Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U.S, Motocross Championship Series Round 10: Spring Creek MX Park ki rider only to make a mistake in the "Millville Whoops" and see Lusk get back by him. In the remaining five laps, Tortelli dogged Lusk in every tum, but the Kawasaki pilot held his ground, taking a very hard-earned third place which, combined with his first-moto fourth, gave him second overall. "I tried to latch on to him [Tortelli] and I stayed with him for a couple of laps," Lusk said. "Then he made a mistake in the sand wash and I was able to get right up on him, and then held him off the last couple of laps. It was actually a fun battle. That was probably one of my best motos of the year." It was also a season-high finish for the Kawasaki rider. instead rounding the first turn in third place behind Ramsey and John Dowd - he did have the lead before the first lap was over. From there, the race was all Carmichael's, as he opened up a comfortable 20-second lead over Tim Ferry and maintained that comfort zone to the checkered flag, and to the title. After an all-red podium in the first moto, Honda was looking to make it a sweep in the day's final standings, but Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk spoiled that plan. After finishing fourth in the first moto, Lusk went all out in the second moto, passing Ramsey for third, and then having to defend a hard-charging Tortelli for the second half of the race. At one point, Tortelli got around the Kawasa- Tortelli's 3-4 efforts earned him third overall. Fourth overall ended up going to Ferry, who was the only rider who could've prevented Carmichael from clinching the title at Spring Creek. His goal was to fmish at least one of the two motos ahead of Carmichael preferably in first place - and that would've pretty much dragged out the title run for at least another week. Ferry started off strong, sitting in third place behind Carmichael and Ramsey in the first moto, and pressured Ramsey for nearly 20 minutes of the 30-minute race before crashing in the whoops and eventually finishing out the moto in sixth. "I couldn't get by him," Ferry said of his dice with Ramsey. "The track was kind of one-lined and he was riding good, but I finally messed up and fell in the whoops section, and that was about it." Ferry was again strong in the second moto, but this time he did not crash. Instead, Ferry actually maintained about a seven-second gap behind Carmichael for much of the race before cooling his engines and dropping off to 20 seconds. "The second moto was good, got by Ramsey and got away quick this time," Ferry said. "I felt good, I kept Ricky within seven or nine seconds for quite a while, so I feel pretty good about that. I wanted to try to keep him [Carmichael] honest." Rounding out the top five overall was Ramsey. In the first moto, the Team Honda' Ernesto Fonseca suffered a nasty get-off during Saturday's first practice session, Fonseca got pitched over the handlebars and both he and his bike went cartwheeling into the fence, "There was a big kicker on the left [at the bottom of a downhill] and 'wham,' the bike almost went through the fence," Fonseca said, "Man, I got lucky; I didn't get hurt at all. I mean, I'm lucky, When Fonseca's body hit the ground, he landed in soft dirt. that the team has already signed three riders for next year: Steve Lamson, Jeff Gibson and Tyler Evans, Ryan Morias had reported· Iy signed on with the team, but then signed another contract with the MotoworldRacing,com Suzuki team, which has resulted in a contract tug-o-war, Lamson will compete in the 125cc Westem Regional Supercross Series, as well as the 125cc class in the outdoor Nationals, Lamson last raced a Suzuki 125 in 1992, Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli arrived just in time to make Saturday's practice seSSion, but the former 250cc World Champion had a good reason for being a little late. Tortelli stayed at his home in Gainesville, Rorida, to be with his new son, Enzo, TortelIi's wife, Stephanie, gave birth to the couple's first child on Wednesday, August 14, "It was so hard to leave [FloridaJ, very hard," said the proud new father. -It's very exciting; holding it.' Enzo's full name is Enzo Edgar Tortelli. So, why the name Enzo? "I don't know, it just sounds good, and goes good with Tortelli.· When asked if Enzo is going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a motocrosser, Tortelli said, "He can do whatever he wants.