Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Above) The track seemed to favor former GP riders, as Mike Brown kept Langston hone st in bo th motos, fi nishing a strong second overall . (Right) Defending champ Travis Pastrana got the series off to a rough start with a crash-plagued t hird overall, but sinc e he fi nished In the same posit ion last year at Glen Helen, he 's not overly co ncerned. class going into round two a t Ha ng town next week. Yamaha of Troy's Ern esto Fo nseca was sixth overall with 12 -7 scores, while Team Suzu ki! Axe 's Danny Smith finis hed seventh via 10-9 placings. KTM Red Bull's Brock Sellards had a so -so day by go ing 19-5. The Ohio n a t ive had a po or start in the first moto and a little better start th e s e cond tim e out. S t ill , S e lla rds came from a distan c e back a nd m ad e a slew of pa ss es en route to his secondmoto fifth-p lace finish. Motowo rldRac ing .com / Answ er 's Greg S c h ne ll was ni nt h with a 9 -15 t a lly . Schn ell 's s c or es do n 't tell his wh ole story be ca use he wa s a fro nt runner all day. Als o aboard a YZ2 50 F , Schell started we ll both tim es out and was in the mix s e ve ra l t imes . A few small bobbles dropped the local bo y back in the p ac k both times , but he, too, will make s ome noise th is s um me r aboard h is thumpe r. Yamaha of Troy's Nick Wey ro unded out the top 10 with 8 -1 6 scores and was a front- runne r early in moto one. Th e Mic hig an rider was o ne o f only a few factory- supported Yamaha riders who chos e to ride th e sta nda rdissu e YZ125 two -strok e , and he plans on stic king with it for the remainder of th e summer. Mak ing a big return wa s Florence , Sou th Caro lina 's Larry Ward . "Big Bird" wa s offered a ride from privateer team Moto XXX/DG Y/Atomic 22 several weeks ago and he also jo ined the 125cc class aboard a 250F Yamaha . Ward rode great in moto one, surprising some of t h e youngsters as he raced to a very re s pecte d fourth -pla ce fin ish beh ind Langston , Br ow n a n d Pastrana . Moto two saw Wa rd up front ag ain , but an early crash knocked the wind o ut of the 31 -year-old 's s a ils and dropped him to 30th at the end . Still, h is 4-3 0 rid e was good enough for 11th overall a nd second privateer. "The first moto we nt well , and I was up the re aga in in the s e c ond .m oto ," Wa rd said , "b u t I push ed to o ha rd going into a co rne r a nd went off the t ra c k . Then I c o u ld n' t get m y bike re st arte d, and then I was way down. I do fee l confide nt th at I c a n run with these guys now." Yamaha of Troy's Nathan Ra m se y was 12th, while Su zuki's Rod rig Tha in was 13th . A broke n p ipe e a rly in moto two killed any of Th a in's cha nces for a podium ride . Plano Honda ' s Ivan Te d esco was 14th, and Pro Circuit/K a ws aki/SplitFire 's Ta llon Vohland was 15th. Th e 12 5cc c lass is a b so lutely p ac ked w ith t a le n t thi s y e a r , a nd al thoug h Langston s o lid ly wo n bot h motos , look for many different moto winne rs throughout the s umme r. The YZ2 5 0Fs are d e fin it e ly a fac tor as well , but talent seems to be the ult imate deciding fa ctor. A few lap s lat er, Pastrana fell in a corne r a nd lost so me time but no posi tions. Then later he bo bbled a ga in at the top of on e of the huge hills. Langsto n had tota l control fo r th e final few laps , and altho ugh Brown m ade a nothe r charge, he was a bout five seconds behind at the finish. Pas tra na held on for third in front of Ward, and Th ain c ha rged hard for fifth. Huffman ca me acro s s for six th in front of Voh land , We y , S chn ell a nd S mith, who 'rounded out th e top 10 . "I wa nte d to do well he re bec a us e th is tra ck is awesome ," Pastra na