my Own Race: 250cc
(§)
Mike laRocco
17th
Everything seemed to be going Mike LaRocco's way going into the evening's program.
The Amsoil/Chaparral Honda rider laid down the quickest lap time in the aftemoon's first
practice session, and he was matching Chad Reed turn for turn in their heat race, but
things quickly went downhill after the two collided and crashed, which LaRocco later
admitted was his fault. In the main, laRocco got together with Sebastien Tortelli off the
start, and the two of them went down, as well. Later on, laRocco crashed again while running 11 tho This one, however, put him out of the race. "I got a good start, and in the ,last
rhythm section, everyone was kind of jumping across," LaRocco said. "So I kind of double-Singled out, because I thought someone was going to jump across on me; I went high
in the berm and got Tortelli hooked up on me. He got stuck on me, and we both fell down.
After that, 1 was coming through the pack, I went to the right side of the whoops to pass
somebody [Nick Wey] - I don't remember who it was. 1was too fast and hit one of the big
whoops; it came up, I almost saved it but hit again, and my hand came off and tossed me
over the bars. 1landed on my shoulder, and now it's not doing too good. 1tried riding, but
it didn't feel right, and I didn't want to make it worse."
®@cB
for second through a whoop section,
but Lusk got him right back in the
next turn.
Lusk, who came into Anaheim
bogged down with strep throat, held
on to second for a while until losing
energy. Carmichael, who had some
moments earlier slipped past Roncada for third, eventually got around
Lusk for second on the fifth lap, as
did Roncada for third shortly thereafter.
After taking over second,
Carmichael had some work to do to
catch Byrne, who still enjoyed a small
lead. But by the eighth lap, there was
no more joy in Leadsville for Byrne as
Carmichael closed in, and by the
ninth lap, Byrne was running second
and Carmichael was trying to sprint
away.
"I got a great start," Byrne said of
running up front. "' was loving it, battling with Ricky. He's a guy I never
really get to race with. Before the
race, I told my mechanic that I was
really, really nervous, and he just
said, 'Well, this is just practice and
While Cannlchael and Reed battled up
front, David Yulllemin quietly wort
