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/128112
A M A Chevy T r u c k s 2 50c c National Motocros s Series Round 6 : Red Bud T r ack - N -T r a il m istake. It w as to o bad fo r me th at a cou ple of guys were prett y cl o se , and I h a d m y b i k e o v e r m y head for I d on 't know how long." " S o m e b o dy spun out in f r ont of me , and I c li p p ed them and got h it, so I high -sided ," said La Rocco, who ended up with a literal pain in the ass . "Som ebody squared up the outside and just drilled me in the ba c k . I got my b utt split o pen, and I could n't si t down. I could n't h ardly r id e . I got a punct u re in m y glute ' ." S ome wh at surprisingl y , Ro n c a d a d ispatched D o w d for the lead o n lap on e , and so mewhat un su rp r is i n g ly , C armi ch ae l qu ic k ly sla sh ed h is wa y to w ard th e front. He sat a cl ose sec ond to his tea m ma te after two l aps, b ut q uick ly zapped t h e F ren chman mome nts later, a nd many ass u med t he d iminutive ch a m p w o ul d w alk o n t he field fro m th ere . Not so . Win d ha m put an aggres si ve move on Roncada later in the Carmichael 141 leads Kevin Windham who carne within a thrown chain of (141, MOToe T h a t ' s exactly what Carm i chae l possibly winning the second 250cc molD. did in the second out ing , although th is t ime he received a cha llenge pet it ion A c c esso ries Ho nda led Hu g h - fro m Wi ndham. F irst , however, Dowd es ' CRF450R fo ur-stroke ac ross the was allowed what is q u ic k ly becom- li ne. D owd h e l d o n fo r s ixth , wh i le in g a customa ry ho le shot, which he Yama ha 's T im F erry - sufferi ng from took ahe ad o f Ro ncada . W in dham arm -pum p - took seventh. Co m p let - wa s t h i r d thro ug h turn o ne, wit h ing th e top 10 were Yamah a 's D a v id H u gh e s a nd C a rm i c h a e l t ra iling . Vu ill em in , Hond a ' s E zra Lus k and M e anwh il e , T o rt e ll i ' s c ha n c e s f or Thousand O a k s Yam aha ' s Ro bb i e reven g e were da maged by a t urn -one Reynard . crash , an d L aRocco also went d own incident] happen ed , but I' ll ta k e a wi n soon after. " I ca me into th e fi rst corner, and I any w ay I ca n g et it , " C a r m ichae l j u st h it Ric k y ," Tortelli sa id . " He h it sa id . " I wa s ha p py , but if you h a v e t he b rak es to make th e corner o n th e " It' s unfortunate that that [T ortelli' s an y ki nd of heart, you 're going to be in sid e , and I w a s carrying too much d is a p p oi n t ed to see so met h ing like m om en t u m a n d j u s t hit h im and that ha p pe n to your c o m peti t o r. crashed b y m y se lf. T h at was my own [Sti ll ] , I want to g o o ut there and beat hi m f a ir a nd s q uare in t he n e x t moto ." 8 JULY 11, 2001 • CU e I e Roncada, Cannichael and Hughes celebrate on the Red Bud podium. n e _ s sa me l a p, t he n qu ic k ly gobb l ed up the gap to C a rm ic ha e l. Early i n the fift h la p, W indh a m sa ile d b y o ver a j u m p, and although Carmichael p res sured the new lead er , the Suzuki rider held the point for several more cir c uits . On the eighth lap , however, Carmichael got back around. "I got a better d r ive than him going into one of those turns ," C a rm ichael said . " I t hink he was goin g to try to s n ea k back und ern eath m e, b ut I sto pped, so h e w ou ldn ' t g et u nd er neat h m e ." " I actually let h im b y ," W ind ham sai d . " I felt that I c ould h an g w ith him a nd hopefu lly put a m o ve o n la te in the race." Windh am pre ssured Carm i chael m o m enta ril y, but h is ga me p lan d idn't w ork out, as lappers p r evented him from staying cl o se en o ug h to m ak e a move. C arm ic h ae l led the r ema ining six la ps , the la st of wh ich saw W ind ha m exit the race when h i s ch ain jumped t he sprockets in the back sec - While the team-change rumors started way back in the supercross season, they have realIy hit their stride now that we' re midway through the outdoor Nationals , and some of them , anyway , have m uch more basis in truth than those of just a few weeks ago. Of course the biggest talk centers on Ricky Carmichael's expected switch to a Honda, and while that move is now generally