By DAVE DERINGER
PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN
WASHOUGAl, WA, JULY 29
or the second week in a row, Pro
Circuit/Kawasaki/SplitFire's Mike
Brown completely manhandled the
competition in the 125cc (midsize)
class at the ninth stop of the Chevy
Trucks tour.
On a chilly and overcast day in
southwestern Washington, Brown
took two big moto wins and a big
step toward his first-ever National
title. Aboard a Steve Hendersontuned Kawasaki, Brown jumped
ahead to the top of the leaderboard in
the class, as his perfect 50 points
vaulted him past rival Travis Pastrana, who only earned 13 points.
The win marked Brown's third overall-victory of the season, and he
increased his moto-win total to seven
for the year, with three rounds
remaining.
"I'm worried about nobody but
myself," Brown said. "Things happen
in this sport, but I don't wish injury on
F
anybody. I've had my bad luck, and
now he's [Pastrana] having it, too. I've
had a bunch of bad motos, and if those
didn't happen, I'd be way up there. The
championship is coming to me, and I'll
just keep working to win it."
For Pastrana, the weekend out
west was a nightmare. The already
injured teenager out of Maryland
crashed hard in practice on Sunday,
that the defending champ had twisted
his ankle and suffered an impact
bruise to his shoulder, but that he had
not hit his head. Doctors recomended
that he take off four to six weeks,
though it was unknown wether or not
Pastrana would heed that advice.
What will happen to Pastrana arguably one of the most naturally
talented riders of all time - remains to
went down again early in moto one,
and then wadded himself in moto
two. Once again, Pastrana went down
hard, and for any fan of motocross,
the sight was not a pleasant one to
witness. It took several minutes for
the Team Suzuki rider to get to his
feet, and then he remounted his bike
and rode off the track. Word from
Suzuki late monday afternoon was
(Top) Mike Brown not only leaped
past the checkered flag first in both
motos at Washougal, but his perfect
50-point tally also vaulted him past
Travis Pastrana in the 125cc National
MX Series standings. Pastrana
dropped to third, behind Grant
Langston.
(Right) Emesto Fonseca (25) leads
Brock Sellards (18), Brown (100) and
Rodrig Thain (32) out of the first tum
lit the start of the second 125cc moto.
cucl.
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AUGUST 8, 2001
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