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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128104
injuries putting him out of the top five
in Ea ste rn points after nearly winn ing
last year's title.
"I made a mistake in the beg in n in g , and some of th e guys were
tripling th e rhythm section," S ellards
said. "But I fought my way th rou gh . I
wa s k ind of s t a yi ng pr etty cl o s e to
Pa s tr a na once he g a p ped m e , bu t I
hav en 't re ally pu t in any s u percross
rid ing time in a while. It just fe lt good
to get back out here and try and perfor m the best I can. "
M AIN
KTM Red Bull riders had holeshot
both 125cc heat races, and Dav id
Ping re e c o ntin ue d the the me in the
main event , putting his 12 5 SX into
turn o ne ahead of the pack. Fon se c a
was right behind - then right in front
via a move through the whoops . The
first la p ended with Fonseca leading
Ping re e a nd Ra m s e y , an d Pa stra n a
sitti ng fourth tha nks to an imperfect
start and a casing of a trip le. Ra msey
g o t by Pin gr e e for seco n d in the
rhy thm sect ion a nd began hounding
his lea ding tea m mate, while Pa strana
slipped up agai n - thi s time literally when he spun in a turn. He shook off
th e error, how ev er, and zapped Pin gr ee in the whoops on lap three, at
which point the order re a d Fonseca ,
Ra m s e y and Pastrana , followed at a
distance by the KTM tr io of Sellards,
Pingree and Grant Langston.
It wa s now Ramsey 's turn for a
mistake , and he got so out of shape
in the rhythm section (a ft e r h itt ing
neutral) that Pastrana was able to get
by. Now the 1Wand 1E b ikes were
runn ing o n e- t wo, and a g enuin e
s hoo to ut was beginning t o take
s ha pe.
Wor king hard , Pastrana be ga n narro wing the g a p slightly, towi ng Ra m sey a long behind him for several laps.
Just past mid-race, Fonse c a bobbled
in the whoops, and Pastrana closed
right up behind him , only to double
the triple and then err in the rhythm
section . The latter incident allowed
Ramsey back by into second , and it
was clear that he smelle d blood as he
started chasing down his teammate .
At the start of lap 13 , Ramsey went
under Fonseca in turn one , taking
over the lead.
"He kind of swept out because he
was setting up that triple ," Ramsey
said. "I knew he was going to do it, so
I kind of took advantage of him a little bit. He's a little smaller than me."
Moments later, Pastrana 's c hances
at victory wer e ru ined whe n he c a me
u p way sho rt on a tr ip le, sl a m ming
int o th e face of the third jum p and
putting along slowly fo r a fe w
moments before sucking it up and
continuing on.
"I was com ing out of tha t corner,
and I was having to shift right on th e
take -off to that triple, " Pastrana sa id.
"I mis-sh ifted into second three times
to nig ht. I'm a little sore, but I' ll be
great for the outdoors. I' ll s leep a
c o u p le days and take s o me Adv il,
and I'll be okay:
Fonseca appeared flustered after
be ing passed , going off th e track in
th e whoops on lap 12, then n early
goi ng over t h e bars in the rhy t hm
section on lap 13. Late r th a t same
circuit, Fonseca finally a ugured hard
in the whoops, rewarding Pastrana's
perseverance by donating second.
Ramsey rode on to the win , well
ahead of Pastrana and Sellards. "We
were just hoping to come out of here
with a victory," S e lla rd s said. "KTM
got its first win with Grant, and I was
hoping to win the first east coast-west
coast shootout for them. All I can say
is we 're going to be strong outdoors:
Fast by Ferra cci Husqvarna 's
Travis Preston m ade it two Eu ro bikes
in the top four, w ith Pro C ircu it /
Kawasaki/ Spli tFire rid e r Michael
Brown collectin g fifth . Ne x t w a s
Yamaha of Troy's Nick Wey, followed
by Motowo r ldRa cing.com / An sw er
Yamaha's Ke ith Johnson and Fo nseca .
