim Ferry. It had happened two weeks ago at the Indianapolis Supercross and it was happening again, this time on the rutted red-clay floor of Atlanta's Georgia Dome in round seven of the Speed Stick- presented AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series. McGrath had seen his chances of winning rapidly dissipate at Indy; 6 MARCH 7, 2001 • eye I e every lap dogging Ferry was one more lap that Carmichael went unchallenged. In Atlanta, McGrath attacked on the second lap. The pair ran side by side over a long series of jumps, Ferry looking slightly out of control, his feet off the pegs, as McGrath made the pass stick. At this point, early in the 20-lap main, Carmichael held a lA-second lead, and McGrath had time to mount a charge. But Carmichael had other plans and continued to pull away, holding more than a four-second cushion at the halfway point and adding a little more throughout the second half of the race. The official margin of victory was 2.62 seconds, but both riders slowed on the final lap. The previn e _ 55 ous lap Carmichael had nearly five seconds. "This track was really tough tonight," Carmichael said after taking his fourth win in a row lind the fifth of the season, this time in front of a crowd of 65,461, an increase of more than 5000 over last year. "The ruts make it difficult a·nd this is probably the hardest win I've won." McGrath had made his job more difficult by crashing in his heat race, then finishing second in the semi. It meant that his pick on the starting gate wasn't great, though he somehow parlayed it into the $1000 SFX 250cc Holeshot Award in the main. "I felt really good, I just felt a little pumped up in the middle of the race," McGrath said. "Overall, I think my performance was much better [than in Indianapolis, where he lost by 12.2 seconds] because I was much closer. I didn't feel tired or anything. It just seemed like it was like a threeor four-second race." At the end of the night, Carmichael had added three points to his championship lead, now with 167 to McGrath's 158 after seven of 16 races. Amsoil/Doc Martens/Competition Accessories Honda's Mike laRocco, a shadow fourth tonight, is third with 129. Starts are the bane of LaRocco's existence and tonight was no different. After gating badly, and finishing the first lap in ] !th, LaRocco sliced his way through the field to close on American Honda's Ezra Lusk in the closing stages, only to be held up by backmarkers. LaRocco made a final push at the line, missing the podium by half a bike length. "I gave it to them again," LaRocco said. Lusk, who now lives in Atlanta, was happy to be on the podium in his hometown. "I rode good the last ] laps, but I just got to get back onto that first few a