(Above) Ezra L_k was incredibly fast in Minnesota, running as high as second
before a mistake and a crash dropped him to seventh.
(Right) After chasing Jeremy McGrath for most of the main event, Kevin Windham
(14) notched a fourth-place finish.
BRIEFLY•••
The day after the race, TheEdgeSports.com team owner Jeff
Emig caught a plane from Minneapolis to Costa Rica, where he
would take part in a Motoadventures motorcycle tour with his
father and friends TIm Clark (of Manana Graphics) and Eric Peronnard (of SfX). "We're going to ride all w_k, and then I'll fly
back right before the Houston round [on March 24l," Emlg said.
There was a relatively relaxed schedule on Saturday afternoon, which is normally busy with practice session and pre-quali-
fying races, Only 44 riders per class signed up at Minneapolis not enough to necessitate pre-qualifiers (40 riders per class contest the night program). To eliminate the extra four riders per
class, AMA MX manager Duke Finch spotted and pulled slower
riders during practice, Even so, the 125cc heats and LCW featured several riders who looked like they shouldn't have been on
the track, and lappers were a serious problem even in the main.
truck. The factory teams were given a small area upstairs away
from the privateers.
Travis Elliott suffered two frightening crashes in Friday's practice, having his bike land on him and bum his arm in one and bailing off over a triple on the other, The Plano HondalMSR rider
took a trip to the hospital on Friday night. but decided to race on
Saturday when it was found that he had no broken bones. 'He's
a hero just for being out there tonight.' said team manager Kenny
Watson after showing a reporter the video of the crashes.
Frenchman Stephane Roncada was a no-show at Minneaoplis,
sitting out the round after crashing hard at Daytona and hurling
both heels. "He'll be back next week, for sure.' said team manager Bruce Stjernstrom.
Most of the top riders chang up the colors of their riding apparel
every few races, but Rick)' Carmichael has been wearing his
orange Fox gear for quite some time, now, Carmichael first
started wearing the orange duds about midway through the 2000
outdoor season, right around the time he went on a tear and dom-
Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli had a new coach at Minneapolis. The Frenchman had been working with countryman
Jean-Michel Bayle, but is now using the services of another
Frenchman, Yannig Kervella
