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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128169
m @ Own Race: 250cc Mike laRocco The Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Journeys/Honda rider has never been known for his great starts, but at Spring Creek, Mike LaRocco's starts were even worse than usual. laRocco just couldn't get out of the Spring Creek starting gate, and it cost him. In both motos, laRocco completed the first lap in 12th place, and in both motos, he finished fifth. "My starts were terrible both motos: laRocco said. "I struggled through the pack, and when I did, everyone was gone. It was pretty much the same story for both motos." '1J 7J Robbie Reynard @@ Sean Hamblin There was one rider, however, that got worse starts than laRocco, and that was Honda rider Robbie Reynard. Reynard began the first moto in 27th and the second moto in 23rd, but he did have some success making up for his slow getaways. In the first mote, Reynard caught up to eighth, and in the second moto, he worked up to seventh for seventh overall, just one spot behind laRocco. "I felt good in both matos, but I just couldn't get off the start. I don't know, I might've had some clutch problems, like the first moto I didn't drive out of the gale, and in the second, the thing just went 'bwaaaa-waaa' and didn't go anywhere. Otherwise, the bike was feeling good and I was feeling good." The Travis Pastrana look-alike, Sean Hamblin, put his number-99 factory Suzuki into ninth-place overall after posting 10-8 moto finishes, but the No Fear-clad rider looked better than his results showed. In the first mota, Hamblin spent much of the moto battling with Mike LaRocco, Stephane Roncada, John Dowd and Nick Wey, and in the second, climbed from 14th to eighth, again spending much of the time dicing with Roncada and Dowd. "Everything went pretty good, considering I've never been here before," Hamblin said. "The first moto, I fell with four laps to go, but I was on John (Dowd] for a little bit, and that [the crash] set me back to II th, but I got (Kyle] Lewis for 10th. The second moto, I'm pretty happy with. I think it's the best second mota I've had, except for maybe Hangtown. But honestly, my day went as good as I planned it to go." 1] Stephane Roncada The Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider didn't have much success getting out of the gate, either, as he began the two motos in 14th and 10th, respectively. Unfortunately for him, though, he just couldn't make up much ground, finishing out the day 9-9 for 10th overall. And that's exactly what happened - again. Moto one's start was all Cannlchael (4), and so was the rest of the moto. Carmichael was his usual awesome self at Spring Creek, winning As far as the streak? "The way the both motos seemingly easy in front of a record Millville crowd of over season has gone, whatever happens 18,500, but what made this victory different than the previous nine was that win number 10 gave him his from now, it doesn't matter," Carmichael said. "Everything up until now has been awesome. If I don't race third consecutive 250cc outdoor title, and the first for Honda since Jeremy McGrath gave the red team the 250cc crown in 1995. It's an obvious understatement to another race this year, well, everything else has been phenomenal." Carmichael's win at Spring Creek was also the 26th outdoor win of his ® Steve Lamson The Team Fast By Ferracci Husqvarna rider failed to finish either mota. "I got a really bad start in the first moto, and then I fell over on the second lap," Lamson said. "I was so far back; I was struggling and couldn't come back. In the second mota, a couple of guys crashed in one of those bowl tums, and I just rear-ended them; it broke my front fork guard and the brake line was all over the place and getting caught up in my front wheel, so I had to pull off." say that Carmichael has dominated this year's 250cc title chase, having not yet lost an overall victory this career, which has significant value; because one more victory will tie him with Bob Hannah for the all-time outdoor win record. Carmichael could year and, even more phenomenal, not having yet lost a moto! All that's left for Carmichael to do now is to break that record at the final round at Delmont, Pennsylvania, in two weeks. Carmichael didn't have to work too shoot for the perfect season, and four more moto wins will do that. Carmichael won't talk much about the streak, but he will talk about win- hard at Spring Creek, which had a lot to do with him getting good starts in both motos. In fact, Carmichael took ning the '03 title. "It feels awesome," Carmichael said of clinching the championship. "I never expected, as a kid, to do this good, but the holeshot in the first moto on his Chad Watts-tuned Honda and never looked backed, taking the win by 30 seconds over Nathan Ramsey, who finished just ahead of Sebastien things are going good. The bike is awesome, I'm healthy and everything Tortelli. Honda could not have asked for a better start to their day, with all is good. I'm ready to move on - get ready for supercross, the MX des Nations and the U.S. Open, and that's of their factory guns finishing 1-2-3 in the first moto. it - nothing else [until next year]." 1] ® John Dowd ~® NickWey The KTM 520cc four-stroke rider was again found near the front of the pack in both motos, nearly snaring the holeshot in the first moto. Dowd quickly dropped back to fifth, where he hung out for while before finishing out the moto in seventh, behind Ferry and laRocco. Dowd got another good start in the second moto, but crashed on the second lap, dropping back to 13th. He ended up going 7-10 for eighth overall. "I actually went down twice (in the second moto]," Dowd sajd. "' crashed once myself, and the second time, I actually got together with Hamblin and I think Reynard was in there with us. The first mota was good, but the second mota was frustrating." The Mota XXX/DGY team rider looked fast all day long, but bad starts in both motos ruined his chances for a top finish. The Yamaha rider got away to 18th- and 15th-place starts, but did make up some ground, going 11-11 on the day for 12th overaU. "I didn't get the starts I needed," Wey said. "The first moto, I had some problems passing some guys, and in the second mota, I felt like I rode real well, but j got 12th; I'm not happy with that. I felt good, just bad starts." @@~ Evan Laughridge Making his first pro appearance since graduating from the amateur class at Loretta Lynn's a week earlier, this Suzuki Support rider turned some heads with solid 18-14 rides for 16th overall. "I felt pretty good, got good starts and just hung in there," Laughridge said. "In the second moto, I got a seventh- or eighth-place start, but those guys are so fast, they picked me off one by one. I feel so happy, because a top 15 in my first national is pretty good, but I think I need to go home and up my training program a little bit, and just ride longer motos and try to smooth out a little bit. I made a lot of mistakes out there, I figured I'd probably be in the top 20, top 15, so I'm right where I want to be." Although Carmichael didn't quite nail the holeshot in the second moto cue I • n e _ S • AUGUST 28, 2002 9