• KTM's team manager Ron Heben elaborated a little bit on his team's new acquisition, seven·time Supercross Champion .Jere· my McGrath. "We're very happy about it." Heben said. "He's ridden the bike [an '02 250 SXl and likes it a lot. and I don't think he'd do anything late in his career like this if he really didn't think he could do good on the bike, Right now, he's on his honeymoon, and when he gets back, he'll start riding the bike, play riding, practicing, and learning more about it. In the first part of September, he'll start testing the '03 250, He won't be doing any locai races, but we're planning to make his debut at the U.S. Open [October], and if we're not ready, we'll wait. - McGrath will keep the same program similar to the one he had last year, where he pitted out of his own Bud Light-sponsored rig, and he'll retain the services his tuner Skip Noriolk and McGrath Racing's team manager Larry Brooks, There has been some talk in the pits lately that there might not be a Husqvama team next year, but according to team member Steve Lamson, those rumors might not necessarily be true. "I know Eraldo [Feracel, the team's manager! wants to continue, but I don't know if they've been talking to anyone," Feracci was not at Spring Creek but was instead reportedly meeting with race· team personnel from Itaiy, Speaking of Sebastien Tortelli, the Frenchman hasn't made the switch from Team Honda to Team Suzuki just quite yet, 'We've reached an agreement with him ITortellil,' Suzuki's team manager Roger DeCoster said, "But we're still working out the fine details, " Defending 125cc National Champion Mike Brown attended the Spring Creek National despite being unable to race because of his mending knee, The Chevy Trucks/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki racer says that he's knee is coming along well, feels good and should start riding again in about three weeks, There has been a lot of talk that Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada will be joining Tortelli on Suzuki's team next year, but according to DeCoster, there's still work to be done before the Roncada-to-Suzuki is a done deal. "There's a SO/50 chance with Roncada," DeCoster said, "but before we can start talking to him [Roncada!, we first have to finish things with Tortelli." If Tortelli and Roncada do sign, and if Pastrana does stay with the team, it'll most likely leave no room for '02 stand-in Sean Hamblin, who has been talking to the folks at Yamaha of Troy. Moto XXX/DGY's Larry Ward rolled into the Spring Creek National in a brand-new 40-foot Monaco Dynasty motorhome, similar to that of Ricky Carmichael's, "I'm tired of motels and airports, and I'm trying to keep it [following the racing circuitl fun and interesting," Ward said. "I can just stay here tonight [Saturday! and not have to go and stay in town, and I can take it out west and bring all of my own stuff, " BRIEFLY••• After crashing hard in the second 125cc moto, Grant Langston eamed a helicopter ride to the airport to get checked out. According to AMA referee Duke Finch, the decision to fly Langston to the hospItal was more to avoid the heavy traffic leaving the track and to prevent him from having to sit in a car for two hours than because of a serious medical concern. There has also been rumors about Travis Pastrana having been released from his contract with Suzuki, after having injured his knee at the recent Gravity Games, "We'd like to have him concentrate on motocross," said DeCoster, "He's still with the team, but we have to talk with him and his agent [regarding his future with the team!," Pastrana's injury will keep him off the track for the remainder of the outdoor Nationals, but that doesn't explain why Pastrana wasn't in attendance at Spring Creek, "He's at the X-Games signing autographs there," DeCoster said. It seems that most of the news at the Spring Creek National centered on the Suzuki pits, While everyone was talking about the possible signing of Tortelli and Roncada, the rumored firing of Pastrana, and the disappearing act of Kevin Windham (evidently, Windham had two screws in his leg removed this week), not too many noticed the SoBe, instead of Blimpie, decals plastered on the team's 125cc race bikes, It seems that Suzuki and Bllmpie, the team's 125cc sponsor, had a falling out and the 125s are now sporting the team's 250cc sponsor's logo, SoBe, "We're trying to compensate to SoBe for what happened to Kevin and Travis, " DeCoster said, "SoBe has been so good to us that we wanted to do something for them, plus Blimpie hasn't come through with their promises, " As far as SuzukI's 125cc team for next year goes, it looks as though Suzuki has again offered