Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

my lJ 7J Own Race: 250cc Robbie Reynard This Planet Honda/Reynard Modifications-backed rider put in a consistent 7-7 ride for sixth overall. "I really didn't feel too good today," Reynard said. "In the first moto, I didn't get a very good start and tried to work my way up. I got a little bit of arm pump - nothing too bad. In the second moto, I got a little bit better of a start. I was actually up to fifth at one point, and I just felt like I hit the biggest wall I've ever hit in my life. My whole body felt fatigued. I really don't understand it, because 1 work really hard during the week, training and everything. I got really tired out there that second moto." f0~@ Putting in a strong ride for second overall was LaRocco, who returned to racing just one week ago from a broken wrist. The veteran spent the first half of moto one battling with Moto XXX/DGY /Yoshimura's Kyle Lewis and the second half dicing with Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli. LaRocco inherited fourth when Tortelli went down with just a few laps to go, and that's where he would finish out the race. LaRocco started the second moto just outside of the top five. By the fifth lap of the 16-lap moto, he had moved into third and begun to pressure Lewis for the runner-up spot. With just a few laps remaining, the tough-as-nails LaRocco made his move on Lewis and took over second. "Yeah, I actually felt pretty good out there," LaRocco said. "My goal was to get on the podium - actually, Mike laRocco (5). here passing Sean Hamblin (99). put In his first two full motos since breaking his wrist and came away with runner-up honors. "Yeah, it's definitely a start," Ferry said. "Ricky's been winning by 30 seconds or more at every race. I've been working on a few things, and I've got a new coach helping me out Ronnie Tichenor. He's an old friend of mine. I'm trying to change things around a little bit - trying to get that little extra edge that Ricky has. I seem to be closing in." [n the second moto, Ferry went down in the first turn and completed the opening lap in 37th place. With nowhere to go but up, Ferry charged aggressively through the pack and go. A late-moto pass on SoBe Suzu- Things went pretty well. I'm still not quite where I need to be, strengthwise ki's Sean Hamblin, and then Lusk, in my wrist, but it's getting a heck of a lot closer. I made it through two would finish out the moto. the series was Ferry. [n the first moto, Ferry qUickly moved past Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk for second, and spent the remainder of the race trying to make up the approximate five-second gap to Carmichael. 'lJ ® Sebastien Tortelli This Team Honda rider had a rough day at Budds Creek, soldiering on to a 6-8 seventh-overall finish. TortelJi crashed while running fourth in the first moto with just a few laps to go. The Frenchman suffered a poor start in the second moto, completing the first lap in 24th place. Tortelli charged throughout the race and eventually finished eighth. "It was not a good day," Tortelii said. "I don't know, I just didn't feel right. 1hurt my head a little bit in the first moto when I crashed, so I was kind of not feeling right for the second one. I just couldn't get going. I don't know why." into sixth with just a few laps left to my goal was to just finish two motos. motos, and that in itself was a big step for me right now." Posting his fourth podium finish of Guy Cooper The popular Xtreme Machine/ Hyundai-backed KTM rider finished 21 st in moto one, but charged back for an 1lth-place finish in moto two for 15th overall. "I got two great starts," said the former 125cc Nation· al Champion. "I was fifth on the first one, and about halfway through the first lap, I got in a long rut and the front end washed out on me. I just brain-faded. I got back up in 30th and came back to 21st. It was a really hard first moto, and to not get any points was kind of a bummer. I got a good start in the second moto - sixth or seventh and I knew the track was going to be hard to pass on. This is my type of track - hard· packed with grooves in it. I just did the best I could. I'm real happy with my 11th-place finish in the second moto. I'm getting that much closer to a top 10." moved Ferry into fourth, where he "It was a good ride," the Team Yamaha rider said. "Not quite as good as I wanted, but I made do with what I had. I just kind of ran the thing into the back of Dowd in the first turn and tipped over. I had to work my butt off just to get back to fourth. I ~ 'lJ Heath Voss ~ 7J Kevin Crine The Mach 1 Motorsports-backed Honda pilot put in a strong 9-10 ride for eighth overall, his best finish so far this year. "My mechanic, Bill Ferry, has my bike running really good for me," Voss said. "I had two great starts. My biggest problem right now is that I'm not riding aggressive enough during the first four laps. Cooper got a real good start that second moto, and he rides pretty damed good for being 40 years old. I passed him five or six times, and he would just cut underneath me and get me back. He wasn't giving it up. Once I got around him, I reeled in Plotts. We were side-by-side at the finish, but I just didn't have enough time to get him. I think I'm top-10 in the points now, so I'm real happy with that. Every week's just going to get better, and I'm looking forward to going to Red Bud. It's one of my favorite tracks." finally got by Lusk and made a run for LaRocco and Lewis, but I didn't have enough time." Apart from Americans, the French have become the most well-represented country in American motocross, but two of the top French riders were missing at Budds Creek. Noticeably absent was Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin. "He's been struggling with the ankle he sprained in the second moto at Sacramento," said team manager Steve Butler. "He ended up re-injuring it last week at Southwick. It seemed that it never got quite strong enough to survive there. To try and race here this weekend would have just put him behind again in his healing. He felt like he couldn't be 100 percent coming here. We have the next two weekends off, so that will make three weeks total for him to heal. David's been to see his doctor in France, and those two have had a lot of success with fixing him up. I think, mentally, it just really helps David to work with someone who he's worked with before and trusts. Hopefully, he'll be 100 percent for Red Bud." Also sitting out the Budds Creek National was Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada. "Stephane had an injury to his lower·left leg at Southwick," said team manager Bruce Stjemstrom. "He had an MRI done, but we haven't really got a good result of that, yet. He's still sore and has a hard time putting all of his weight on it. That's kind of where we're at right now. There's nothing broken, so we're hoping to have him back by Red Bud." The Shenandoah Honda(RRP-backed local favorite had an up-and-down day. Crine fm· ished 20th in moto one, but charged back in the second moto to finish 12th, for 16th overall. "It wasn't a bad day," Crine said. "I'm just coming off a shoulder injury from about a month and a half ago. Unfortunately, I was involved in a first-tum pileup in the first moto and landed right on the shoulder again. By the time I got up, 1was already a good quarter of a lap behind the last-place guy. I worked hard and got up to 20th. I had to pass Guy Cooper for the last points-paying position. I was pretty happy with the second moto. I got like an eighth-place start. 1kind of got tired, and my shoulder started bothering me quite a bit, but I told myself to try to keep pushing, and that's what I did. I ended up 12th, so that wasn't so bad." ® Steve Lamson The Fast By Ferracci Husqvama rider rode well in his first race back from injury, but mechanical woes forced Lamson to pull out of each of the two motos. "I felt pretty good in the first moto and then, four laps from the end, something happened to my motor and I couldn't finish," Lamson said. "I got everything squared up for the second moto, and I ended up having another problem, so I couldn't finish that one either. I think I was around 11 th when I went out. Overall, I felt pretty good. I was just trying to be smart about coming back and not do anything stupid. We have two weeks off now, so I should be feeling really good by Red Bud." cu cl • n • _:IS • JUNE 26. 2002 11

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