Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlEA S p o rts S u p e r c r o s s S e ries Round 15 : Rice-Eccles Stad ium 17. Jaso n Dubin (Suz); 18. Albert Odden (Suz); 19. David Ramsey (Yam ); 20 . Joel Nelson (Yam) . Ti me: 7 min.. 40.340 sec . 250 SEMI 1 (6 laps. 1-5 transfer) : 1. David Vuillemin ( Yam); 2 . Kyle Lewi s ( Yam ) ; 3. Doug Dehaan (Han) ; 4 . Michael Craig (Han ) ; 5 . Robbie Skaggs (Suz) ; 6. Damon Huffman (Yam) : 7. Ja son Tho mas (Hus); 8. T ravis Hodges (Han); 9 . Dustin Nelson (Yam); 10. Jimmy Wilson (Yam) ; 11. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam) ; 12. T yson Tay lor (Han); 13. Brian Mason (Kaw ); 14. Ted Cam pbell (Suz) ; 15 . Brian Edwards (Ka w); 16. Matthew Bateman (Yam) . Time: 5 m ln ., 41.190 sec . 250 SEMI 2 (6 laps, 1-5 tran sfer ) : 1. Jaso n McCormick (Suz); 2. Michael Byrne (Kaw); 3. Isaiah Johnson (Ya m); 4 . J am es Povolny Jr. ( Ha n) ; 5 . Pedro Gonzales (Kaw) ; 6. Jean-Sebastien Roy (Hon); 7. Heath Voss (Hon): 8. Ty Kady (Suz); 9. Robb Floth (Hon) ; 10 . Donald Upton (Suz) ; 11. Michael Kann ( Yam); 12. Jason dubin (Suz); 13. Kris Papworth ( Ka w); 14 . Albert O dden (S uz) ; 15. Joel Nelso n (Yam); 16. David Ramsey (Yam ). Time: 5 mtn., 57.91 0 sec. 250 LeQ (6 laps , 1· 2 tran sf er) : 1. Dam on Huffm an ( Yam) ; 2 . Heath Voss ( Hon) ; 3 . Travi s Hodges (Hon) ; 4. Jimm y Wilson (Yam ) ; 5. Dustin Nels on (Yam ) ; 6 . Thoma s Hofma ster (Ya m) ; 7 . Micha el Kann (Yam); 8 . Kris Papworth ( Kaw) ; 9 . Ro Floth (Hon); 10. Donald Upton (SUl ); 11.Jeanbb Sebastien Roy (Hon); 12. Ted Campb (SUl ); 13. ell Joel Nelson (Yam) ; 14. ason Dubin (Suz); 15. Jason T hom a s ( Hus ) ; 16 . TyK a d y ( Suz ) ; 17 . Bri an Edwards (Kaw); 18. Tyson taylor (Hon); 19. Brian Mason (Kaw); 20 . Albert Odden (SuzZ) ; 21 . David Ramsey (Yam) ; 22. Matthew Bateman (Yam). lime: 6 min., 6.2 40 sec. 250 MAI N ( 20 la ps) ; 1. Ricky Carmic hael (Kaw): 2. Tim Ferry (Yam); 3. Mike laRocco (Hon); 4. David Vuillemin (Yam) ; 5 . Ezra Lusk (Hon) ; 6 . Jeremy McGrath (Yam) ; 7. Kevin Windham (Suz); 8. Stepha ne Ronc ada (Kaw) ; 9 . Sebas tie n T ortell i ( Hon) ; 10 . Mi chael Byrn e ( Kaw) ; 1 1. Ky le Lewis (Yam) ; 12. Heath Voss (Hon); 13. Mike Craig (Hon); 14. Damon Huffman (Yam); 15. Doug Dehaan (Hon); 16. Isaiah Johnson ( Yam); 17. James Povolny Jr . (Hon); 18. Robbie Skaggs (Suz); 19. Pedro Gonzales (Kaw); 20. Jason McCormick (Suz). lime: 19 min., 25.210 sec. BRIEFLY••• Ricky Carmichael took a na sty head er in the second practice session at Salt Lake. Carmichael pretty much looped out in a double-triple section . As so on as he knew he was in troub le, Carmichael let go of the handlebars while his bike continued on, clearing the triples without him. The new 250cc champ, however, got back up and finished out the practice session . putting up so me of t he best lap t imes of the day . "There' s an ob stacle before the tri ple-doubie and my back wheel landed perfec tly on the back side, - Carmichael said. "The triple is pretty tough with the altitude, and I was kind of on the back of the bike when I landed, it shot out from under my arms. I hit the back of my head [on the ground] really. really hard. I mean, I almost took a trip to la-Ia land. I was on the verge of being knocked out. I didn't go completeiy out. but there was a flash there. I was super dizzy, had a terrible headache and all that good stuff. I took it easy [after the crashl . I didn' t get to sign autographs, and l'rn sorry to all my fans that waited in line for a long time , but I had to take care of things; first things are first. " Carmichael rested upsta irs in the team' s semi. He was still asleep in the semi about an hour before