Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Aussie Brett Metcalfe rode strong for third· his best finish of the year. ping back from a 12th-place start to third place in less than five laps. Tedesco played caboose in a Yamaha podium train that had Sellards towing then-second-place Kelly Smith. By lap eight, Tedesco reeied in and caught Smith. Smith ended up crashing out on lap 13. "I didn't get out the best start but just put my head down and put a bunch of fast laps in," Tedesco said. "Once I got into second, I was trying to catch Brock, actually was catching him pretty good, but I haven't been riding much because of my injuries and got a little tired around lap 12, and he pulled back out a little bit. Next week, I want to get some more time on the bike, get my endurance up and hopefully get a better start and win the thing." Hovering for much of the race in fourth place behind the three Yamaha pilots was Red Bull KTM's Aussie Brett Metcalfe. The rookie has shown some flashes of greatness in heat races for much of the year but had yet to crack the top three in a main event. Well, on lap 13, Metcalf got that chance when Smith went down, and he inherited third place with his fast and consistent riding. He says he's gaining experience every week and finally getting confident with the highly technical American supercross tracks. He hopes to make an even bigger impact in one of the remaining races. "Last weekend, my downfall was the whoops," Metcalfe said. "I practiced on them all week and got over the hurdle of being scared, just skimming them this week. This helped out a lot - gave me a great deal more confidence. " And the highlight out of the evening for Metcalfe? "My corner speed's been strong all season," he said. "I'm not jumping everything I should be, so I'd have to say it's my corner speed that's kept me in it and Ryan Mills Impressed many with his sixth-place finish. He seems to be getting stronger by the week. allowed me to finish on the podium tonight." With the podium all but settled with three laps remaining, the Houston fans' attention was drawn to the battle for fourth place among Brown, Jesseman and Red Bull KTM's Steve Boniface. Brown looked to have it sewn up, but an errant Tuff Block lane divider (one of the long ones) got spit out onto the track in a singlerider crash. The problem was, right before this happened, Brown had committed to a different line and ran smack-dab into the Tuff Block, allowing Jesseman to get by. "They [track workers] were trying to get it [the Tuff Block] out of the way the best they could, and I tried to go inside that time when I'd been going to the outside every other time and rode up on it," Brown said. So when the dust settled on Houston, Jesseman gained some valuable points with his fourth-place finish, with Brown in fifth and Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Ryan Mills riding very well for sixth place. Boniface, Lacey, Jeff Gibson and Michael Blose rounded out the top 10. eN Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas Results: March 29, 2003 [Round 61 HEAT I (6 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Mike Brown (Kaw); 2. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 3. Brock Sellards (Yam); 4. Brett Metcalfe (KTM); 5. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 6. Mathieu Lalloz (Suz); 7. Ty Conner (Hon); 8. Coil Humphrey (Yam): 9. Scott Metz (KTM): 10. Jerrad Fisher (Yam); 11. Bryan White (Yam); 12. J. Martin Garcia (Suz); 13. Michael Graham (Yam); 14. Joshua Summey (Yam); 15. Adam Cini (Yam); 16. Hans Neel (KTM); 17. Tommy Harrison (Suz); 18. Tiger Lacey (Yam); 19. Robert Merritt (Yam). Time: 5 min., 5.519 sec. Margin of victory: .447 sec. HEAT 2 (6 laps, 1·9 transfer): 1. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 2. Kelly Smith (Yam); 3. Jeff Gibson (Suz): 4. Michael Blose (Yam); 5. Tommy Hofmaster (Yam); 6. Shane Ness (Suz); 7. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 8. