Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA EA Sports Supercross Series Round 6: RCA Dome lost that ground, and it kind of messed up my charge." McGrath had just taken advantage of the mistakes of Fonseca and Pastrana when he crashed out of fourth place. "A couple of guys gave me a gift right in front of me when they fell, and then next thing I know, I went under the bridge and lost the front end," he said. "I just slid out." Pastrana was another 10 seconds behind McGrath and just in front of Voss and Huffman, who couldn't get around Voss the whole race. "He just covers the inside line in every corner, and it's hard to make a pass going around him," Huffman said. "A lot of areas were one-line. I got next to him a few times, but every time he would have the inside for the following corner. The whoops, I would go into them really fast, and I would get out of control, and by the end he would pull out from me." eN fd@@@@ ®(jf)&JOfj~[JiJ@ [J[J@ [?D!?@l!i!J@[fffIfB pIe of guys that can win. I know I got my butt handed to me tonight. Now he's in the driver's seat." Vuillemin wasn't looking too far ahead. "I don't think about the [history]. wins in a row," Vuillemin said. "I don't care too much. I just want to race. I don't focus on this. 1 don't focus on numbers. I focus on how I ride and try to ride smooth and focus on racing, race by race. He [Carmichael] could have won tonight. He had everything to win. But he made a couple of mistakes, and I had to capitalize on it. We can ride faster, for sure." For sure, not good for the rest. Roncada was chased to the end by Ramsey and LaRocco, taking third by less than seven-tenths of a second. Like Carmichael, Roncada struggled with arm pump, his caused by his aversion to the whoop section. "I was pretty tense on the bike, and I got arm pump," ROIacada said. "I was not so good in the whoops, and I was losing lots of time here. I had to work really hard during the rest of the lap to catch back to those guys. I really was coming back right behind David [Vuillemin]. right on his back wheel, and I was going through the whoops and losing about a second and a half. I was really getting frustrated right there with that; that tensed me up." 10 FEBRUARY 20, 2002' cue I Ramsey admitted the whoops were his undoing, as well. "I was a little off the leaders to begin with and kind of struggled through the whoops," he said. "That's what cost me a lot of time. Once I decided what I wanted to do through there and kind of slowed down, it helped me go faster." LaRocco was with Ramsey almost the entire race, though never able to find an opening. "The track kind of developed into follow the leader for at least 70 percent of the track," he said. "I tried to make some moves, but it was so rutty that I'd make a mistake and have to make the time back up. It felt like a struggle. It would have been great to win here, and that was my main goal, but I try not to carry that extra weight." Lusk was nearly nine seconds behind LaRocco, having lost time on the leaders after having to slow when McGrath crashed. "It was one of those races where you had'to ride as hard as you could the whole time," he said. "I think after halfway, I really picked up a lot of ground, but me and Jeremy got together when he crashed. It was nobody's fault - we just kind of bumped, and I lost the ground that I had worked the whole race to catch up to LaRocco and Stephane. So I e n_"" .. Pyrotechnics were expected in the first heat. Stephane Roncada and Ricky Carmichael had tangled the previous week in Anaheim, earning Roncada a visit from AMA Motocross Manager Duke Finch at Indy. Early in the first heat, it looked like this might be a replay, with Roncada getting the holeshot, Carmichael in tight pursuit, and the pair leading Mike laRocco and Nate Ramsey in a four· rider break. Roncada led until the third lap, when Carmichael made a clean pass through a whoop section and pulled away. Dramatics over. On the fourth lap, Ramsey went down in a tight lBO-degree right-hander. then up in seventh, and too far back to transfer directly to the main. He was off to the semis. Ramsey's gaffe moved laRocco to third with Heath Voss fourth, soon to be challenged by Reynard Modifications' Robbie Reynard. Time ran out for Reynard. who would join Ramsey in the first semi. Carmichael won by 3.755 seconds, Roncada nearly eight in front of laRocco, who had the same on Voss. "I need a little bit better start in the main event, and I think I'll be okay" Carmichael said. "The track definitely changes every lap because the dirt is so soft." The second heat belonged to Jeremy McGrath - start to finish. Normally that wouldn't merit much attention, but this was his first heat win of the year, and it came in the sixth race of the season. As always, the start was critical, and McGrath showed that he still knows how to get the jump. "Three holeshots in a row," McGrath said, adding this race to the mains at Phoenix and Anaheim.