Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA EA Sports Supercross Series Round 13: Pontiac SilverEio e McGrath third, in front of the fading Fonseca. Fifth was Carmichael on the 13th go-around, then fourth a lap later. It was the move past Vuillemin on the 13th that really mattered. Carmichael, who heard the crowd yelling, said, "I looked up, and David was right in front of Jeremy. And David was kind of riding defensive toward Jeremy - he wasn't riding his own race. I knew at that point, I said, 'Well I can get him now.' I focused ahead - snuck up there and was able to get by him. Once I got by him, it didn't matter to me how I finished the race." Not that he slowed. There were several laps of relative calm, then came the 17th and Ferry's crash in the whoops. "Up until I fell, five laps before that, I felt absolutely perfect," Ferry said. "I didn't make one mistake the whole time. I thought J had it won easily. I was just riding a consistent pace and riding it out and just kind of caught an edge in the whoops. Like the third one in was pretty rutted - just kind of caught me sideways. It was a pretty nasty set of whoops. Ezra went down [earlier], and it claimed me." That put Ramsey into the lead, with Carmichael second and McGrath third. Ramsey had ridden more laps on the night than anyone else, and he put his knowledge to good use. "I was watching everybody," he said. "It seemed like everybody was making mistakes. They couldn't decide where they wanted to go, like in the whoops and a couple of sections - trying to go for a little bit Crashes proved the undoing of many top riders. Tim Ferry (15) led for part of the main before going down, and Ezra Lusk (11) took a tumble as well. tougher jumps in some of the rhythm sections. I had few laps out there tonight so I got to think about things tonight." What he had to think about at the fd@@@@ @GJJ&J05®{j[JjJ@ u[}i]@ !XJ@rJr2J W@~-'---_ Factory riders are expected to transfer to the main directly from their heats. Most did in Pontiac. But with four transfers and five aces in the first heat, one rider would miss out. That rider would be Nathan Ramsey, who finished fifth - Into the semis by one place. If a factory rider doesn't win his heat, surely he should win his semi, or at least transfer from it into the main. Not Ramsey. Insistent upon riding the maximum number of laps, while the rest of the factory riders rested up for the main, the Team Honda rider finished sixth after getting invo.lved in a serum - again, one place short. Fortunately, the lastchance qualifier was all Ramsey, from start to finish. The other factory riders did their job, dominating the heats. Yamaha's David Vuillemin took the first, while the second (and faster) heat went to Honda's Ricky Carmichael. Emesto Fonseca led the first heat from Yamaha teamsters Vuillemin and Tim Ferry, who weren't riding like teammates. Ferry took away second with a pass under Vuillemin in a left-hand berm, while Kawasaki Chevy Trucks' Ezra Lusk was closing quickly. Four laps in, it was a four-rider pack, with Fonseca leading Ferry, Vuillemin, and Lusk. Vuillemin made his move in a set of triple jumps on the perimeter of the stadium and went after Fonseca. The first probe came on the sixth lap, Vuillemin trying him on the inside of a 90-degree left in a corner of the stadium. That didn't work, so he tried him again with a new line under the tunnel. Fonseca was undaunted. The next lap, Vuillemin redoubled his efforts and made what looked like an easy pass in the whoops. The same lap, Lusk flew by Ferry before a hard left. The order was set: Vuillemin, Fonseca, Lusk, Ferry - then Ramsey. "The track is getting kind of difficult to pass," Vuillemin said. "It's going to be fun for the crowd because it's going to be great racing tonight." Carmichael got the jump on the other 19 riders in the second heat, and that was pretty much that. The margin of victory was 4.228 seconds, with no one mounting a serious challenge, and Carmichael's time was nine seconds faster than Vuillemin's. "I got a good start; that makes things a lot easier," Carmichael said. "I made a couple of mistakes out there. That's not going to cut it in the main event. I've got to find something better." Carmichael's best lap was a 55.557. "Fifty-fives, I think, can win the main event," he said. "Fifty-sixes aren't going to cut it. I've got to get out there and ride a little smoother." Roy won the first semi after falling while at the front in the first heat. "I think I hit the first turn a bit hard - hit the front brake too aggressive and fell on my side," he said. "It happens." MotoworldRacing.com Suzuki's Damon Huffman was a close second, with LCRRacing.com's Keith Johnson third. Moto XXX's Nick Wey began pressing teammate Kyle Lewis for the lead on the fourth of six laps in the second semi. It took another lap for Wey to make the pass, after which he pulled away. Lewis was second, with Fast By Ferracci Husqvama's Tyler Evans third. "I tweaked my back a little bit last weekend," Wey said. "I took some time off. I'm coming here rejuvenated." Early on in the LCQ, it was dear that Ramsey and Blackfoot Honda's Heath Voss would be going to the maln. Ramsey won by 3.110 seconds, with Voss holding over 21 on Ted Campbell. 12 APRIL 24,2002' cue I e n e _ os

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