Johnson 's Motoworld teammate Greg
Schnell was ninth, ahead of Ping ree.
"I just want to th ank God for keep ing me safe out there," Ramsey sa id.
"Thi s year it's east coast, baby:
l:N
Dave Coons Sr. 1Z5cc EastlWestShootout
Ia Vegas. Nevada
Results: May 5, z00 1
c u e .
Ramsey ran Yamaha of Troy teammate
Emesto Fo nseca down o n the 13th lap
to take over the l ead . He then amassed
a seven-second margin of victory.
125 HEA T 1 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer) : 1. T ravis
Pastrana (Suz) : 2. Nath a n Ramsey (Yam) : 3. Mic hael
Brown ( Kaw ) ; 4 . Kelly Smi t h ( KT M); 5 . Bro ck
Sellard s (KTM); 6 . Ch rist opher Gosselee r (Hus ); 7 .
Ni cholas Wey (Yam ); 8 . Travis Elli ott ( Hon); 9 . Tyson
Hadsell (Yam) ; 10. Ben Ridd le (Suz); 11. Thoma s
Hofmaster (Yam); 12 . Matt Wa lker (Hon); 13 . Jos eph
O ehlhof ( Ya m) ; 14 . Scott Metz (Suz ) ; 15 . Brian
Bran don (S uz) ; 16. Tim Hawtho rne (Yam ): 17. Isaiah
Johnson (Ya m); 16. Da vid Oe tttel (Yam) .
Time: 5 m in ., 19.370 sees.
12 5 HEAT 2 (6 laps, 1-9 t rans fer) : 1. Grant
La ngston ( KT M) ; 2. Tr avis Prest o n ( Hus) ; 3 . Rodrig
T ha in ( Suz) ; 4 . E mesto Fo nseca ( Yam) ; 5. Da v id
Ping ree ( KT M) ; 6 . Ke it h J ohnson (Ye m) : 7 . Kevin
J oh n son ( Yam); 6 . Greg Sc hne ll (Y am) ; 9 . Erick
Vall ejo ( Kaw) ; 10. Ivan Tedesco ( Han); 1 t . John ny
Marl ey (Hon) ; 12 . Steve Boniface ( Ha n); 13. J ustin
Bu ck el ew (Yam) ; 14 . Gio Tedesco ( Han ); 15 . Er ic
Kowa lik ( Han) ; 16. M ich ael Ka nn (Yam); 17. Ste ven
E ugenio (Y a m ) ; 16 . .Io net he n Ol er (Ya m) ; 19 .
Jeremy Chaussee ( Ha n); 20 . Tyson Taylor (Hon) .
TIme: 5 m in ., 16.370 sees.
12 5 L C Q ( 4 laps, 1-2 tra n sfe r ) : t • J us ti n
Buck elew (Yam); 2. Steve Boniface ( Han); 3. Joseph
Oehl hof (Yam) ; 4. J oh nny Ma r ley ( Ha n ); 5. Ivan
Tedesco (Hon) ; 6 . Ben Riddle (Suz) ; 7. Gio Tedesco
( Ha n ); 8 . Eri c Kow ali k ( Han); 9 . J erem y Ch aussee
( Han); 10. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam); 11. Jonathan
Oler ( Yam ); 12 . Ti m Hawthorne (Y am ) ; 13 . Brian
B ra ndo n ( 5 uz); 14 . Steve n Eu gen io ( Ya m): 15 .
Mi chael K ann (Yam); 16. Mlltl Walker ( Ha n) ; 17.
Scott Metz ( Suz) ; 18 . Isa iah Joh nson ( v ern) : 19.
David Oenel ( Yam) ; 20 . Tyson Taylor ( Han) .
Time: 3 min.• 37 .000 sees.
DAVE COOMBS SR . 125c c E A S T / W ES T
SHODTO