s aid . "I love the hills. I do need to step it up a c o u p le of se con ds n e xt m o t o , tho ug h." MOTO 1 MOT02 Mot o XXX 's Micha e l Bra ndes grabbed th e lea d off th e start of the first moto with We y , J ohn s o n , Langston and Brown following. Brande s, who was making a come back to the National tour s ince being out of a ction from th e opening Super c ros s in J anuary, led the first lap with Br own and Langston c lose be h ind . Pastrana was ba ck in a bout 1 1th . Brown qu ick ly got by Brande s , as did Langston , and the two beg an to pull away. Pastrana was up to s ixth on t he secon d lap , as h e wa s m ak ing some gutsy passes down som e of th e huge , rough downhi lls . Langston got by Brown down a hill on the third la p , and s oon thereafter, Brandes went d own while runnin g third and lost many positions . Whil e ho ld ing s econd b e h ind La ngston, Brown lost his ba lance a nd we nt down in front of the announcers' to wer o n the fro nt s t rai g ht. He lost some time to Langston , but no other riders passed him while he wa s down. In fac t, he remo un te d q ui te qui c k ly a nd re started his charge. By the ha lfway point, Langston was a bo ut e ight s econds ahead of Brown , and Pastra na was in th ird another five s ec onds ba ck . Ward had m ov ed into fourth ar ound Wey , a bo ut 10 seconds beh ind Pastrana . Teammates Huffman and Schnell were th e fa s t starters in moto tw o . Langs ton was a lso up front with Pastrana , Brown, Wa rd and Sellards. Langston m oved by Schne ll for sec o nd on the se cond la p , and Brown got by S chne ll, too, late r that same la p . Pastrana was o n th e groun d for th e th ird time o n th e day a nd ha d some major wo rk awa iting him. At the end of the second lap , Pa strana was in 17th . Hu ffman wa s still a h e a d of th e Langston/Brown fre ight -train , but that wo uld on ly' last one more lap , when the two got by. Both passed Huffma n on the same lap in the ba ck section of th e track . Ward went down wh ile try ing to get a ro und Huffman , an d it took a long time for him to get restarted. Pastra~a was up to 11th by th e halfway po int, a nd Brown wa s a ll over Langston up fro nt, hound ing th e first-moto win ner for the lead. The two rod e in tandem for much of th e ra c e , as Lan gston was unabl e to shake his old GP riva l Brown on ce ag a in. In th e final lap s, La ngston only had a two -second le ad on Brown. Huffm a n was still in thi rd , bu t h is bike was making a racket, ha ving lost its muffler in the Bud 's Cre e k s ection of the tra ck . Pastrana had worked his way up to fourth, a nd KTM-mounte d Sella rds wa s on a ch arge as he mov ed cue' e by a stro ng -runn ing S chnell for fifth in th e closing laps . At the finish , it wa s Langston ta king his se cond m oto of the day, with Brown m uc h closer this time. Huffman threw a fist in th e ai r for his thi rd place ride, a nd Pastrana c ro ssed in fourth. Sella rds wa s ne xt. J ohnson wa s s ixth with Fonseca, Ramsey , Smith and Fast by Ferra cci Husqvarna 's St eve La m s on rou ndi ng o u t th e t op 10 . Schnell ha d gone down and dr opped to 15th. "It's a great way to sta rt this series ," Langston com m ented at the end of the da y. And when a sked about h is first Supercross win se ve ra l weeks e a rlier, Langston sa id, "Da lla s wa s amazing . Th is is great a nd I'm real exci te d, but that Superc ross win in Dallas is some eN th ing I'll never forget. " G Helen Ra len ceway San B emardino, Califomia Results: May 13, 2001 125 MOTO I (30 minute s. plus 2 laps) : 1. Grant Langston (KTM ); 2. Mike Brown (Kaw); 3 . T ravis Pastrana (Suz) ; 4 . Larry Ward (Yam); 5 . Rodrig Tha in (Suz) : 6. Dam on Huffman (Yam); 7 . T allon Vohland (Kaw); 8. Nick Wey (Yam ); 9 . Greg Schnell (Yam) ; 10 . Danny Smith (Suz); 11. Keith Johnson (Yam); 12. Emesto Fonseca (Yam); 13. Casey Lytle (Kaw ); 14. Scott Sheek ( Ho n) ; 15. Iva n Tedes co (Ho n); 16 . Andrew Short (Kaw); 17. Nathan Ramsey (Yam ); 18. Kelly Smi th (KTM): 19. Broc k Sellards (KTM); 20 . Keith Johnson (Yam) ; 21. Branden .Jessem an (Hon); 22 . Justin Buckelew (Yam); 23. Josh Woods (Kaw); 24. Chris Wheeler (5 uz); 25. David Pingree (KTM) ; 26. Steve Boniface (Han); 27 . Bryan McGavran (Hus); 28 . Kevin Johnson (Yam) ; 29 . Steve Lamson (Hus); 30 . Gerrit Ordelman (Yam) : 31. Shane Watts (KTM); 32 . Jacob Martin (Yam); 33. Paul verecke (Kaw): 34. Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 35 . Chris Gossela er (Hus); 36. Paul Currie (Han); 37. Ben Riddle (Suz); 38. Michael Brandes (Yam ) ; 39 . Lance Smail (Yam ); 40. Brian Sweaney (Yam) . 125 MOTO 2 (30 minutes, plus 2 laps): I. Grant Langston (KTM); 2. Mike Brown (Kaw) ; 3. Damon Huffman ( Yam) ; 4 . Travis Pastrana (Suz): 5. Brock Sellards (KTM) ; 6. Keith Johnson (Yam) ; 7. Emesto Fonseca (Yam); 8. Nathan Ramsey (Yam); 9. Danny Smith (Suz ) ; t o. Steve Lam son ( Hus); 1 1. Justin Buckelew (Yam); 12. David Pingree (KTM); 13. Ivan T edesco (H on) ; 14 . Josh Woods (Ka w) ; 15 . Greg Schnell (Yam) ; 16. Nick Wey (Yam); 17. Scott Sh eek (Hon); l B. Steve Boniface (Hon) ; 19. Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 20 . Andrew Short (Kaw): 2 1. Chris Gosselaar ( Hus) ; 22 , Casey Lytle (Kaw); 23 . Chris Whee ler (S uz); 24 . Lance Smail (Yam) ; 25. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 26. Shane Watts (KTM); 27 . Gerrit Ordelman (Yam) ; 28 . Paul Veracka (Kaw); 29. Bryan McGavran (Hus) ; 30. Larry Ward (Yam ): 31. Michael Brandes (Ya m) ; 32 . J ac ob Ma rtin ( Ya m) ; 33 . Branden Je sseman ( Hon); 3 4 . Keith Johnson ( Yam) : 35 . Rodrig Th ain (Suz); 36 . Brian Sweany ( Yam); 37. Tallo n Vohlan d ( Kaw) : 38 . Kelly Smith ( KTM); 39 . Paul Currie (Hon): 40. Ben Riddle (Suz). 125 O /A : 1. Gran t Lan gston ( KTM ); 2 . Mike Brown ( Kaw) ; 3 . Tr avis Pastrana (Suz); 4 . Damon Huffman (Yam); 5. Keith Johnson (Yam): 6. Emesto Fonseca (Yam) ; 7. Danny Sm ith (S uz); 8. Brock Sellards (KTM); 9. Greg Schnell (Yam); 10. Nick Wey (Yam); 11. Larry Ward (Yam); 12. Nathan Ramsey (Yam) ; 13 . Rodrig Th ain (Suz) ; 14 . Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 15. Tallon Vohland (Kaw); 16. Steve Lamson (Hus) ; 17. Scott Sheak (Hon) ; 18. Justin Buckelew (Yam ); 19. David Pingree (KTM); 20. Casey Lytle (Kaw); 2 1. Josh Woods (Kaw) ; 22 . Andrew Short (Kaw) ; 23 . Steve Boniface (Hon) ; 24 . Kelly Smith (KTM); 25 . Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 26 . Keith Johnson (Yam) ; 27. Chris Gosselaar (Hus); 28 . Chris Wheeler (S uz) ; 29 . Lance Sma il (Yam) ; 30. Kevin Johnson (Yom) . AMA CHEVY TRUCKS 125cc NATIONAL C'S H IP MOTOCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (A ft er 1 of 12 rounds): 1. Grant Langston (SOil win); 2. Mike Brown (44); 3 . Travis Pastrana (38); 4. Damon Huffman (35); 5. Keith Johnson (25); 6. (TIE) Danny Smi th/Emes to Fonseca (23) ; 8. (TI E) Larry Ward/ Nick Wey/ Greg Sc hnell / Breck Sellards (18); 12 . Nat han Ram sey (17); 13 . Rodrig Th ain (16 ); 14. (TIE) T allon Vohland / lv an Tedesco (14 ); 16 . (TIE) Scott Sheek/Ste ve Lamson (1 1); 18. Justin Buckelew (10) ; 19. David Pmqree (9 ): 20 . Casey Lytle (8 ); 21. Josh Woods (7 ) ; 22 . And rew Short (6 ) ; 23 . (T IE) Kelly Smith/ Steve Boniface (3); 25. Bobby Bonds (2); 26 . Keith Johnson ( 1). Upcoming Rounds : Round 2 - Sacramento, California, May 19 Round 3 - Mount Marrs, Pennsylvania, May 27 n e vv os MAY 23,200 1 13

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