Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Western R e g io n a l 1 25cc Su p ercross Serie s Final Round : R ic e -Eccle s S t a d iu m Gr ip/DM Sports ' Jason McCorm ic k , who qu al ified for both the 250 and 125c c ma in events at Salt Lake. Seventh place wen t to Motoworld · Racing .com's Keith J ohnson, followed by Fast By Ferracci Husqvama's Tra vis Preston, Mot oWorldRacing.com 's Greg Schn ell , and Amso il/Compe t ition Ac c e s s orie s / J o urn e y 's /Fa ctory Con nection Honda' Steve Boniface . MAIN KTM's David Ping ree out- d ra gged everyb od y to the first turn at the start of the 125cc ma in, earning the $500 S FX Holeshot Award, wh ile Fonseca tried to s neak up on th e ins ide of h im . Howe ver , Fon s e c a ' s hea rt must'v e ski pped a beat when it appeared that his mach ine slightly stepped out from u nderneath him and both h is fe et momentarily came off the footp egs . Fon s e c a quick ly p ut that litt le gaffe behind him a nd im med ia tely we nt aft er Pingree. Whe n Ping ree led the pa ck into the af9rem e nt ion e d trip le ju m p , Pingree pla y ed it sa fe and chose to double/singl e the jump, while Fonseca soa red over his head , clearing a ll thre e jumps with ease and going into the lead. Fro m there on out , the race was a ll Fons e c a 's. T he Costa Rican opened up about a five -seco nd lead that he e asily held to th e finis h, wrapping up the title in less -than-dramatic fashion - just the way he wanted . "It feels great [to win the champi onship]," Fon sec a said. "It takes a lot of pressure from me. It was one of [m y] best races, I think. I got the holeshot and everythi ng was so m uc h easier after th at. I just kind of rode smooth and focused o n getting a little le ad right there [after pas sing Pingree] ." Even though Fonseca was way out in front , the re was still plenty of action go ing on behind him . Pingree had his h a n d s full with Tedesc o, Langston was busy trying to improve o n h is fifth-place getawa y, Thain was doing the same in sixth , and Buckelew was in damage control mode after getting a midpack start and falling . "I actually got a good jump off th e g a t e , " Bu c k e le w s a id . " F ro m m y crash in the heat race [wh e re he finished seven th], I g ot a bad p ick [on the s tart line], so I kind of got pushed o ut. And t hen the firs t couple of stra ightaways , I ju st basically h a d lines that weren't go ing anywhere a nd got tak en advantage of by q uite a few people , th en I fe ll down . I was n inth o r 10th , then slowly just worked my wa y up one gu y at a time ." As th e race progre ssed, Pingree wa s trying everything in the book to keep Te des co from pass ing him , but t o no a v a il. On the four t h la p , T e d e s c o go t b y Pi n gre e , as d id La ng s to n a lap la t e r. At th a t po int , Pin gr e e q uickly lost gr ound to 20 MAY 9, 2001 • cue I e (Left) J ust in B uckelew ca m e from way b ehind t o finish third in the 12 5 c c m ain, and i n t h e series. (Ab ove) La st-lap b lues : Once again, Grant Langston w en1 dow n on the la st lap - this time it cost h im sec ond plac e. Langston a nd eventua lly pu lled of f t h e trac k and in to th e m e chan ic ' s a rea. Pingree ca lle d it a n igh t a ft er b an g ing his t en der ribs th at he ha d injured four weeks ea rlier. Th e b a tt le n ow was for seco nd be t w e e n Tedesc o an d La ngston . Langston followed Tedes co for ma ny laps until finall y pa ssing h im o n the 1 1th la p. The two riders bumped a s La ngston we nt by , but Te desco wou ld get the last laugh . O n th e fin al lap, Lan gston overcooked it going into a turn and we nt sailing off the track . Wh ile he s trugg led to get his machine up the s ide of a j u mp and back ont o t he track , T e d e s c o and Buck elew ro de past him , mak ing the final finishing o rde r F o n s e c a , T ed esco , Bu ck e lew , Langston and Tha in . Ev en though F on s e c a h ad wrapped up his s econd tit le in three ye a rs, Ted es co was pe rh a ps th e ha p piest m an in th e 125cc pit s . '" finally got a good sta rt and Erni e checked out a littl e bit ," T ed es co sai d. "I had Gr ant righ t o n m e th e whole race. He got by me with two laps to go , but then h e m ade a big mistake and I ended up second , so I had a good night." Fo r Tedes c o , one of th e re a s o ns why he was so su cc e s s ful was because he was the onl y two -stroke ride r who co uld regu larl y cl ear the triples. "It [th e trip le ] was reall y t ough tonight, especially because of the e