opening ceremonies. W ould he or wouldn't he? Prior to the Salt Lake City Superc ross . there were spec ulations that the new East Coast 125cc Supercross Champion, Travi s P a stran a , was going to compete at Salt Lake in the 250cc class, but the Team Suzuki rider chose to instead stay home in Maryland. Pastrana. who is recoveri ng from the flu. decided it was best to take the wee kend off and prepare for the EastlWest 125cc Shootout in Las Vegas. as well as the upcoming 125cc outdoor Nationals, where he'll being defending his number-one plate in the 125cc class. Team Honda' s Ezra Lusk recorded the fastest lap time during the 25 0cc prac ti ce sessio ns . In t he first session . how ever , Carm ichael was fastest. circulating the track at 56 .377 seco nds, versus l.u sk' s 58 .584 . The next ti me out. Lusk turn ed in th e fastes t lap of the day at 56.20 5. Despite crashing and hitti ng his head , Carmichael sti ll posted t he sec on d-fastest time with a 57 .092. Yamaha of Troy' s .Iustin Buckelew also inju red himself in practice . In the first 125cc session. Buckelew miss-timed the difficult whoo p sectio n and thwacked his chin on the bike's crossbar. Buckelew was left with a gash in his chin that required stitches. He was driven to a nearby hospital and got patched up. though missing the second practice session. Fast By Ferr acci Husqvarnes Bryan McGa vra n also got banged up in practice. In his first att empt to clear a long tri ple jump . the Husqvarna came up way short and slammed into the third jump. Though he recove red nicely and didn't go down, he did ride another 20 feet before falling off the bike deliberately . " It kind knocked the wind out of me, and my arms go t a lillie tingly ." McG avran said. A few minutes later, McGavran gathered himself up and completed the practice sessio n. " I'll be okay." he said. The approximatley 5000-foot elevation of the Rice-Eccles Stadium required serious jetting changes for the motorcycles. Acco rdIng to Team Yamaha's manager Keith McCarty, the bikes had to be jetted sign if icantly lea ner th an norm al. " Pre tty much th e basics," McCarty said. "You have to lean it out everyw here." The elevation caused more of a havoc for the less-powered 125s than .the 250s. Many of the 125cc riders mentioned that their bikes felt notice ably more sluggish than normal, making it more difficult to clear the long doubles and triples. Less air means less power and less air to hold th em up while the y 're j umping , wh ic h Bryan McGavran fo und out wh en he landed short ove r the trip les . " Yeah. yo u re ally notice it [t he elevat ionl. " M cG avran said. '·W e·re working on it [jelling); we' ll figure it out. " Kawasaki rider Erick Vallejo said, " Last week [Dallas Supercrossl some of the jumps were hard, even though you had a run at them . Here. you have less of a run and the bikes are harder to ride. You really feel the difference. They just don·t.have the power like usual. " 18 MAY 9 , 200 1 • c u e I e n e _ so (Left t o right) Fe rry, Ca nnic hael and laRocco on Salt Lake City's first p odium. Winner's Average Lap TIme: 58.260 sec. Magin of Victory: 03 .130 sec. Af'llA /EA SPORTS SCIPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 15 of 16 rounds); 1. 