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/128107
AMA Chevy Trucks 125cc U .S . M otocross Championship Series R ound 3 : High Point Raceway t has be en a while since teenage motocr o ss phenom Travis Pastran a has won a race. It was the St. Louis 125cc Supercross back on March 3 1, to be exact. Fo r Pastra na , nea rly two m onths is a long tim e. On a cool and da m p da y in so uth wes t e r n Pennsylvania , Pastrana showed t hat he is still a force to be dea lt with in the 125cc campaign, as he won both motos of the third round of the AMA Chevy Trucks 125cc U.S . Motocross Championsh ip Series at High Point Racewa y. In the firs t moto , the 17-year-old Annapo lis , Maryland , resident had q uite a cha llenge - Suzuki rider , Akira Nar ita. Pastrana was forced to resort to a gutsy downh ill pass on Nar ita for the lead on the fina l la p. In the sec ond moto , however , th ings went a little easie r for Pastrana , as he took a comfortable win fo r his firs t ov e rall victory of the young outdoor ser ies. "Man, it's good to be back on the East Coast," Pastrana said of hislong stint out West. "It's kind of like a sec ond start. I'm just more comfortable out here with the weather, the tracks, a nd the fans . I enjoy it out there [We s t Coast] ; it 's just good to be bac k in my own element . "I got off to two g ood s ta rt s out th ere today and that re a lly he lps ," Pastrana added. "I just cou ldn 't get out of the gate out Wes t. I don 't know what it was, but I'm glad to be back he re. " SplitFi re /Pro Circuit/Kawasaki 's Mike Brown was seco nd overall after finish ing 7 -2 . A poor s tart in moto one held back the friendl y Tennessee native from doing more , but a gr eat start and some strong riding in moto two resulted in a second -place finish in the moto and for the day . Riding with a sore shoulder, Brown knows that consistency is the name of the game in this yea r's 125cc se ries . He hold s third in the standings goi ng into round fou r in two weeks , but he 's a dist ant 42 po ints behind Pastrana du e to his zero-point da y at Hangtown last wee k. "It was just a bad st a rt in the first moto an d I got behind some g uys tha t I re all y shouldn 't have be en be hind a nd they kind of he ld m e up," Brown expla ined of his first-moto sev enth. "I follo we d th e s am e g uy s the who le race a nd didn 't reall y go anyw here. I was able to stay with Pastrana for a while there in the second moto , but I made a few mistakes and didn 't wa nt to reall y push it so I let him go ." Th ird overall went to Team Suzuki's Rod rig Tha in, who rod e to a qu iet yet strong and cons istent 5-5. Th e 12 n B Y D A VE D ERIN GER PH OT OS BY STEVE B RU HN MOUNT MORRIS, PA, MAY 27 I JUNE 6 ,2001 • cue I e e _ s French ride r ha s had a good outdoor season so fa r, except for one moto at G le n Hele n , and h e ho lds a sol id fourth in the po ints stand ing afte r thr ee rounds in the ta lent-filled 125cc cl a ss . O nce aga in , Thain onl y had pos itive th ings to say a t th e end of the da y. "This is really good for me, especia lly this we ekend beca use I'm no t really good o n th is kin d o f track," Tha in said . "I g ot tw o fifths a nd I th in k I' m now in th e h unt for th e championship." The winner of the first two rounds of the series with four mo to victories, Grant Langston , began his day on the wrong foot. As the 125cc riders were waiting for the 30-second board to go up fo r th e open ing moto , Langston stood beside his bike with his hand in t he ai r. The bike ha d an electrical p rob lem fro m the get -g o and after sev era l minute s o f ins pe c t io n, t he South African hop ped aboa rd his bike and took off with the 39 oth er riders . He ga ted poorly and e nded the first la p in 19 th. Afte r a m o to of battl es a nd a slugg ish bike , he eventually finish ed in 10th. The second moto we nt m uc h better , a nd after s ta rting l Oth, he worked h is way up to third by moto 's end . His moto and overall winning steak ended , but he was not (Above left) Suzuki's Travis Pastrana finally got hIs longawaited w in , topping both 125cc motos. (Right) AkIra Narita (98 2) gave Pa strana a scare In th e fi rst moto. He re, he leads Mike Brown (1 00) an d Bro c k Se lla rd s (18). to o down on h is re s ul ts . Winning 125cc Wo rld Champ ionsh ips took strategy, and Langston is positive on the remainder of the series . "Unfortunate ly, I want to win every race I'm in," Langston sa id. "I started around 10th in the second moto a nd finished thi rd, so that is a reasona ble res ult. The trac k kind of got s lick a nd s hiny and I would say it d idn 't rea lly s ui t m y sty le . It ' s s till e arly in the series , tho ug h." Last ye a rs' High Po int winner Kelly S m ith fin is he d fifth. T he KTM/ Red Bull team rider went 4-9 on the slic k and rutty course . He is currently in eig hth in the points standings. Moto XXX/ DGY/Atomic 22's Larry Ward was sixth (6 -8) , while Pla no Hon da 's S co tt Sheak took seventh (9 - 7) . E ig h t h was Team Suzuk i's Danny Sm ith , who fin ished 14-4 in the two motos. Ninth ov e rall wi t h a 2 -35 was Team Suzu ki/Alpinestars/Arai/ Oa kle y-sponsored Ak ira Narita. Narita alm ost had a fa bulous da y (see sidebar) and was clea rly on e of th e fastest on the track. A m ech an ical fa ilure in moto two (dirt in the carburetor) lim ited Narita from s hining ag a in. He surprised everybody at the event. Yamaha of Troy/Fox -backed Nic Wey was 10th ove ra ll with his II -II