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getting hit by a few riders. The mistake put Pastrana and a few other riders out of contention right away, costing them all precious seconds as the three leaders began to stretch it out. Carmichael's teammate Ernesto Fonseca sat fourth pretty much by himself, while Tim Ferry was battling with Yamaha teammate Vuillemin for the fifth position. But the Reed/Lusk/Carmichael freight train had left the station, and they immediately began gapping the rest of the field, although none of them could seem to make any advances on one another. Carmichael was the first to make a push at around lap six, and it ended up costing him. "The beginning of the race was pretty good," the champ said. "I got a good start - I was right where I wanted to be, because I want- Lusk (11) and Chad Reed (22) seemed like they were glued together in Phoenix. Lusk stuffed his way past Reed for the heat-race win on the last lap, then passed Reed with four laps to go to win the main event. ed to race with those guys, but you know I could follow them and ride right there with them, but when it was time for me to make a move, I didn't feel that comfortable. I just felt like, when I needed to step it up, I couldn't. I have what it takes to run with them, but to pass them I just have to figure out a few things. I just tried a little too hard. I tried to start getting aggressive and charge a little more, and when I did, I lost my front end and fell down. When I got back up, I didn't have any front brake, so I did the best that I could do with what I had." Carmichael remounted in sixth and had to mess with his clutch lever to try to get it where he could use it. His crash left Reed and Lusk all alone out front, with Ferry closing in on Fonseca for third. As the racers neared the halfway point, Reed began putting time on Lusk, and it looked as if Lusk may have physically run out of gas and that Reed would get his third win in a row (including Arnhem, Holland). On the 10th la p Ferry got into Fonseca for third, knocking the Costa Rican down after the whoops. At the same time, Carmichael made a pass on Vuillemin for fourth, where he would stay until the end of the race. On lap 12, Reed had almost four seconds in hand over Lusk, but he got balked by a lapper, forcing him to double the triple on the first-base line. "I kind of got a little bit of a gap, and then I almost ran right into the back of Ryan Clark and kind of blew that," Reed said. Only a couple of laps later, Lusk took advantage of a mistake by Reed Consistency: Tim Ferry got yet another podium finish in Phoenix.. This may be his best start to a season ever. DUD I e n e _ S • JANUARY 22, 2003 9