'R icky Carmic hae l (367/13 win s) ; 2 . Jer em y Mc Grath (306/2 wins); 3. Mike laRocco (27 1); 4. Ezra Lusk (254); 5. Kevin Windham (245); 6. Tim Ferry (201); 7 . David Vuillem in ( 15 3); 8. Stepha ne Roncada (147); 9. Michael Byrne (130): 10. Damon Huffman (12 5 ); 11. Sebastien Tortelli (123); 12. Heath Voss Speaking of the track. the dirt used for the Salt Lake Supercross was described by many of the riders as very soft and rocky , not to mention dusty because of the abnormally dry and warm, and windy conditions . However, the track was kept watered all day and night , so conditions were very good for the eveninq's racmq, As far as track layout. track builders Dirt W urx utilized every inch of the stadium's floor, coming up with a challenging race course, but the 14-whoop-long section was the toughest. The steep whoops gave riders flts all night. Most of the 125cc riders wo uld charge into the whoops quite fast. only to loose momentu m by the 10th whoop, where. after that. they wo uld do anything just to get to the ot her side. Even many of the 250cc riders struggled. but Ricky Carmichael and Ezra Lusk had the whoop s obvio usly dialed in better than anyone else. By the main event s, however. the whoops had wo rn down slightly, making it easier for everyone . Friday's practice session was canceled, since Dirt W urx did not have the time to get the track ready . Extra preparations were needed to protect the stadium's natural gras s field. This made things partic ularly diffic ult for the riders who needed extra time to jet their bikes because of the higher-than-usual elevat ion. This meant that everyone had just two 20 -minute practice sessions to get their bike's carbureted correc tly. Mazda Yamaha team manager Larry Broo ks (below) was a litt le more a pprehensive than usual at Salt Lake, but it had nothing to do with his team or his team' s rider Jeremy McGrath. Instead, it was because of his twin sons, Darin and Derik. who were racing in the KTM Jr . Challenge . " I'm a little nervous, actu all y I' m really nerv ous, " Brook s, a former racer himself, said. "This will be only the second time th ey 'v e ever raced rac e s. Hey. as long as they have fun . th ats whats important. " After w innin g th e . 125cc main event and wrapping up the We st Coast 125cc title, Ern es t o Fon sec a said f rom t he podium t hat the Y amaha YZ250F had its a dva nta ges and disadvantages throughout the bike's first season of racing. Fonsece elaborated on this subject later on from the Yamaha of Troy pit s. "I th ink it [the VZ250Fl worked out great. " Fonseca said. "My bike is real good, Btl has a lot of power. I think it 's good for hard-packed stuff and slippery stuff. like the way the track was today . I think it handles maybe a little better than the tw o-stroke. but rt' s hard to start when you kill it. That's one of the only disadvantages it 's got. You have more to gain [wit h the YZ250 Fl than to lose. You've just got to be careful not to crash." Team Suzuki' s Danny Smith has been riding again. W ord from the Suzuki pits is that Smith is coming along will since breaking his navicular (w rist> about a month ago . Smith will sit out the EastlWest Shoot out at Las Vegas in order to get ready for the outdoor Nationals . Team Honda"s Sebastien Tortelli will debut a new logo on his bike at Las Vegas to promote the premier of the movie The Mummy Returns. Universal Studios, who produces the movie and is a sponsor of the Honda team , is releasing the movie the same weekend as the Las Vega s Supercross. Tort elli' s normally red Honda will be decked out in all-black Thrott le Jockey-designed graph ics . featuring "creepy " looking movi e charac te rs on the sidepanels and fenders. He'll also be wearing color-matching Thor gear. Ezra Lusk will w ear Jurasic Park II colors and graphics at the Red Bud National Moto cross in Michigan on July 1. (116); 13. Kyle Lewis (105); 14. Robbie Reynard (97); 15. Nick Wey (72); 16. Mike Craig (71); 17. .Jean -Seb estlen Roy (67) ; 18. Casey Johnson (66 ); 19. Steve Lamson (56) ; 20 . Nathan Ramsey (5 1). " Clinc hed Championship. Upcomi ng Round : Round 16" Las Vegas, Nevada, May 4 Ricky Carmichael has decided to break the mold by not wearing the n umbe r-on e plate in the 250cc Nationals. The defending champ will instead stick with his now more familiar number-four icon. Carmichael says he likes Ihe number four and feels it will be a good way to market his name. " He likes. and we like it: said Kawasaki media relation's manager Tony G ardea. Team Yamaha's D avid Vuillem in made his return to racing since brea king his collarbone at the St. Louis Supercross last month. Following the day's two pract ice sessions, Vuillemin said he was glad to be back. " I feel pretty good ,'· Vuillemin said. " It [the collarbone] hurts a little . but not bad. I'm here to get ready for the Nationals, to get back on the bike and in racing conditions again. It wou ld be good to get a couple of good finishes [Salt Lake and Las Vegasl. - A slumping Kevin Windham was very disappointed by the way thing s turne d out for him at Salt Lake. For the first half of the race, Windham was dicing for the lead and. at one point. even passed Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy M cG rath. but Wi ndham faded back just past the halfway mark, which is something he's been having a problem wit h all year. Despite his disappointment. W indham wa s still gracious eno ugh to talk about his below-par night. " Obviously, I'm not happy." Windham said. "It [the 250cc main] started off good . so I gues s that' s something positive out of it. Honest ly, it' s just been so long since l've been out in front; I guess I wasn't riding as comforta ble as I needed to. It [the trackl was getting pretty rough in the end; the corners were getting pretty chewed up. About lap 12, I pumped up pretty good. I just really didn't have any choice but to back it down . really. This point in the season. I don't have anything to really hang it out for right now . [Bull l'rn excited about the outdo ors [National s]; it' s kind of like new life going into a new series. " Erick Vallejo was the lone SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki representative at Salt Lake. This was Vallejo's seco nd ride as a tempor ary member of the team . taking the place of injured rider s Shae Bentley and Casey Lytle. Vallejo will fo r sure ride for Pro C ircuit at Las Vegas but hasn't yet lined up a permanent deal for the Nationals. Team Suzuki' s race team manager Roge r D eCoster did not attend the Salt Lake Supercross. Instead. the five-time World MX Champio n "took a trip bac k to hi s homeland t o alle nd the moto cross grand prix in Belgium. Andy Harrington suffe red a hard get -off in the 125cc Lasl C hance Qualifier. The Moto XXXlCo lorado Powersports rider was carried off the track on a stretcher with a suspecte d broken leg. The first-ever Supercross race held at the Rice-Eccles Stadium , located on the University of Utah's campus. seemed to be a success. The outdoor stadium. which holds roughly 44,000 peopie. was neariy fill ed to capacity . The official attendance was 42,135 . w hich seemed to go over well with everyo ne involved with t he event. The s tad iu m 's director. M ark Burk , said he w as impresse d w it h t he Supe rcross promoters. S FX M ot o r Sports. the A MA and the entire program, and he said that he wou ld like to see Supercross return to Salt Lake Cit y . Everyo ne see med to praise t he entire Ric e Ec cle s St ad ium fac ility . in cl udin g a ll o f th e raci ng t eam s . The on ly thi ng the stadium apparently d idn 't hav e w as a bigscree n te levision, but SF X so lv e d t hat pr ob l em by r enting one of their own and propping it up with a crane.

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