Branden .Jesseman and Danny Smith contracts for another year, and is trying to work a deal out with Buddy Antunez, who is still entertaining the idea of going back to Arenacross racing full-time. 10 AUGUST 28,2002' cue I • n _ Now that the end of the '02 MX season is near, some of the riders are beginning to sport new, '03 riding apparel, At Spring Creek, many of Thor's riders, such as Chad Reed, Ezra Lusk, Kevin Walker and Sebastien Tortelli, looked significantly different in their new duds during Saturday's practice debut, Ricky Carmichael, for only the second or third time this season, rode Saturday's practice session in white and blue Fox gear, Tortelll chose to wear his" old' Thor gear on Sunday. Don't be surprised if the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki team is comprised of only two riders next year, If Stephane Roncada leaves the green team, it appears that he will not be replaced; instead the team will rely on James Stewart, In the 125cc class, and Ezra Lusk, in the 250cc class. The Spring Creek pits were void of the San Diego-based Team ECC Suzuki semi. Apparently, the team has been going through some rough times after haVing a fall out with two of its team riders - Michael Brandes and Turbo Reif, Brandes has reportedly been released from the team, as has Reif, Brandes was not in attendance, but Reif showed up on a Honda CR 125, wearing No Fear apparel (the ECC team has an apparel contract with Troy Lee), Chris Wheeler, one of the team's four riders, has been out of action due to injuries suffered earlier in the year, That leaves the team's lone rider at Spring Creek, Josh Woods. Woods, however, had to make the trip from out west in a box van, as it was decided to save some expenses by ieaving the semi at home in San Diego, Even though things have kind of unraveled for the ECC team lately, they do have big plans for the 2003 season, Word has it vv s Speaking of the Husqvarna team, Tyler Evans was dropped from the squad a couple of weeks ago and did not race at Spring Creek, But. as mentioned earlier, Evans has since signed on with Team ECC, KTM rider Guy Cooper could not race at Spring Creek after crashing and Injuring himself during Saturday's practice, Cooper got pitched over the handlebars on one of the track's downhills and was left with a dislocated shoulder, Cooper will be forced to sit out the remaining few rounds of the series, The injUry, however, hasn't dampened Cooper's spirits at all, as he hopes to campaign the outdoor series again next year, The Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing team was represented by just two riders at Spring Creek, Ivan Tedesco, Rodrig Thain and Greg Schnell are all still sidelined with injuries, but Chad Reed and new team member Josh Hansen carried on for the team, Next year, there will be many new faces in the Yamaha of Troy pits, Hansen and Craig Anderson (Chad Reed's cousin) and a fourth yet-to-be-decided rider will be replacing Reed (who will be going to the factory Yamaha team), Thain and Schnell. Tedesco will retum for a second year, Heath Voss is hoping to join Jeremy McGrath as KTM's second 250cc rider for '03, but he has a couple of other prospects on the table just in case a KTM deal doesn't work oul. Currently, Voss is being supported by Greg Holbrook's Mach 1 team while the Blackfoot Racing/Honda team is racing in the Canadian National Series, Voss says he's also been talking to a team out of Texas - Extneme Outdoor Motorsports • and says he'll be happy to strike a deal with any of these teams, Pro Circuit's Mitch Payton says that he's already signed Mike Brown, Malt Walker and Eric Sorby for the '03 season and Is hopeful of re-signing Shae Bentley. "We'd like to give Shae a chance, so we'll see how things go [jn the remaining two roundsJ," Payton said, "We're going to evaluate things and see who is the right guy for the fourth slot." A few amateur racers that had just turned pro following the AMA Amateur National MX finals at Loretta Lynn's showed up for the Spring Creek National, one of whom was Evan Laughridge, one of the star riders at Loretta's, And Laughridge had quite an impressive outing. The Suzuki support rider, who was receiving help from the guys at the MotoworldRacing,com Suzuki team, ran as high as 15th in the first moto before finishing 18th, In the second moto, Laughridge got off to a seventh-place start and was mixing it up with Sebastien Tortelli. Stephane Roncada, Mike laRocco and Sean Hamblin for a while before dropping back to 13th, for 16th overall.

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