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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AMA EA Sports Supercross Series Round S: Daytona International Speedway Vuillemin's loss was certainly Carmichael's gain. Carmichael gained a full 25 points on Vuillemin and is now the series leader. The defending champ leaves Daytona with a five-point edge over Vuillemin, who will probably be giving Grant Langston a call during the week to find out just how he dealt with his serious shoulder injury that he suffered last year, which nearly put an end to Langston's season. (In 2001, Langston had written off his year after tweaking his shoulder, but he came By KIT PALMER PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN DAYTONA BEACH, A., MAR. 9 he first break in the 2002 AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series was supposed to have been a time for many of the battered and bruised supercross racers to rest up and get healed - not for the healthy ones to get hurt. But that's exactly what happened to series points leader David Vuillemin. While many riders of the supercross circuit have been getting nicked up, and even laid up, Vuillemin has been relatively injury-free, until now. (Though he did ding his knee a little bit in January and later bang up his ribs.) Unlike most of the other more seriously injured fallen riders, Vuillemin didn't get hurt while racing, or even practicing, for that matter. Instead, Vuillemin crashed last Saturday, during an "off weekend," while participating in a magazine photo shoot and, as a result, this year's supercross series took a 180-degree about-face. Vuillemin injured his right shoulder in the crash but was hoping to be fit enough to defend his series points lead, which he has held since the opening day. But when the pain proved to be too great while riding practice on race day, Vuillemin had no choice but to pull out of the Daytona Supercross by Honda. And to make matters worse, he had to watch Ricky Carmichael run off with his fifth win of the year and take over what used to be "his" points lead. "I tried riding on Wednesday, but it [the shoulder] felt really bad," Vuillemin said after practice. "It actually felt better today, but I can't ride. I can't double anything - I can't race. I came up short in practice this morning and almost died [because of the pain]. I don't know exactly what's wrong with it, but I'm going to have an MRI on Monday to find out. We'll see what happens. If it's not bad, then I will ride next week, but if I have to stop riding for the rest of the year, I will, and get ready for next year. "I'm disappointed, because, after last year, I have worked so hard to get where I'm at now," Vuillemin added. "It's bad because I had a chance [to win the championship]; I may never have this chance again." "It's a shame what happened to David, and I hope he's back next weekend," Carmichael said. "I'd kind of like to see myself and him make it go down to the last race - and may the best man win. And we'd see who the strongest is. [But] that's the way it goes. I guess we're even now because we've both missed a race." 14 MARCH 20, 2002ยท cue I back, rode injured, and nearly won the 125cc outdoor title.) So, who knows? Maybe Vuillemin can come back, as well. But for now, the momentum has shifted into Carmichael's corner. Not only did he win the Daytona Supercross, he smoked everyone, winning by more than 13 seconds over Yamaha's Tim Ferry, who made a strong showing after returning to the track following a six-week, injury-induced layoff. But those 13 seconds don't accurately indicate just how fast Carmichael really was, since he purposefully slowed considerably during the waning laps. Carmichael lapped the field all the way up to eighth place. The only rider who seemed to be able to keep up with Carmichael on the day was Travis Pastrana, who had never lost a race at Daytona. (Both of his wins had come in the 125cc class.) Pastrana was running a fairly close second to Carmichael when the Team SoBe Suzuki rider started feeling dehydrated and woozy. Pastrana had just gotten over the flu and the Florida heat and humidity, not to mention the rough Daytona track, just became too much for him; he was forced to pull off the track. Ferry inherited second place when Pastrana threw in the towel, and the Yamaha YZ426F rider held on to finish there, while Team Chevy Trucks/ Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk out-dueled Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli to finish third and make the podium for the first time this year. With nine of 16 rounds completed, Carmichael now heads the series points standings with 184 to Vuillemin's 179. Well back in third is Lusk, with 132 points, followed by Stephane Roncada and Bud Light/ Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath, who are tied with 126. MAIN Carmichael put his Chad Wattstuned Honda into the lead right off the start of the 20-lap 250cc main event, but he nearly threw it all away when he had the back end of his bike slide out from under him exiting turn two. He somehow managed to save it, as well as the lead, ahead of Pastrana and Ferry. Ferry, however, made surprising moves on both Pastrana and Carmichael to take the lead before the first lap was over, but during the second lap, Carmichael came right back and passed Ferry over a triple jump. "Timmy was riding good at the beginning," Carmichael said. "I got the holeshot, but Timmy got me in a corner. I went about another lap and made a pass back by him. He almost got me again, but I closed him off." "I was feeling good, and I was just trying to get as big a lead as possible," Ferry said. Shortly after his scrap with Carmichael, Ferry saw Pastrana ride around him as well, and this set the stage for a Carmichael/Pastrana showdown - the one everyone had been waiting for. Tim Ferry 1151 gave Ricky Carmichael 141 something to think about early in the 250cc main. Honda's Carmichael, however, eventually broke away and ran off with his third straight Daytona Supercross win. e nevws