accepted as fact. there will likely be no official announcement unti l season's end. After all, this is not just any rider , but the dom inant figure in our sport, and prematurely unveiling such a transfer would be bad for both Chevy Trucks Kawasak i and Honda. According to reliable word at Red Bud, Carmichael's spot on the green team will be filled by Ezra Lusk, whose contract with Honda expires this year. Reliable sources also indicate that Carmi chael will be joined on a red bike by Nathan Ramsey , though the (c urrent ) Yamaha of Tr oy rider would campaign the CRF450R four -strok e. whil e RC would race a CR250R two-strok e. Th is m akes sense, considering the facts th at Ram sey rode well in the western supercross round s on a YZ426 F, and that Ryan Hughes has not yet resigned with Honda. Over Red Bud weekend, Mike laRocco signed a new two -year deal to continue with factory Honda equipment out of the Amsoil/Dr. Mart ens/Journeys/Competition Accessories tru ck , alth ough 125cc rider Steve Bonifa ce is leaving for KTM Red Bull. However, the Factory Connect ion-run team is said to have picked up both Australian Michael Byrne and Chris Gosselaar, who spent a year with Fast by Ferracci Husqvarna. Jo ining Boniface on KTM Red Bull will be Grant Langst on, who has anoth er year on his contract, but neith er David Pingree nor Kelly Smith has yet been re-signed for next year. As for Yamaha of Troy 's Ernesto Fonseca, the Costa Rican , who was earlier thought to be headed to Mazda Yamaha, admits to having approached both Team Suzuki and Team Honda. Suzuki already has two expensive 250 cc riders for 2002 (Travis Pastrana will move up to the big class next year) , so chances are very good that the FOOl will be riding red. Over on the Yama ha factory team . David Vuillem in and Tim Ferry both said that they were close to re-upp ing with the team. As for Team Suzuki , manager Roger DeCoster confirm ed at Red Bud that he had been appro ached by Honda, but said tha t although his contract is up this year, he fully expects to be working out of a yello w tru ck in 2002 . If so, he' ll have Buddy Antunez as a 125cc rider , as the Ar enacross cham p will be returning to the Supercross environs with Suzuki in 2002 (he's eligible for the tidd ler class since he hasn't raced in AMA com petition for the past two years) . Also on an RM125 will be Danny Sm ith, who recently re-signed with the team. Rodrig Thain is currently back home in Europe recuperating, but it looks like he'll likely leave Suzuk i for Yamaha of Troy upon his return. YoT has also picked up Ivan Tedesco from the Plano Honda squad. Pro CircuitfKawasaki/SplitFire has extended Mike Brown 's contract by two years, and Bobby Bonds has another year on his deal. Amateur hero James Stewart is expected to ride for the team when he tums pro (though there 's some talk that he'll run a Pro Circuit bike out of the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki truck). Let's not forget about Larry Ward, who would like nothi ng better than to sign a good deal to race Supercross and motocross in 2002. The veteran is happy at Moto XXX, but says he doesn't want to "ride for free" (Ward accepted a low offer this year because he knew teams would forget about him if he sat out the enti re season) . "Hopefully, Moto XXX will get a nice , big outside sponsor," Ward said. As for Jeff Emi g's now -defunct Kawasaki shop team, the chances of a return are starting to look less bright, as a sponsor and riders have yet to be signed (each wants the other to be secured prior to com mitting, which puts the team in somew hat of a Catch 22 situatio n) . And you can expect one less Yamaha satellite team in 2002, as MotoworldRacing .com is in discuss ions with both Suzuki and Honda for next year. The EI Caj on, California , Motoworld shop sells oniy Yama has and Hondas, but the Suzuki deal is nonetheless most likely. Th at's because they would get factory parts for yello w bikes, while Honda - already blessed with several shop teams - would only provide prod uctio n equipment. At any rate, MotoworldRacing.com sells afterma rket product on- line for all brands of motorcycle. So far. Greg Schnell is the only rider to be signed for 2002.