Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlEA Sports National Championship Supercross Series Round B: Georgia Dome McGrath (2), Emesto Fonseca (24), Ezra Lusk (hidden). Sebastien Tortelli (13). Vuillemin (12) and Carmichael (4) accelera1e down the start chu1e in the main event. Carmichael got the holeshot. "I think Ricky was a little bit faster," Vuillemin said. "I think the race just showed the level of the riders. I got a good start, I was third and after that, Travis pulled over and I was kind of alone and I finished the race. Nothing I could do to come back. Ricky was going very good." McGrath was in fourth on the third lap and up to third when Pastrana retired. There was a fight behind him for fourth, the riders slowing each other down and allowing McGrath to ride mistake-free to his first podium of the year. No one, McGrath included, thought it would take to the eighth rmmd of the season for him to make the podium. "It's been a struggle for me, and I didn't feel like tonight would be a breakthrough night for me or anything," he said. "I kind of got sick, but I think that may have helped because I just relaxed. I just tried to race the track and not race the guys around me, and it seemed to work out. I just need to get the confidence down. I've been having a problem finishing. Normally, I'm pretty good until about halfway or whatever. Tonight I just tried to race the track, and here I am." As for the frustration of running around in sixth place and lower, McGrath said, "It's been hard. It's nothing I've really experienced before. It's been tough on me mentalIy, and of course I've been trying to figure out the physical side of it. I'm not a quitter, and I just have to keep my head up and keep trying to do the things that I think are right to make it better. It's pretty easy when you've got a good group of people around you helping you up. That's what I have, and I'm thankful for that." The first true battle was being waged behind McGrath. Roncada and Tortelli were hard at it from the first lap on, Tortelli in front for the first six, then Roncada taking over. This was only Tortelli's second race back, and he admitted that he needs more race time. Patience was the key tonight. "My goal was to get a good start and do 20 good laps, which I didn't 10 MARCH 6, 2002' cue I do last week," Tortelli said, referring to Minneapolis. "I got too excited. So this time I just calmed myself and rode my pace and tried to be easy on the bike, and that's what happened. That was my goal." Tortelli said he knew that Roncada was faster in the beginning and middle parts of the race, so he just tried to keep him close and check his speed: "At the end, I felt a little bit stronger, so I just went inside of him and made a pass." The move came on the 18th lap. "Not taking anything anyway from Sebastien," Roncada said. "He had a good race. I really had a bad race; I was really bummed. I had an okay start, and I was up there. I was running good at first, and then - I don't know - 1 just quit charging for some reason and just settled down and made some mistakes. I even missed the triple through the whoops again; that really messed up my head a little bit. It was just a bad day. I'm bummed. I'm just bummed. It's kind of a good result, but I could have done a lot better than that. I'm just bummed." More upbeat than Roncada was sixth-place finisher Heath Voss. The Blackfoot Honda rider tied his career best with the finish, which he admitted was partly due to attrition. That said, it was a step forward in his continuing recovery from a broken wrist. "I'm really excited because I broke my wrist really bad last May, and I still don't have all the movement out of it," Voss said. "It's kind of been in the back of my mind when I've been racing, and I've been riding a little bit tight and a little bit worried. So I'm ~{0@@@ ®[}f)&JD~(};J~[Ji]® @D!J[fifJ [fJ!J@!JI!J[JD 90 The injury count has been high this year, but the factory riders left standing in Atlanta were evenly distributed between the two heat races . Carmichael, McGrath, Pastrana, and Tortelll in the first one, Vuil1emin, Lusk, Roncada, and Fonseca in the second one. McGrath got the early jump in heat one, but it was Carmichael first on the inside into the left-hand fiest turn after the start chute. There was some initial shuffling in the fll'st few sets of jumps, and the order was established: Carmichael, McGrath, Pastrana, and TorteJJ!. The Honda men maintained their positions, Carmichael pulling away at the front, TortelU bringing up the rear, McGrath and Pastrana fighting over second. Pastrana made his move on the third lap, landing on a tabletop at the end of a nine-jump rhythm section, takIng McGrath on the inside. On the next lap, Pastrana got wide in a gO-degree left on the entrance to