Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series Final Round: Sam Boyd Stadium treacherous - I fought for 15 laps and couldn't close the gap, 50 I just kind of rode it on home." The best racing of the main took place early in the race, when Lewis, Vuillemin, Fonseca, Ramsey and Roncada were all bunched up in an exciting scrap for third through fifth. This went on for a number of laps until Vuillemin got by Lewis and broke away from the fracas. He then went after Lusk but just couldn't catch the Kawasaki rider, though he did get fairly close. "Tonight wasn't a great race for me," Vuillemin said. "The track was kind of slick, and I've been riding outdoors the past few weeks. I haven't been riding supercross for a long time now. I think I lost a little bit of timing, and it took me a while to get the rhythm sections pretty good. "I got fourth in the heat race, 50 I was like eighth pick on the starting gate," Vuillemin said of his 50-50 start. "I jumped [off the start line] okay, but Ezra got me a little bit. 1 was like on a hay bale and against his handlebars, 50 I let off. I was like fifth or sixth, passed a couple of guys, and I was third pretty quick, but Ricky and Ezra were kind of gone. So I was pretty much alone the whole race." Until the last few laps. "I think Ezra started to ride more safe on this track," Vuillemin said. "He had a good gap; I had nothing to lose, 50 1 just tried to - maybe, he would give me a gift like at Minneapolis." After that, Fonseca also passed Lewis and held down fourth for a while before getting passed by both Ramsey and eventually McGrath. There was still one supererass left. but with all three champions already decided in the week prior to the Las Vegas finale. it was clear that the riders' focus was already on the outdoor Nationals. On Monday and Tuesday. David Vuillemin joined the Boost MobilelYamahalTroy Racing boys for some practice at Larry Wosick' s Honey Lake Motocross Park near Reno CVuiliemin said its soft soil was reminiscent to that of many National tracks). and the normal Thursday practice session at San Bemardino's Glen Helen Raceway (site of the opening National> looked like a Who's Who of moto. with nearly enough big names to fill a starting gate. Not only that. but dUring practice at the Vegas SX. the riders got a chance to get used to the heat that will dominate the National MX Series. Last week. we alluded to a unique new incentive program being put together by Escondido Cycle Center. and at Vegas. ECC manager Mike Craig was willing to speak more about the project on the record. The program will guarantee a million-dollar bonus to any of its four riders who wins a major 125cc championship (East Region SX. West Region SX or National MX). in addition to a traditional base salary. According to Craig. Ryan Morais has already signed. and Jeff Gibson and Frenchman Mathieu Lalloz are currently In negotiations. In case you're wondering how a shop team can afford to post such a huge bonus. the program is covered by insurance. similar to the money posted for the Vans Triple Crown program. _ Carmichael (Hon); 2. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 3. stephane Roncade (Kew); 4. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 5. Ryan Clark (Vam): 6. Nick Wey (Vam): 7. Michael Voung (Yam); 8. Tnllvis Hodges (Yern); 9 .. Jason Frenette (Hon); 10. Rene Tercero Reyes (Yam); 11. Zeb Armsttong (Vam); )2. Scott Davis (suj.); 13. Logan Darien (Yam); 14. Brendan Butler (SUI); 15. Jelmey Grosser (Hon); 16. Deve Cestillo (Yam); 17. Ben Riddle (SUI); 18. Chris Berrett (Yem); 19. Kevin Johnson (Yern); 20. Keith Johnson (Yelm). Time: 7 min.• 10.210 sec. 250 SEMI I (6 laps, 1·5 transfer): 1. Nelthan Remsey (Hon); 2. Damon HuffnulO (SUI); 3. Jeeln- Sebastien Roy (Han); 4. Dorey Lange (Kaw): 5. Tyler Evans (Hus); 6. Ted Campbell (5uz); 7. Blair Morgan Ezra Lusk summed up his supercross season by saying... Basically. I had some alright finishes, but [I was] not really consistently up front. I think I was a little bit too conservative this year. I need to be a little bit more on the edge. I guess. and be a little bit more aggressive. I kind of got taken advantage of a lot this year; got kind of bumped around a lot. I just didn't take advantage of situations when I should·ve. I wasn't where I needed to be." Lusk added that changing machines over the off·season was a major transition. "It was a pretty big change for me. - Lusk said. -I rode After tweaking his back last week in Salt Lake in a heat-race crash. Timmy Ferry elected to sit out the Vegas SX and focus on the outdoor Nationals. - He got his back adjusted. but he felt that it put him a little behind." said Yamaha team manager Steve Butler. -He's not 100 pereent. and his shoulder is hurt a little as well.