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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3 7Danny Smith Blimpie Suzuki's Smith has had a tough year so far, but he finished both motos at the tail end of the top five - all by himself. He started near the front both times out, but more importantly, he finished there as well. "Well, I haven't been doing anything different," Smith said. "I had a little bit of a rough supercross series, but I ended it well, and I just wanted to come here and start off the season well and not do anything stupid. I just rode real solid today. I think I went 5-5, and I'm pretty happy with that because this track's so demanding and so rough, a lot of times it's hard to pass on. I'll take it. I feel super strong." 2 9 Travis Preston The newly crowned 125cc Western Regional Supercross Champion struggled with poor starts in both 125cc matos, but he still slugged his way into the top 10 overall with 12-12 finishes. 68 Matt Walker Walker was very fast at Glen Helen. The Pro Circuit-supported rider actually led the start of the second mota, eventually finishing fourth. In the first mota, Walker finished eighth, combining for sixth overall. 45Ivan Tedesco This New Mexico native's day could have been better, to say the least. He clawed his way to an 11th-place finish in mota one, getting passed in the closing stages by defending champ Brown. But in mota two, two separate falls at the bottom of one of the big downhills ruined his chances of a strong finish overall. 20Damon Huffman MotoworldRacing.com/Suzuki's Huffman seemed to be battling with riders all around him all day. He eventually finished out the day with two ninth-place finishes for eighth overall. 4 3 Bobby Bonds Just returning from the major injuries incurred at Anaheim II, Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks' Bonds started outside the top lOin mota one and battled up to an impressive sixth-place finish by mota's end. A 14th-place finish in mota two relegated him to ninth overall. off the pace, and I was struggling Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks' even to put two laps together, so I Brown and Boost Mobile/Yamaha/ Troy was hoping for a top five. But Racing's Reed each encountered mis- Thursday, I was thinking, 'Man, I'll fortune on the starts - Brown in moto be lucky if I can get top 10.' And one, and Reed in moto two. "Rodrig then, every time I got on the track, Thain went down on the start there [in I loosened up and rode a little bet- moto one]: Brown said. "It was kind of ter. You know, I've only ridden four soft and he went over the bars. Then I times before coming out here, so I hit his bike and went down, so - you haven't done any testing, any train- OLarry Ward Moto XXX/DGY's Ward went down in a heap at the completion of lap one in mota one while running near the front of the pack and lay motionless for a few moments. He eventually remounted and rode unassisted back to the pits. He still made the mota-two start, but started well outside the top 25 overall. Ward managed to catch up to 16th in the stacked field and crossed the checkers in a battle with David Pingree and Greg Schnell. 23 1 Tyson Hadsell YZ250F-mounted Hadsell showed impressive speed throughout mota one, but his bike began smoking while he was battling inside the top 15 at about the halfway point and he began going backward. He ceased to be a factor the rest of the day. know, it was nobody's fault, really. The ing, any motos - nothing." 1 track was just a little bit muddy there." "The second moto, I got a really good start - I was second," Reed said. "Going into the second corner, I followed Pingree into the corner and he just went really slow into the corner and all the other guys went straight up the inside. I kind of slid out a little moto-one win. him, and so did Brown and Stewart. After chasing the KTM rider for a down. And then, as I was coming (Left) Bum knee and all, Grant Langston was downright fast. He led both motos, but ended up going 3-3 for second overall. to displace early leader Matt Walker, and he seemed intent on leaving the rest to battle for second. But eventually, his lack of fitness caught up to bit, and then somebody took my front wheel out. Unfortunately, I went (Above) Stewart crests Mt. St. Helen en route to his The champ scored the victory, using his 10- 1 results for fourth overall. Fast-starter Langston was the first few laps, Brown and Stewart both through, there was a crash on top of the hill and I couldn't avoid it and I went down also. You know, it was a made their push - and Langston fell down for the second time on the day. That solidified the top three as Stew- bummer to go down twice on the first lap. I really didn't need that." art let the defending champ go, knowing he didn't need to win the moto to Brown eventually crossed the fin- win the overall, and Langston found ish line in 1Oth in moto one, while himself too far behind to challenge Reed was impressive to finish sixth despite the two falls in the second and physically running on empty. Reed's 2-6 earned him third, and outing. Stewart, on the other hand, got a Langston's 3-3 garnered him second. "I didn't have to pass Brownie to hold of the moto-one lead on just the second lap and took off. "Once I got win the overall, and I wanted to win the overall," Stewart said. "I'm in for out front, I wasn't really pushing it, the points. It's [the series] 12 races and I still pulled away, so next moto I should be strong," the Floridian said. long, and I'm in for it the whole way. I After his first moto, it seemed that definitely backed down, I was probably only riding at like 85 percent for a 1 -1 Stewart performance was the last three or four laps. I just had assured, but Brown had other plans. to stay up." eye' e n e _ ION s • MAV22.2002 13