a set of triples and nearly went off track, knocking a few Tuff Blox out of the way. That would be his only mistake. From then on, Pastrana inched away from McGrath, as he was clearly better in the long whoop section. "It's so good to be here in the Georgia Dome: Carmichael said. "My bike is working excellent today. My starts haven't been up to par, but tonight they've been good." Acworth, Georgia's Lusk (right) had the crowd on his side in the second heat, but It was Vuillemin who got the jump. Lusk and Fon· seca took their expected places at the front, with Roncada in the lead via an outside-inside move in one of the many bermed 180s. The lead three· Roncada, Lusk, and Vuillemin • edged away, Fonseca a safe fourth. On the fourth lap, Lusk took the lead when Roncada bobbled in the first jump of the rhythm section that followed the finish jump. Roncada didn't m.ake the approach to the jump cleanly, and Lusk, who did, nearly landed on him. Lusk, Roncada, and Vuillemin were away from Fonseca when the two Frenchmen came together. It happened just after the 180·degree rjght at the end of the whoop section, Vuillemin pushing the Kawasaki rider off the track after Roncada had been slowed in the whoops. Roncada said that he'd stayed high on the berm and that Vuillemin had hit him in the footpeg with his front tire on the exit. Roncada rejoined the race in fourth place, but couldn't catch Fonseca. Lusk went on to win, with Vuillemin second, Fonseca third, and then Roncada. "It's nice to wake up in the morning and have a 30· minute drive to the dome," Lusk said. "That heat race, I just kind of rode around. I saw those guys battling. I played it smooth." As for havIng the slower heat race, Lusk said, "I'm sure that we were slower because we weren't messing around with each .other e n e _ s excited that I was able to pull off a semi win and a sixth-place finish. There's only been about three races this year where I've put a string of six or seven laps together. Tonight I put together probably about 12 good laps. There's probably five I'd like to throwaway." Voss rode mostly by himself after losing touch with Tortelli and Roncada before the halfway mark. "I'm not sure how long I was behind Tortelli and Roncada, but I was right on them for about eight, nine laps, and then I made a few mistakes and started to screw up big-time. I was just trying too hard. I started thinking. Then the last five laps were solid for me." Voss was the last rider not to be lapped by Carmichael. MotoworldRacing.com's Damon Huffman emerged from a three-way scrap to earn seventh. Huffman was hooked up with Moto XXX's Nick Wey and Blackfoot Honda's JeanSebastien Roy in the early going, with Moto XXX's Kyle Lewis also in the mix. Lewis went down on the seventh lap, leaving Roy in front of Huffman and Wey back in 10th. ·Huffman passed Roy on the 11 th lap, Roy holding on for several laps before slipping back and falling into the clutches of the resurgent Lusk. Huffman had been hoping to make a run after a little bit." Pro Caliber Suzuki's Isaiah Johnson beat Damon Huffman by 0.332 seconds in the first of two semis. Huffman had gotten the jump, then got moved back to fourth within four turns, spending the next few laps moving forward. Huffman was soon up to second and closed on Johnson in the rhythm section. Huffman tripled at the end of a jump section. pulling inside Johnson in the berm right before the finish jump but coming up just a bike-length short. "I don't know if he saw the white flag that lap." Johnsoo said. "He was jumping the little triple in the middle that I probably should for the main event." Heath Voss took the second semi win in a flag·to-flag ride. Teammate Jean-Sebastien Roy was just behind him until falling on the second lap. He'd have to make his way to the final from the Last Chance Qualifier, which he did. Voss had to think about Kyle Lewis for about three laps before leaVing him behind and going on to win by over five seconds. "I haven't been here in a long time: Voss said. "I broke my wrist really bad in Vegas, something similar to what happened to [Mike] laRocco. It just takes a long time to heal. I've been riding a little bit scared, and J had a little bit of time off. I want to make it through the entire season, and every week's getting better and better." Lewis was second, Tyler Evans third, wJth Nielsen Enterprises' James Povolny Jr. also moving on to the main. Roy atoned for his semi flub by jettlng into the lead of the LCQ. Shenandoah Honda's Kevin Crine stayed with him, with Joseph Oehlhof a strong third until throwing it away halfway into the race. Roy kept his edge on Crine, not substantially pulling away. Both made their way into the main, with Nicholson Yamaha's Jimmy WiI· soo third

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