- e rime: 7 min., 14.550 sec. 250 HEAT 2 (8 laps. 1-4 transfer): 1. Ricky Perhaps the most disappointed rider of all following this year's supercross season is David Vuillemin. who got off to a strong start by winning the first two races of the series and opening up a commanding points lead. But a freak. non-racing crash and resulting shoulder injury could have very well cost him the championship. Despite the disappointment. Vuillemln tried to look at the positives. "The year has been great." a very solemn Vuillemin said. "Halfway through the series was pretty good for me. until what happened. but I'm still pretty happy about my season. I hope to come back and win some races. and that [the first half of the seasonl is pretty good for the confidence. which should be good for next year. I'm going to be staying with Yamaha again. so basically everything's going to be the same. so it should be easier." Erick Vallejo showed up at Vegas decked out in red. white and green Acerbis apparel - the national colors of his home country. Mexico. n 13. Blair Morgan (Han); 14. Daniel Blair (Vam); 15. Ryan Terlecki (Suz); 16. Brian Meson (Ko'lll); 17. Je",mias Israel (Honh): 18. Ryan Dudek (KTM); 19. Lars Undsttom (Hon): 20. Scott Mea (Han). -I'm glad it's over," .Jeremy McGrath said of his winless supercross season. -I need to hit the reset button for sure. I feel good to be able to take a break now and heal myself completely and work on a few things. I mean. if this was the worst it ever got - it's not that bad. I guess. I'm frustrated. disappointed - I've got to work on it." And what does - it - mean? - My body," McGrath said. "I just need to physically rest a little bit. I've put a lot of pressure on myself this year: maybe it all just came to a head. I need to relax. is what I need to do. I'm happy with the improvements I made through out the year. but I'm glad it's over. I'm going to work hard to do a lot better next year. for sure. - After 10 years on the 250cc supercross cireuit. third is McGrath's lowest finish in the series. The Vegas track featured a relatively short. sideways start straight. an over-under bridge. a couple of triple jumps. two whoop straights and a couple of rhythm sections. As is often the case in the Las Vegas heat. one of the biggest tasks for the track workers was keeping the soil from becoming too dry. e Lewis (Hon); 4. david Vuillemin (Yam); 5. Damon Huffman (Suz); 6. Jean-SebllStlen Roy (Hon); 7. Isaiah Johnson (5U1); 8. Nathan Ramsey (Hon): 9. Tyler Evans (Hus); 10. Darcy Lenge (Kaw); 11. James Povolny Jr. (Hon); 12. Ted Campbell (5uz); As he was last year around this time. photographer Steve Bruhn is in the midst of a long moto roadtrip. Bruhn drove his Gride away from his Pittsburgh home before the Dallas Supererass and has since hit the Salt Lake City and Vegas rounds. He'll head out to California for the Glen Helen and Hangtown Nationals before driving back home for the Mt. Morris. Pennsylvania. round, Clear Channel presented a pretty impressive (and freeD freestyle exhibition in the pits between Saturday practice sessions. with such big names as Kenny Bartram and Tom Clowers performing. • 1& at 1&J Recently crowned National Arenacross Champion .Josh Demuth raced at Las Vegas. but the Shogun Motorsports Yamaha rider failed to qualify. Demuth placed 15th in his 125cc heat race and 11 th in the last-chance qualifier. Also failing to qualify (but in the 250cc class) was snowmobile champion Blair Morgan. who rides for the Blackfoot Honda team. Speaking of Australians. Michael Byrne made his retum to racing at the Vegas race. The Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Joumeys/Competition Accessories rider was seriously Injured In a scary fall way back at the Indy Supercross. and it has taken him a long time to recover from ligament damage to his left ankle. Byme finished seventh in the 125cc Dave Coombs Sr. EastlWest Shootout and is looking forward to the Nationals. cue [I"'III~ 250 HEAT 1 (8 laps. )-4 transfer): 1. Je",my McGrath (Vam); 2. Emesto Fonseca (Han); 3. Kyle Attendance in the smallish Sam Boyd Stadium was 39.227. Though not a huge number. that is a sellout. and the highest attendance ever at the venue. (Many more saw the event on Pay Per View'> Disturbingly. there were enough fights in the stands that the night's-end attendance was considerably lower. with many