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/128103
Western Regional 1 25cc Supercross Ser ies F inal Round: R ic e -Eccles Stad iu m Yamaha of T roy's Emesto Fonseca became the first rider to w in 125cc Supercross title s on both coasts after c linching the West Coast title In Salt Lake City. He pretty much led from start to finish in the IS-lap main event. B y KIT P ALMER PH OTOS BY S TEVE B RU HN SALT LAKE CITY, ur, APR. 28 o r Ern e s t o Fonseca , t he m a g ic nu mber was 16 . All he had to do to wrap up the Western Regiona l 125cc Super c ross Ch a m p ions hip at Salt Lake City was to finish 16th or better, which, for a rider who had a lready won four main eve nts and finis he d in the top 10 in the other three, lay ing do wn a t least a 16 th -p la c e finish wo u ld b e ju s t a matter of going through the motions. Rig ht? Pre tty much, b ut yo u neve r know. Th er e we re still som e very b ig hurtles to clear. Un like Ric k y Ca rmic h ael, w h o cras h ed in one of his pra ctice sessions a nd rang his bell pretty good on th e Ric e -Ec cl e s Stadium ' s floor a nd n e arl y d idn 't make it to the 250c c ma in e ve nt , Fon se c a got through th e t wo 12 5 c c p r a c t ic e se ss ion s unscathed - hurtle number one. Later that nigh t , Fonse c a c om pete d in his heat rac e and' wo n that - hurtle num ber two . Fina lly, th e 200 1 West Coast title was on the line in the final 125 cc ma in ev ent of th e yea r, and a ll Fonseca had to do wa s take it easy and th e championsh ip would be his . But Fons eca did a ny t hi n g but take it easy. Instead , th e Yamaha of T ro y rider blasted out of th e s ta rting gate on his Kenny Germain -tuned YZ250F, having nothing on h is m ind but grab bing the a ll-important holeshot, which F he did. From th ere on out, the race was all his to enjoy. Fo ns e c a domi nated the 15 -lap ra c e . win n in g wit h roo m to spa re and finishi ng well with in h is 16th - place boundary - hurtle number three . "You know , you ne ver want to just go out the re and cruise around and get 16th," said Fonseca , who gave Yamaha 's YZ250F its first title in the bike's first year on the c ircuit. "I wanted to end [t h e series] u p on a good note an d since this is my last race [in the 125cc class in S u p e rcross] ." The only rid e r who had a shot of beating F o n s e c a fo r the ti t le was Suzuki's Rodrig Tha in, who could on ly hope that F o n s e c a didn't make it through the qualifiers or suffered a mecha nica l b re a kdo wn in the m ain eve nt . But ne ither of thos e thi ngs happened , so he had to settle for runnerup honors . Though he ne arl y lost that. Tha in didn 't get one of his better ju m p s in t he m ain , sta rti n g o ff in s ixt h, a nd he was able to ga in just one position before it wa s all ov er. Just in Bu c k el ew , th e o ne r id er wh o had a realistic shot of overta kin g T ha in for secon d in the se rie s , got an e ven worse st art tha n h im. Well back in the fie ld , Buc kelew , on his Ya maha of Troy YZ125. mounted an a ll-o r-noth ing charge that c arr ie d him up t h r o u g h the pa ck. around Tha in , a nd into th ird place when the c heckered fla g c a m e out. Had Buckele w adva nced one more posit ion , second in th e s eries would 've bee n h is. As it was , Buckelew cam e u p t wo p oin t s s ho rt of beating Tha in . "Two points behind, that's kind of a b ummer ," Buckelew sa id. " Bu t th at's o ka y , I'm loo k ing forwa rd to next ye ar. " Even t ho u g h Bucke lew wo u ld 'v e liked to get second , he wa s ha ppy for the ride r who did , fello w Albuque rqu e res ident, Ivan Tedesco. Tedesco , on the P lano Ho n d a CR 125R , was o n the gas all n ight lo ng. He was o ne of the few - if not the only - ride rs in the 125c c cla ss to clea r th e t rack's larg est triple on a tw o- strok e m a c h in e (Fonseca wa s doing it all night long with ease on his thumper) . Tedesco also finished second to Fonseca in their heat race. "Th is is my first podium ever, a nd this is my first y e a r racing supercross," T ed e sco said. "I've still got a lot to learn. I've come close a lot of tim es, bu t this time I did it." F inis h ing fourt h b eh ind Buckelew wa s la st week 's Dallas winner, KTM's Grant Lan gs t on , wh o had s ec ond p lace in th e ba g aft er pass ing T edes c o a fe w la ps fro m th e end, but a bobble o n the last lap that s aw both T edesco and Bu ckel ew g e t a ro und h im cost th e S o uth Afri can second place. Rounding out the top fiv e was Tha in, foll o wed b y Pro Ca lib er/Pro Plano Ho n d a's Ivan Tedesco was solid a ll nig h t. He finished on the podium f or the first tim e In second place. cue I e n e _ S • MAY 9 . 2001