Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlEA Sports 1 25cc Eastern REgional Supercross Series Round 7: Pontiac Silverdome Jesseman moved up to third with 101 points. Behind Reed came Pro Circuit/ Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Eric Sorby. The Frenchman came late to the supercross wars, and is running in both the Eastern and Western Regions with equal success. Today was his third 125cc supercross and his third podium. "Three times on the podium for me is good," Sorby said. "Tonight is a little difficult for me because the whoops were hard." Sorby was about 24 seconds behind Reed, with ECC's Joshua Woods fourth, followed by MotoworldRacing.com Suzuki's Andrew Short and Cernics/Moose/KTM's John Dowd. New Englander Dowd was sporting new sponsorship from the Boston Celtics. Absent from the race was KTM Red Bull's Grant Langston. The South African was injured in a practice crash at KTM's practice track near Corona, California, earlier in the week. His management company, OMS Ltd., issued a press release saying that he'd suffered compression bruises to his ankles and knees. 16 APRIL 24,2002· cue •• MAIN Moto XXX's Kelly Smith got the jump on the field, only to get caught in a pile-up later on the first lap. Jesseman avoided the trouble and immediately began stretching his lead. That he would be so dominant so early was something of a surprise after he'd survived a miserable startto-finish sixth in his heat race - a race won by Smith. Reed had won the second heat. Team Blimpie Suzuki's Buddy Antunez was second for one lap before Sorby dived under him in a 180-degree bermed left near the end of the second lap. Reed moved by Antunez two laps later. "The first few laps went by pretty fast," Jesseman said. "I didn't look back, but you can glance back at a couple of spots on the track." Reed's start was the polar opposite. "I just got a terrible start," he said. "I think it was me and Mike Brown. We were pretty much last into the first corner." Ending the fifth lap, Jesseman had about 7.5 seconds, then added half a second on the sixth as Reed moved into second. Then, it was a cat-andmouse game, Jesseman holding on to a substantial advantage as Reed n e _ so chipped away, clearly the fastest rider on the track. Reed's fastest lap was 57.959 seconds, considerably faster than Jesseman's best of 58.699. Halfway into the 15-lap race, Jesseman's gap fell to seven seconds, then just over six on the next lap and under 5.5 on the 10th. The question was whether Reed had enough time to catch up. "I'd seen Chad [Reed] go into second, and I was like, 'I can't pace myself now,''' Jesseman said. "I just kind of kept pushing and unfortunately made a few mistakes and hit neutral in one turn and messed up through the whoops a few times. Luckily, there was nothing terribly wrong." The gap closed every lap, Reed charging hard, Jesseman hanging on. Starting the final lap, Reed was about 1.5 seconds back and on the run. The whoop section began four turns from the end, just before a looping right that led to a hard left leading into the tunnel. Reed was fast and smooth through the whoops, while Jesseman looked tentative. "I was trying not to make some mistakes through the whoops, but I did and I was just getting throl,lgh the best I could and pushing as hard as I Eric Sort»y (917) has a perfect podium record so far In supercross. In three starts, he has made the box all three times. Buddy Antunez (100) finished s.venth. could without making mistakes," Jesseman said, admitting that he had made a few errors and missed a gear at one point. Entering the tunnel turn on the final lap, Reed was right on Jesseman, who countered by blocking the inside line. Through the following right and the 180 right leading to the short finish run, Jesseman rode smart, keeping Reed at bay to win by about three bike lengths. One' of the first people to congratulate him was team manager Roger DeCoster. "He was just really excited because we put so much time and effort into the team," Jesseman said. "It was tough for me tonight," Reed said. "I didn't really need that at the start. It was a lot fun coming through. The saying is, you can't win them all. I can certainly try. Unfortunately, I missed out, but I got Vegas and got the Nationals and I got the championship which means the most to me." Sorby was left alone in third after Reed made his pass. For the remain-

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