of the fans being led out in cuffs. Official supercrass attendance for the season was 792.909. For the Vegas race only, the Boost MobilelYamahafTray Racing pits were graced by the presence of a large. black Billabong bus. Like Boost and Chad Reed. surfwear company Billabong is from Australia. so they decided to help out the team by providing some extra hospitality room. MAY 15, 2002' Sa.. 1IlIy~ $tIdi•• Las Veps, Henda IIesuIts: May 4, 2D02 Results for the KTM .Junior Supercross Challenge: 1. Cannon Pixley; 2. Weslee Valerio; 3. Dennyn Mallson; 4. Cole Quick: 5. Chase Quick; 6. Jake Burbach: 7. Brian Sjogren; 8. Killian Woder; 9. Nicholas laPaglia; 10. Colby Raha; 11. Tallon Taylor: 12. Cole Nanney: 13. Caleb Dowell; 14. Austin Politelli: 15. Kade Wadsworth. BRIEFLY••• 10 Lewis, meanwhile, had dropped back to ninth, but not without putting up a good fight along the way. eN s Moto XXXlDGY's Nick Wey finished eighth and wrapped up the topprivateer honors for the series. Hondas for quite a long time. and changing to the Kawi was a big change. but the team made me feel really. really welcomed. and I had a lot of fun with them. " Following the Las Vegas race. Ricky Carmichael talked about the difficulties of winning his second title. "Number two is harder," Carmichael admitted. "Physically. mentally - with what happened at the first race and with the fans not agreeing with my decision of switching [teamsl. a lot of stuff went down in the offseason. It was tough. mentally. I just put my head down after the first race and tried to do the best I could. Even with my 125cc championships. my 250cc outdoor [championshipsl. the second title always seems to be the hardest - I don't know why. I don't think It [winning his second supereross tltlel is as sweet as the first one. To beat Jeremy. that's what everybody wanted. and I was the guy to do it. The one thing that is good about his year is that I kind of did the undoable - I came from a long ways back. I got a little bit of a gift given to me at Daytona [when David Vuillemin didn't racel. but. also. I gave David a gift at the first race. so it kind of balanced out. so here we are. It's all over." While more and more riders these days are using the front-suspension hooks to aid their starts. Ricky Carmichael has been reverting back to the old. no-hook set-up. "I haven't been using the hook on the forks." Carmichael said. "I don't know what the deal is for that thing, so I'm not totally convinced on that. I didn't use It last weekend. and I didn't use it this weekend. Last year. I always used to get good starts. and then this year. I've been kind of up and down. Seems like every time I don't use the thing I get a better start. I didn't use It tonight and got two awesome starts. and the start was key tonight - it was 75 percent of the race.Team Honda's Sebastien T ortelli suffered more bad luck at the series finale. While running ninth on the fourth lap of the main. Tortelli crashed at the end of a rhythm section and took Damon Huffman out with him. Tortelli slowly remounted and rode back to the pits. where he would finish out the 2002 MAAJ~ Sports Supercross Series. Huffman. meanwhile. got back up and finished 12th. Suzuki-mounted Ben Riddle suffered a hard get-off in his heat race that resulted in him silting out the rest of the evening. According to Dr. John Bodnar. Riddle suffered possible broken ribs and poSSible Intemal injuries. Red Buli KTM's Steve Boniface also crashed out of the evening's program after going down in a 125cc heat race. Boniface reportedly suffered a shoulder injury but is expected to be healthy enough to ride the opening round of the Outdoor National Series at Glen Helen. Mota XXXlOGY's Nick Wey. who finished eighth in the 250cc main. was the only privateer to qualify for all 16 main events this year. In fact. only five riders in all managed to accomplish this feat. and all of the other four riders are factory-backed: Ricky Carmichael, Jeremy McGrath. Ezra Lusk and Stephane Roncada. Wey was also the series' top privateer after finishing out the supercross series in eighth. Damon Huffman was the secondbest privateer, finishing one spot behind Wey in ninth, Yet another record broken. Team Honda's Ricky Carmichael broke yet another record in Las Vegas: the most wins in any two consecutive seasons. Jeremy McGrath held the mark with 24 for his 1995 <10 wins) and 1996 <14 wins) seasons. and Carmichael's 11th win of this season. combined with his 14 from last year. give him a two-year total of 25.

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