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/128104
Tim Ferry continued to Imp ress v ia a second straight podium appearance. The fonner 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Champion clearly found his niche aboard the factory Yamaha VZ426 F this season. of him. As this series ha s proven , you never can tell , but it certainly doesn 't a ppear that t h e C h e v y T r u c k s Kawasaki rider will be seriously challenged a ny tim e soon. @OUD "T h a t wa s a tough one tonight ," Carmichael sa id . "Jeremy was riding good , and I was too . I want to win every time I [put] m y bike on that dirt. I got tha t 13th one in a row, and ©of§J DD Though it was the final round of the EA Sports series, this was only the first half of Las Vegas SX Racing for 2001. After the National MX Series winds up, the THQ U.S. Open will be retuming once again on October 12-13 for the fourth time, and organizers were on hand at this race touting the unique event. Flying over the stadium was an airplane towing a banner advertising the race, and at the entrance to the pits was a wheel of fortune, which fans could spin for a shot at winning posters, goggles, event programs or tickets to the U.S. Open. (There was no poss ibility of winning the showgirl, though she may have been part of the reason for the booth's line being among the pits' longest). In addition to the usual pro racing, White Brothers four-stroke competition and Pro Circuit mini invitational (with the top 12 riders from Loretta Lynn's stock class), this year's U.S. Open will also include a KTM mini challenge featuring the winners of each EA Sports Supercross round competing head to head . Also new is the 125cc Engine Ice Amateur Cup, for which Honda, Husqvama, Kawasaki, KTM. Suzuki and Yamaha will each get to invite two amateur riders (it is hoped that James Stewart will attend). The event will still be held at the MGM Grand, but the track will be longer thanks to a displacement of the start area, the inclusion of an over-under bridge, and the removal of a few seats (the track will still have an outside section as in years past) . Perhaps most importantly, the ticket pricing structure has been reworked to be more affordable, with seats going for $100, $60 and $20 (half that for children under 16). Clark stressed that fans planning on staying in the MGM Grand should reserve rooms early to get the best price (For more information, log on to www.ussx.com ). "The whole idea is to make it very affordable for the families to come this year," sa id event promoter Tim Clark, who added that Sebastien Tortelli and Travis Pastrana have been confirmed, and that many other top rider s (including last year 's champion Ricky Carmichael) are expected. They'll be fighting once again for a $300, 000 purse, at least one-third of which will go to the winner. In addition, Sunday will feature the Amateur Arenacross World Finals. a showdown between 288 riders from the National Series that ran in conjunction with this year's SFX National Arenacross Series. During the intermissions at this weekend's race, past U.S. Open champions Damon Huffman , Ricky Carmichael and Jeff Emig were presented with number-one plates commemorating their past wins. Followinq his presentation, Emig left his plate sitting on the stage - until Clark told him that it was made out of gold. 'Fro immediately ran back to retrieve the plate, only to be informed by a laughing Clark - infamous for his practical jokes - that he had been "got." Emig, of course, vowed revenge. it fe e ls good . I' m going to start off 10 0 percent next ye a r. It was nice to win that last race and go out with a bang - leave it in everybody 's head that I'm the champ." The best indicator of the scale of Carmichael's a chieve ment this se rie s is wh o he had to beat to do it, and at th e c oncl u si o n of wha t has been a m ost d ifficul t season for Jerem y McGrath , th e Mazda Yamaha rider did h im sel f proud with an ins p ire d ride that was worthy of this story's resurrection theme. With the title already wr e sted awa y , McGrath c ould have simply gone thro ugh the motions in the C ity of Lights, but the seven -t ime cha m p has too much pr ide for tha t. Aft e r la st we ek ' s ra c e in Sa lt Lake City, he and his team regrouped ba ck home in C a lifo rn ia , w here t hey squeezed in a couple of days of testing . Ar m ed with some new setting s ( in cl u d in g the switch to a n FM F expans ion chambe r), McGrath turned in the fa ste st heat- ra ce tim e and led for seve ral la p s in the ma in befo re succ u m bi ng to Ca rm ichael' s rel e ntle ss p re s su re , a ft er which he s t ill stayed with in str iking d ista nce to the finis h. It wa s a pe rfor m a nc e re mi niscent of the Mc Grath of old , and althoug h his season is now finis hed, one got the feel in g that there was something to McGrath's words when he told those on hand that he would see them in January . "It seems like [th e bike ] wa s rea lly great ton ight - it m a de a difference," said McGrath , who thanked Yamaha and his team for put t ing in the extra test ing e ffort d ur ing t he week . "If t hat' s not d e d ica t io n , I don 't know what is. I'm no t giving up. I'm going .. U .. I e to work my butt off and try and come back and win th is thing next year. It's given m e some motivation. I've got s ome gr e at guys behind m e , and the y proved that this week ." Making the podium for the second week in a row was Te am Yam ah a 's Ti m Fe rry , whose ste ad y im p ro ve ment this ye a r has been qu ite a story. Armed with a factory four-stro ke that ha s a n otable h istory in this venue, Ferry took the holesho t and rode rel atively m ista ke -fre e , e a s ily turning in a th ird- p la c e fin ish and taking six th p lace in the final points . "I've come into my own th is last ha lf of the season ," Ferry sa id. "The firs t part of the sea son I wa s running up front and dropp ing ba ck , but now I thi nk I pr ov ed that I can ru n up fron t and stay up front , wh ich is definitel y a b ig confidenc e -build e r goin g into Glen Helen. " Also finish ing out the s eries on a strong note was Frenchman Stephane Roncada , whose fourth -p lace result on the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki was h is best of the ye a r. "T h a t really helps , " said a n unc h a ra c terist ically u nderspoke n Roncada of his performa nce , wh ich certai n ly does bod e well a s th e riders p repare to h it th e o utd oor ci rcui t. Rounding out the top five was Team Honda 's Sebastien Tort ell i. who se Th e Mummy Retu rns b ike and g e ar were the whole in s pi ra t io n for this story 's lame angle . Don 't blame him, however, a s th e Fre nc hm a n was also riding some of h is best S upercross of the year, recoveri ng from a terrible st art to post h is resu lt. M AIN It wa s a four-stroke sta rt , as th e le a d b e lo n g e d to F e rry ' s Ya m a h a YZ426 F a t the entrance, and to Hea th Vo s s ' Hond a C RF4 50 R o n the ex it. McGrath had a ls o gated we ll, however, and he pounded by Vo ss for the lead in t h e lap -one whoops . Ferry also got by for second, and as la p two got un derway , he was trying to power his way ba c k into the lead. McGrath held th e good line, but continued to be challenged by an aggressive Fe rry for t he next few laps . As fo r Carm ichael , he had gated well as usual , only to get s huffled bac k a few spots. "[Jeremy] cut me off on the start, close d th e door on me ," Car micha el said. "It kind of messed e verything up for me . It was clean, but he definitely shut t he door. That's just the wa y it goes." Back in eighth near t h e mid wa y point o f la p one , Ca rmichae l wa s n e _ S • MAY 16, 2 0 01 17