levation ," T edesco said. "T h e b ikes were a lot slower . The y [t h e t rac k bu ilde rs ] stepped it up this week and made the track a lot tougher. I th ink it was good ; it separated the guys a little bit. It was pretty m uch all I had in my bike to clea r 'e m . Pro Circu it did a great jo b on th e m oto r, but I still ha d to strugg le to m a ke that jump ." Bu ck el e w wa s a ls o p lease d with h is co me-fro m -beh ind ride. "I'm happy to finish on the pod ium ," Buc ke lew sa id. "I wa s feeli ng good , n e 1NS (Right) Fonseca h old s up his 200 1 West Coast 125c c n umber-one p lat e . Ne xt year, Fo nseca w ill c ompete in the 250cc c lass. keeping a steady pace. Co uple of the other guys started making mista kes , and I moved up a couple of positions and fou nd m yself on the podium. I'm ju st happy that Ernesto wrapped up the ch a m pio nship for Yam aha of Troy , and Iva n Tedesco , a friend of min e from Albuqu erque, finishing up on the p od ium for h is firs t time. I wished' woul d 'v e won tonight 'cause that's what yo u alwa ys want to do, but' think overall it was a good nigh t." eN Rice-Eccles Stadium Sah Lake City, Utah R esuhs: April 28, 2001 (Final Round] 125 HEAT 1 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer) : 1. Rodrig Th ain (5uz) ; 2. Dav id Pingr ee ( KTM) ; 3 . J oh nny Marley (Hon); 4. Bry an McGavran ( Hus); 5 . Je remy Ch au ssee (Han); 6. Da niel Blair ( Hon ) ; 7 . J ustin Bucke lew (Yam ); 8. Gio Tedesco (Hon) ; 9 . M ichael Young (Hen); 10. Brando n Morgan (Yam ); 11. Steven Eugeni o (Y am); 12 . N ick Han sen ( Yam ); 13. J oel Nelson (Yam ): 14. Wesley Parker (KTM) ; 15. Michael K an n (Ya m) ; 16 . Tim Haw th orn e ( Yam ) ; 17 . Jo nat han Ole r (Yam ) : 18. Taylor Watts (Yam) ; 19. Danny Carlso n (5uz); 20 . Chad Hensley (Yam): 21. Tom m y Harrison (Yam) . TIme : 6 mi n.• 15.590 sec. ]25 HEAT 2 (6 laps. i-s transf er): 1. Em esto Fo nseca ( Yam ): 2. Iv an Te desco (Hon ) : 3 . Gr eg Schnell (Yam ) : 4 . Grant Lang ston ( KTM) ; 5. Steve Boniface (Hon ): 6 . J ason McCorm ick (5uz) ; 7. Erick Vallejo ( Kaw) ; 8. Kei t h J ohnson (Yam) ; 9 . T ravis Preston (Hus) ; 10. Sean Ham bli n (Hon) ; 11. Gerri t Or delman (Yam); 12. A ndy Harrin gt on (Yam ) : 13 . Kevin J ohnson (Yam); 14 . Eric Kowa lik (Hon); 15. David Ramsey (Yam): 16. Cam eron Weaver (Yam ): 17. Michae l Lankh aar (Hon): 18. A lbert Odden (Sua): 19. Brandon 5 chlensig (Han); 20 . Thomas Hofmaster (Yam ). TIme : 6 rmn., 8.080 sec. 125 LA ST CHANCE Q UA LI FIER (4 laps , 1-4 transfier): 1. Sean Ham bl in (Hon); 2. Kev in J ohn son (Yam ): 3. Ger rlt Ordelma n (Yam) ; 4. Ste ven Eugenio (Yam); 5. Eric Kowalik (Hen) : 6. tay lo r Watts (Yam) ; 7. Michael Kann (Yam ); 8. Dann y Carl son (Suz): 9. Joel Nelson (Yam); 10. Wesley Park er (KTM) ; 1 1. Jona tha n Oler (Yam); 12. Tommy Harrison (Yam ); 13. Cameron Weaver (Yam) : 14. Nick Hansen (Yam) ; 15. Chad Hensley (Yam); 16. Tim Hawthorn e (Yam) ; 17. Brandon Mo rgan (Yam ): 18 . Michae l Lenkhee r ( Han); 19. Albert Odden (5uz); 20 . Dav id Rams ey (Yam). Time: 4 mi n.• 16.050 sec. 125 MAIN ( 15 laps): 1. Emesto Fonseca (Yam) ; 2. Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 3. Justin Buck elew (Yam); 4. Gra nt La ng ston (K TM) ; 5. Rodr ig T ha in (Suz); 6. Jaso n McCorm ick (5uz); 7. Keith J ohnson (Yam); 8. T ra vi s Preston (Hus); 9 . Gre g Sc hnell (Yam ) ; 10 . Steve Bonifa ce ( Hon) ; 11. Bry an Mc Gavran (Hus); 12. Eric k Vall ejo (Kaw) ; 13. Kevi n John son (Yam ); 14 . Ger rit Ord elm an ( Ya m ); 15 . Johnny Ma r ley ( Ho n ); 16. J erem y C haussee ( Hon) ; 17 . Se an Hamblin (Hon}: 18 . David Pingree (KTM); 19 . Stev en Eugenio (Yam) ; 20. Gia Tedesco (Han) ; 21. Michael Young (Han) ; 22 . Daniel Blair (Hon). Tim e: 15 m in.• 36 .990 sec. Winner's Average lap Time: 1 mi n.• 02.466 seco nd. 125 WESTERN REGIONAL SUPERCROSS SERIES FIN A L POINTS STA NDI NG (Afte r 8 of 8 round s): J. Ern est o Fon sec a (168 /5 wins); 2 . Rodrl g T hain ( 139 ); 3. Ju stin Bu ck elew (137/1 w in); 4 . Grant Lan g ston (1 3 1/1 wi n ); 5 . Ivan T ed esco (128) ; 6 . Dann y Smi th (9 2) ; 7. Trevls Preston (88/1 win ); 8 . David Pingree (87) ; 9. Greg Schnell (80) ; 10. J ason McCormick (69) : J I. (TIE) Keith Joh nson/ Jirl Dostal (62): 13. Er ick Vallejo (53) : 14..Derri ck Shae Bentl ey (46): 15. Tyler Evans (39) : 16. Steve Boniface (33); 17. Kevin Johnson (31) ; 18. Ryan Clark (30); 19 . J ohnny Ma rley (29 ) : 20 . (TIE) Cas ey Lytl e/ Bryan McGavra n (27) .

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