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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128116
The pack fires out of the gate toward tum one and, believe It or not, that's only half the field. In the second moto, Ferry led the first four laps after pulling the holeshot, but even he admitted that Windham and Carmichael were just too fast. Again, Ferry took third in the moto for third overall. Team Honda's Ezra Lusk had an encouraging day at Washougal. The Georgian made it a Southeast sweep (both Carmichael and Ferry are from Florida, and Windham now resides in Mississippi) after finishing fourth overall for his best placing of the season. Lusk actually grabbed the holeshot in the first 250cc moto and led for a lap before giving way to Carmichael, Windham and Ferry. Lusk went on to finish fourth in that moto and sixth in the second moto. "I felt good today," Lusk said. "But I'm still working on getting back up to my speed outdoors." Rounding out the top five overall was Yamaha's David Vuillemin. The Frenchman finished an uneventful seventh in the first moto, but rode better in the second moto, finishing a distant fourth. Sixth overall went to Mike LaRocco on the Amsoil/Dr. Martins/Journeys/Competition Accessories Honda. LaRocco didn't get the best of starts in either moto, and just couldn't mount any kind of a comeback, going 6-5 on the day. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada ended up seventh on the day. He worked his way up to fifth after a bad start in the first moto and was on the move in the second outing before suffering a flat tire and getting passed by Lusk on the last lap. Roncada finished out his day with Finishing eighth was the day's top privateer, Robbie Reynard. He rode his Reynard Modification/Pete's RVjThousand Oaks Yamaha YZ250 to 8-8 moto finishes. John Dowd, on the Cernics.com/PCWorldwide.com KTM 520 SX four-stroke, finished ninth (9-9), while Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli rounded out the top 10. Still sporting a black eye and a bruised forehead, and still feeling the effects of a concussion suffered in a hard get-off the week before at Troy, Tortelli called it a day after finishing 10th in the first moto. The Frenchman had also tweaked his shoulder in a small crash on Saturday, and with nothing to gain by riding, Tortelli decided not to risk further injury and sat out the second moto. Racing conditions could not have been much better at Washougal. Even though it threatened to rain all day, the overcast skies and cool tem- Carmichael, Windham and Ferry quickly detached themselves from the rest of the pack as the lead trio sized each other up. This went on for many laps, until Windham began actually pressuring Carmichael for the lead. On the sixth lap, Windham cut to the inside of Carmichael in the turn before the whoops, where Windham put his Suzuki into the number-one slot. Ferry also tried getting around Carmichael, but to no avail. Carmichael had no intentions of letting Windham just ride away from him, and he stayed right with the new peratures kept the Washougal track moist, but a little slick. The rains finally did come, but luckily, not until right after the second 250cc moto. MOTO 1 Dowd put his big 520cc fourstroke KTM into the lead at the start of the first 250cc moto, but that wouldn't last for long. Lusk, Carmichael and Windham all got around Dowd before the first lap was over. Chasing Dowd in fifth to complete the first lap was Ferry, who was followed by Vuillemin, TorteJli, Roncada and Kyle Lewis on the Moto XXX/DGY /Atomic 22 Yamaha YZ426F. Lusk led the pack around the long and fast Washougal track for most of the second lap before both Carmichael and Windham got around the Honda rider. Shortly thereafter, Ferry also got by Lusk, setting the stage for a three-rider shootout. leader, while Ferry began dropping back ever so slightly. Pretty soon, Ferry had lost touch of Windham and Carmichael. "I just got roosted and got some dirt on the inside of the goggle," Ferry said. "I couldn't see that much and was losing ground to Carmichael, a 5-7. Cannichael (4) leads, but Windham (14) is closing in fast. The Louisianan not only caught the championship points leader, but he passed him· and stayed there. cue I e n e _ S • AUGUST 8,2001 27