Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series Round 2: Qualcomm Stadium win, either. But the one name that did come up most often as a possible San Diego winner was Mike LaRocco, who showed a lot of potential en route to his runner-up finish at Anaheim. Perhaps it was because of this unpredictability that brought out a record San Diego crowd of 68,415 to Qualcomm Stadium, where they saw David VuilJemin prove that his Anaheim I win was no fluke and that he is a serious contender for the title. Vuillemin's win came much in the same manner as it did the previous week at Anaheim: He got off to a good start, moved to the front early on, opened up a modest lead, and held it to the finjsh. But just like last week, he did feel some pressure in the waning laps. Even after recording his secondstraight victory, Vuillemin seemed to play it all down, just like he did at Anaheim. "For me, my goal was to be on the podium the first few races," Vuillemin said. "So it's been great that I'm on top of it for now, but I'm not getting too excited. I know anything can happen - you can slide in the start, crash BY KIT PALMER PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN SAN DIEGO, CA, JAN. 12 his year's San Diego Supercross was definitely unique in that, for the first time in a long, long time, people were actually stumped as to predicting a winner for a supercross race. Usually supercross forecasts boil down to one or two riders, namely Ricky Carmichael or Jeremy McGrath, but after the strange turn of events that took plac'e at the series opener the previous week at Anaheim, thjs year's San Diego Supercross was certainly anybody's guess. After all, Carmichael was banged up, McGrath, well, who knows exactly what's up with him right now, factory riders Ezra Lusk, Kevin Windham and Stephane Roncada didn't really perform up to their usual high standards the week before at Anaheim, and we really didn't get to see Travis Pastrana get the chance to show his true colors at the opener, after having his front wheel get demolished by another bike's footpeg. And it seemed as though people weren't really convinced by David Vujllemin's Anaheim 6 JANUARY 23, 2002ยท cue I e n e _ s and it's over. I just want to stay healthy and just ride. "I'm having fun on the bike again," Vuillemin added. "Last year, I was struggling with injuries, so this year, I'm fit to go riding. Motocross is not my job, it is my passion; I love it. Last year, I kind of hated it sometimes, now I'm starting to love it again." Travis Pastrana, on the So Be Suzuki RM250, was the only rider to challenge Vuillemin. Pastrana jumped out to the early lead but couldn't shake Vuillemin, and when Pastrana's Suzuki got a little out of whack in one of the track's whoops sections during the third lap, Vuillemin was right there to pounce. Pastrana let Vuillemin get away from him a bit before turning up the heat late in the race and catching back up. Had the race been a few more laps, the two riders probably would've been banging bars to the wire, but as it was, Vuillemin took the checkers just over a second ahead of Pastrana. "David was phenomenal; he rode a school out there," Pastrana said. "He was so smooth, everything perfect Kevin Windham (14) grabbed the holeshot in the 250cc main at San Diego, but Travis Pastrana (199) and David Vuillemin (12) quickly got by him down the whoops. every lap. I'm happy [to be] the first loser, but I won't really be happy until I win." LaRocco, on the Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Honda/Factory Connection CR250, finished third but never really got close enough to either Vuillemin or Pastrana to be a serious threat. LaRocco gated about fifth and then spent most of the race battling with Carmichael over third and fourth. The two Honda riders passed each other a couple of times, but it was the veteran getting the upper hand at the end. Despite making the podium for the second week in a row, LaRocco was a little disappointed with his performance, knowing good and well that he had a better-than-usual chance to win the San Diego race. "I was a little bummed, because tonight [I] was back to the old Mike," LaRocco said. "I rode a little more cautious and conservative, I don't want to get in that rut. This season, I