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/128109
AMAlChevy T r u c k s U . S . 250cc Motocross Championship S e r ie s R oun d 4: Motocross 338 Mike laRocco w a s as strong as ever, finishing th ird overall. by Tortelli in fourth . Vuillemi n was fifth, followed by Windham in six th and Ferry in seventh . Smets finished eighth , followed b y fellow Wo r ld Cha mpion Bolle y , in n int h . Roncada filled out the top 10 while He nry he ld on for 11th . M OTo e and pu ll awa y . , was prepa red to do wha tever it took to get by him ." With cle ar track a hea d, Carmichae l began to distan c e hims elf fro m the p a c k , while LaRo c co m ov ed pas t Henry for s econd. Smets dr opped to fo urth , followed by an intense battle for fifth between Torte lli and Dowd . By the halfw a y po int in the 30 -min utep lus -two -lap moto , Ca rm ich a e l h ad built up an e ig h t -sec o nd lea d on LaRocco , who he ld a similar advan tage over Tortelli a nd Dowd . Vuillemin a nd Windham battled for fifth , wh ile Ferry, who cr a sh ed early in the moto , blitzed pa st Smets for seventh. '" was beh ind Dowd on th e second or th ird lap ," ex pla ined Ferry . "I go t too an xious and kind of bumped him and high-sided. It wa s just a m ist ak e on my pa rt. I dr opped ba ck to like 20 th and ha d to c harge hard because eve ryone spread ou t rea lly fa st." Carmi ch a el took th e moto win, followed by a strong and steady LaRoc co. Dowd was third , followed closely With the full month of June open on the Grand Prixschedule, several of Europe's top riders made the trek across the Atlantic for the Southwick National. Most notably, KTM's defending 500cc World Champion Joel Smets , from Belgium, Honda's defending 250cc World Champion Frederic Bailey of France and Italy's three-time 125cc World Champion, Alessio Chiodi of the Skittles Y amaha team. "I'm the kind of rider that likes competition, so I was looking for a race," said Smets, a four-time 500cc World Motocross Champion. "Southwick fit into the schedule, so we said, 'Why not?' Another reason I wanted to come here Is that I've never really raced in the States . I just wanted to, let's say, 'discover' the scene a little bit over here - to see how everything works. organization-wise. and to see how the tracks are prepared, how the riders are, and how the business works." Although recent rumors suggest that both Smets and Bolley are planning to come to America full -time in the near future, neither rider was able to confirm this for sure. "For next year, everything is open, actually," said the 32 -year-old Srnets, whose contract with KTM expires at the end of this year. "I'm negotiating new deals for next year and I want to consider all options. And racing the Nationals in America is an option. but nothing has been decided yet." "I don't know," said Bailey. "This is just for fun. We have all of June without a GP, so I am just here to ride and test a little bit at a high level with fast riders." Also attending the race was the current 125cc GP points leader, KTM's J ames Dobb, from England. "I just wanted to come out and watch," said Dobb. "I kind of miss racing in America and I've got a lot of good friends that I made he re. It's always nice to pop back in and sa y hello. We have a few weeks off now in Europe. so it was a good time for me to come over." (For those who may not remember, Dobb, as a member of Team Suzuki, finished second in the 1996 125cc Western Region Supercross standing s to Yamaha's Kevin Windham.) Other European GP riders who competed at Southwick were Yamaha rider Marc DeReuver, from Holland (16-30 . 20th overa ll 125cc) and Honda rider Marco Dorsch, from Germany (4032. 33rd overall 125cc). Unfortunately, Alessio Chiodi was seriously injured In a crash during the Su nday morning 125cc practice sessions . According to Dr. Steve Augustine, of the Road 2 Recovery Foundation, the Italian rider suffered a comp ressed T-8 vertebra. (See Briefly...) 20 JUNE 20, 2001 • cue I e no'N' S Dowd pulled a monster hol eshot to begin th e s e c ond moto, foll owe d by Carmichael , Wi ndham, S me ts a n d Henry . Roncada was next, fo llo we d by Ferry . "O h m an . I c a me o ut of the gate so perfect," sa id Dowd. "I was just out of there . I th in k I went th rough t h e Fi rs t turn a ll a lo ne . It fel t s o coo l. I wa s going up the start hill, just look ing left a nd rig ht and th ink ing , 'Ye a h, I go t this o nel" Just as the riders co m p leted th e ir first lap , Carmichael sai led pa st Dowd on the track's finis h- line jump to take ove r th e top s po t. "I just jum ped it a little fa ster than he d id a nd was able to get by ," said Carm icha e l. "I k new I needed to get by him ea rly a nd try to c heck out." "He wa s flying ," sa id Dowd. "I wa s riding okay, I th ink, com pa red to the rest of the guys , b u t RC was ju s t hauling!" With Carmi c hael no w solidly in com ma nd, the race was on for second betwe en Dowd , Wind ha m and Ferry. The hard -charging F e rry q uickly passed Wind ha m a nd be gan to wo rk on Dow d for the runner-up pos itio n. Joel Smets came t o So uthwick to ge t a taste of the U. S. Nationals. The 500cc World Champion rode w ell, finishi ng sixth overall w ith an 8 -7. O n the ve ry next lap, Ferry motored past Dowd , ta king over s econd . "He was d efin ite ly on the move ," s a id Do wd . '" k n e w he wa s go in g faste r th a n me, the way he c ame up o n me . , wante d to make su re' cou ld m a ke it 30 m inutes , so 1 tried to pa ce m ys elf ." Vuillem in , who suffered a poor sta rt a nd ha d moved up to eighth on the first la p, went down a nd dropped out of the race. "I wa s us ing a line that was rig ht on the e dge of t h e tra ck, " sai d Vuillem in . "My front end caught the edge of a bump a nd it threw me over the ba rs ." To rtelli, who was just b e h in d Vuill emin in n int h, c r as h e d a lso , dropping the series po ints leader well out of the top 20. At the halfway m ark , Carm ichae l h ad pu ll e d o u t to a 10 -s ec o nd ad v ant a ge over F erry. Dowd wa s ste ad y in thi rd , foll ow ed by Win d h am , LaR o c c o , S m ets an d T e am Honda 's E zra Lusk . C armi cha el cont inued to p ull aw ay at the pace of a fe w s e c onds p er lap , ev entually lapp ing his titl e -r ival T ortelli a s the Ho n da rid e r tried t o wo rk his way ba ck up th ro u gh t h e fie ld . To rtell i w o u ld e vent u all y fi nis h ou t t h e m o t o in 15 t h place . Ca r michae l, w ho f in ish e d t he m ot o w it h a n al most 30-secon d le a d , sailed pa st th e c heckered flag to take th e m oto win - a nd his first o ve rall victor y of th e series. Ferry cha rged in fo r sec ond , followed by a strong ride fro m D owd fo r t hi r d . W indham w a s fou rth, follow e d by LaRoc c o in fifth.