•And I hope I can get another one in the main event." Pastrana went out with McGrath, then got passed by Jean-Sebastien Roy and David Vuillemin before getting back by Roy, who came up short on a jump in a rhythm section. Ending the first lap, it was McGrath in front of Vuillemin and Pastrana, and noWng would change. As the leaders pulled away, McGrath pulled out a slight gap, and Pastrana closed on Vuillemin, but not to the point of being a threat. On the run up to the white flag, McGrath made a slight bobble in the jump section, and Vuillemin and Pastrana closed. "I tried to give it away to him, but I got it back," McGrath said. Then the leaders hit traffic and the lead shrank again, but McGrath made his way through the backmarkers and pulled out the win. Pastrana's charge was dulled when he got a little sideways in the jump section, giving Vuillemin a secure second. Roy took third, with MotoworidRacing.com's Dllmon Huffman chasing him to the end. "I was super-excited to get the heat-win, especially for the ABC show to get some props to Bud Ught," McGrath said. "It's been a rough month, so I'm happy to be riding better, and it's going to come." The second heat was just less than a second slower than Carmichael's, McGrath winning by 1.742 seconds. Emesto Fonseca had to move on to the semi after crashing out of fourth place early on, handing the spot to Roy. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk would join him there after he fell over early on the second lap. He recovered to finish seventh. Ramsey took the lead of the first semi on the second lap, passing Nick Weyand pulling away. Reynard was the next to pass Wey, with Keith Johnson chased him for the third spot, and Kevin Crine held on to the last transfer. Ramsey was unapproachable to the finish, and the same went for Reynard, with third only slightly in doubt to the end. On the white-flag lap, Johnson dosed up on Wey, who took fourth. Crine was out of contention, but safely into the main. "Each weekend I feel better and better on it," Ramsey said of the Honda CRF450R four-stroke, adding that the bike has also allowed him to change his approach. "I got to pick some new lines a Uttle bit. If you want to duck inside, it's definitely got the power and consistency to make it. and with all this power, it'll pretty much do anything." He won his semi by 4.265 seconds. In the second semi, Lusk got the holeshot and took off. Fonseca was an early second, the lead two well away from a fight over Wrd, then the pack. Fonseca clipped a hay bale early on the third lap, giving Lusk a Uttle more room. In a short race, it wasn't fatal, but it didn't help. The crash on the fourth lap was the killer. Fonseca spun out in a go-degree left just before the jump section. He was able to remount just in front of Huffman, with Lewis now a clear third. Lusk took the white flag with over 11 seconds in hand, winning by 12.231. Fonseca was able to keep in front of Huffman by half a second, and Lewis secured fourth, about eight seconds back. Jeff Gibson took the final trllnsfer. "I've been pretty consistent, but not consistently up front," Lusk said. "We're on the east coast, which I'm really excited about." Five riders hit the ground on the outside of tum one at the start of the Last Chance Qualifier, with a host of others dodging the carnage. Team ECC Suzuki's Michael Brandes held the lead for about a lap and a half before a spectacular endo at the end of a stepdown jump. He wasn't hurt, but his chances were, as Pro Caliber's Isaiah Johnson took the lead, shadowed by The Edge Kawasaki's Brian Mason. Crossroads Motorsports' Damien Plotts ran third on a Honda, but never closed enough to be a factor, then got passed by Blackfoot Honda's Jeremias Israel in the closing stages. Johnson and Mason were on to the main.

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