Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

In moto t wo , Conrtaghan nabbed t he holeshot and stayed out front until the finish, c a me to the start line early on S u n day for the Heavyweight S u p e r s port with Sannan in tow. Connaghan netted the Pro/ Intermediate win. while Sannan, the second-p lace finishe r, nabbed the Junior -class victory. Tunnell overcame a poor start to trail race , the transm iss ion in h is 2000 G S X - R7 5 0 sudden ly broke . Palmer w a s f o r c e d to pa rk his 7 50 for the Connaghart in th e Pro/Intermediate po rtion, while .Jen sen finis hed third. In the Jun ior class, B la ckwell fi ni shed sec on d to Sannan but ahead of newcomer Nick Randklev, Joel War· nicke and Sean Ughl Sannan came back se ve ral mo tos later to rema inder o f the weekend and pull out h is b a ttl e - w e a ry ]997 GSX -R 6 0 0 . Pa l m e r t ried valiant ly to run w i t h C la r k and Ledesma, but Palmer's 6 0 0 trounce th e competition in the 125<:c Junior was sim ply not up to the task of class , which had the day's largest field of rid ers. Blackwell trailed Sa nnan in both motos to sn are sec ond overall, followed by Randklev (who was making his 125 cc debut and fi nished third via 5 ·3 finishes), Nick Clarn o (4-4 ) and J erry Braswell (3- 8) . c atching the flee ing Aprilias. Standout performances were also turned i n by Robb Martin , on his R6, and Ama teur Matt Hartl ieb, aboard a Keweseki -m ounted Dann y Gub se r notch ed a win in the 60cc Open and age-gro up races . In the 60cc age· group contest, Gubser overca me a poo r start to tak e a win in the first CBR600F4. Martin was awesome off the line , and h e g o t t he holeshot in nea rl y e ve r y r ace he entered. He Senior (9 - 11) m oto. Gubser came back strong scored a big win in M iddlewe ight GP in moto two to ga rne r a 1- 1 swee p to fin ish ahea d of Ty ler Mc CHnton (2 -3 ) and T ra vis Quesenberry (3 ·4 ). Tra vis McClinton tra iled o ver Donald Bla tte rt a n d then fought his w a y to a nother w in in GTU o ver Le n n y Beckm an , in what w as arg u abl y t he b est r a c e o f t h e w eek - Fi reb i rd Raceway: Mark Ledesma won t he Heavyweight Su pe rb lke, Supertwins and GTO contests In Chandler, Arizona, setting a new track record al ong the way• • end . He later won the Mi ddleweight Sup e r b ike race , over Blattert. Ma rti n w a s also lethal i n the b igb i k e classes . He won the H e a v y weight S u p ers port race after taking a w ay C had Rolla n d 's holes h o t on the f irst lap , a nd t hen h e we nt u n c o n tested to the fi nis h lin e two second s ah ead o f R o ll a nd . He took Roll a nd to t a sk a g a i n in t he Un limited Super sport r ac e wh il e turn ing co ns isten t 1 :0 3 l a p t ime s . T h e s ecret t o Martin ' s su c c e s s ? A cc ord ing to th e Pres co tt , Ar iz ona , ra c er , i t ' s the color o f h is soc ks . Hart l i eb d isplay ed ski lls w ell beyond his e x per i e n c e l evel , as the 30 -year-old former m otocrosser won every Amateur cl a s s h e entered - six in all - and was alwa ys among the top M/W S/ BK AM: I Matthew Hartlieb (Hon): 2 . A lex McElyea (Yam); 3 . Kelly Finnerty (Yam) ; 4 . ThibaukFew(Kaw); 5. TIm Cook(Yam). M!W S/BK EX: I. Robb Martin (Yom); 2. Donald Blenert ( Yam ); 3 . Brian Schaefer (Yam) : 4 . Chad Rolland (Yam); 5. Kris Gilbert (Yam). H/W S/BK AM: I. Matthew Hartlieb (Hon); 2. Shawn Poole ( K a w); 3 . Peter Sp ilger ( D uc) : 4 . Matthew Cope (5uz): 5. TIm Cook (Yam). len H/W SIBK EX: I. Mark Ledesma (Apr); 2. Aaron Cla rk (Apr) ; 3 . Joseph Da wson (Suz) ; 4. Micheel Skll ramagos (Suz) : 5. Mik e Wiebe . l /W GP AM: I. Daryl Woodward (Apr) ; 2. William Busche (Yam); 3. Michael BergrTllln (Sue) ; 4. David Appellof (Suz); 5. JamesMoran (Suz). L!W GP EX: I. Eric An derson (Suz); 2. Patrick Richa rd son ( Due) : 3 . J im Da vis (S uz) ; 4 . Steven Hymer (Suz); 5. Greg Sterosky (BMW). M/W GP AM: 1. Mlitthew Hartl ieb ( Hon ) ; 2 . Jos hua C1.ark (Yem); 3 . TIm Cook (Yem ): 4 . Kelly Finnerty (Yam ): 5. Clifford Piper (Yam). M!W GP EX: I. Robb Martin (Yom); 2. Donald Blettert (Yam) ; 3 . Brina Sch aefer (Yam) ; 4 . Sc ott Will ock (Yam); 5. Jo seph Dawson (Yam). • lJ/l GP EX; I. Aaron Clark (Ap r) ; 2 . Mark Le desm a ( A p r); 3 . Rob b Martin {Ye rn) : 4. l enn y Beckrnen (YlIm) ; 5. A .J . Am ma nn (Yam ). GPSGL: I. Steve Hymer (Suz). n S/SGl; I. Dav;d Appellol (Muz); 2. Roy Hymer (5u.). l /W SPTSMN : I. Barney Wr;gh t (Due) ; 2 . trounced the co mpetition en rout e to his dual wins , which bo th came with 1-1 perfo rma nces. Eq ua lly impres sive was Yamaha -mounted Devin Connagha n, win ner of the 250cc Pro and Before The Hill Pro(lntermediate classes. Conna gh an cortvincingly to pped both Before The Hill ( 16·2 4) Pro/I nterm ediate motos, but the Power Ya rna ha- backed rider had bruta lly tough com peti tion in the 25 0cc Pro cla ss. For mer AMA Natio nal rider Gary Beyer landed a win in the first moto , but Connaghan ca rded a win in moto two after Beyer fell whil e leading. Beyer got off the lin e faste st irt th e fi rst 250cc Pro mota and, while Connaghan reeled in the vete ra n KTM ride r. Beyer rode mistakefree to na rrowly ed ge Con nagh an at the finish. Yernah a-rn ounted Ed Sm ith firtished third. Beye r also got ah ead of Co nnagha n in moto two but fell whi le being pressur ed by Connag han. That was all Conn agh art rteeded to nab the overall victory. Beyer rem ount ed in Middleweight Supersport, fourth over- Thom as Luffey (Kaw) ; 3. David Alexand er (K aw); 4. tim e to c h a s e t he Yam aha ri d e r , but he co uldn't narr ow the ga p a nd Connagh an won overall. all in Unlimited Supersport and fourth David Appellol (Muz); 5. Billy Pedro ISuz}. M/W SPTSMN: I. Jo shua Sort or (Apr); 2 . Pro/lntermed iat e / Jun ior-clas s moto , Sann an five Experts . He ran f i ft h overall i n in H eavyweight Supersport. Ste ve Hym er put i n a n i n s p i re d ride during the Li g h tw ei g h t S uper sport race , p icking' off o n e r ider after another with a late-bra k ing mane u v e r i n turn 10 . H yme r w orked h i s wa y up from deep in the pack to a close sec ond-place, behind Josh Sortor. CN Firebinl Raceway CIuIndler. IrizonlI Results: May 10, 2001 [ Round 41 Petrick Rlcherdson (Due); 3 . Barney Wright (Duc ); 4. David A lexander (KlIw); 5. Tho ma s luffey (Kaw). H/W SPTSMN : 1. Er ic And er so n ( Su z); 2 . Patri ck Richa rdson (Due) ; 3. Steven Hym er (Hon); 4 . Jim Davis (Suz); 5. Ray Hym er (Suz). S/TW AM: I. Alex McElyea (Hon) ; 2. Adorn Sco tt ( D uc); 3 . Pet er Spil ger ( D ue) : 4 . M i c hae l Bergman (Sue) : 5. J em ee Mor en (Suz). EX : 1. Ma rk Led esma ( A pr ): 2. Aaron a ark (Apr): 3. Rick Stratton (Hon); 4. Eric Andersen (Suz); 5. StevenPock (Hon). F-40 AM : 1. Michllel Bergme n (Sue); 2. Wallace srrw Irt t h e fi r st c om bi ne d B e for e Th e Hi ll shot out ahead of the field, foll ow ed by Con- naghan and Ya maha rider Ric k Wa lling . Con rtaghan qu ickly overt ook th e KTM·mounted Sa nnan to settle into a lead he would not relinqui sh, handily winni ng by a 12- second mar- g in. San na n , Aaro n Tunne ll, J ustin Jensen and Jimi Blackw ell trailed at mo to's end. Gubser in mote two but, after e ncounte ring mec hanica l proble ms in mota one , was out of the picture ove ra ll. St ee le Anqle-D av idscn. a rel ative ne wco me r to the 60cc ra nks afte r a successful 50c c career, tapped the 60cc J urtior portion via I - I placings, ahead of Ki p Olkowski (2 -2) and Noah Westerhuis (3· 3) . . Results Ptw (4-6) : 1. Cassidy Brogg (Yam): 2. ",",on DiStefano C lem); 3. Cody Cex-r (Hon) . P/W (7-8): 1. Gage Cook (KT/'I\ : 2. David Paschke (HuI); J. ) Nuh ""'' - (KT"'). 50 OPEN: I . Nash Blaylock (KTM); 2. Casady Bragg (Yam); 3. Siomo B

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