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 9. Steve Boniface (KTM); 10. Jacob Martin (Yam); 11. Ryan Abrigo (Suz); 12. Ryan Mills (Han); 13. Taylor Watts (Yam): 14. Tom Parsons (Yam); 15. Ronnie Ramiscal (Hon); 16. Jason Murrell (Yam); 17. Tiffer Wright (Yam): 18. Scott Davis (Suz); 19. Kyle Garro (Yam); 20. Kevin Johnson (Yam). Time; 4 min., 58.968 sec. Margin of victory: 2.656 sec. LCQ (4 laps. 1-4 transfer): I. Ryan Mills (Hon): 2. Joshua Summey (Yam); 3. Tiger Lacey (Yam); 4. Kyle Garro (Yam); 5. Ryan Abrigo (Suz); 6. Tommy Harrison (Suz); 7. Keith Johnson (Yam): 8. J. Martin Garcia (Suz); 9. Hans Neel (KTM); 10. Jacob Martin (Yam); 11. Robert Merritt (Yam); 12. Jerrad Fisher (Yam); 13. Tom Parsons (Yam); 14. Michael Graham (Yam); 15. Taylor Watts (Yam); 16. Tiffer Wright (Yam); 17. Jason Murrell (Yam): 18. Bryan White (Yam); 19. Adam Gni (Yam); 20. Ronnie RamascaJ (Hon). Time: 3 min .. 23.799 sec. Margin of victory: 3.945 sec. MAIN: 1. Brock Sellards (Yam); 2. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 3. Brett Metcalfe (KTM); 4. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 5. Mike Brown (Kaw); 6. Ryan Mills (Hon); 7. Steve Boniface (KTM); 8. Tiger Lacey (Yam); 9. Jeff Gibson (Suz); 10. Michael Blose (Yam): 11. Joshua Summey (Yam); J 2. Tommy Jesseman (26) fell on the second lap and restarted 12th, but he was still able to make his way past series rival Mike Brown (3, behind Jesseman) for fourth before the finish, further extending his points lead. Hofmaster (Yam); 13. Mathieu Lalloz (Suz); 14. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 15. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 16. Ty Conner (Hon); 17. Kelly Smith (Yam); 18. Colt Humphrey (Yam): 19. Kyle Garro (Yam); 20. Scott Metz (KTM); 21. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 22. Shane Bess (Suz). Time: J 2 min., 40.463 sec. Margin of victory: 8.494 sec. 125« EASTERN REGIONAL S(JPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS (Afler 6 of 7 rounds): 1. Branden Jesseman (135/3 wins); 2. Michael Brown (123/1): 3. Brock Sellards (118/2); 4. Brett Metcalfe (85): 5. Kelly Smith (83): 6. Steve Boniface (72): 7. Erick Vallejo (71): 8. Matthieu Lalloz (67): 9. Ryan Mills (63); 10. Michael Blose (47): 11. (TIE) Shoe Bentley/Joshua Summey (43); 13. Jeff Gibson (40); 14. Ivan Tedesco (37); 15. Michael Byrne (36); 16. Tyson Hadsell (19); 17. Paul Currie (18): 18. Tom Holmaster (14): 19. (TIE) Shane Lusk/Barry Ca'Sten (7). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Pontiac, Michigan, April 5 EasVWest Shootout - Las Vegas, Nevada, May 3 my Own Race: 125cc ~~ 1] Tiger Lacey 8th This Motorsport Outlet Yamaha rider has ridden more 125cc class races than anybody else this year. According to fellow Yamaha pilot and Houston race winner Brock Sellards, "Tiger's always a threat." Lacey proved that at Reliant Park, pulling the SXGP.com Holeshot Award and swapping the lead with Sellards early in the race. "Yeah, a good start was my goal," Lacey said. "I wanted to beat Kelly Smith real bad to that first comer. My bike was running good out front, then I just got a little stiff out there. It's been close to a month now since I've raced supercross." 1] 1] @ Tommy Hofmaster 12th 1] @~ 22nd The Shogun Yamaha Arenacross runner-up plans on finishing out the supercross series before gearing up for the Nationals. "I got off to a pretty good start, was about fifth or sixth - I got passed a couple times; didn't get the rhythm section down. I changed my line a little bit, went back out and battled to like 12th.' Shane Bess ECC Suzuki's Bess had the second-most spectacular wreck of the evening (behind Danny Smith's Superman knee-wrecker) when he pulled an aerial 180 endo in the rhythm section early in the main. "It was only about lap three," he said. "I felt pretty good so far and was ready to make some passes, I just came off the jump and was automatically in an endo. I really don't remember what happened, big endo, racked myself pretty good, got hit by the bike. Pulled a groin, hurt my ankle· but nothing that's going to keep me from racing next week." ® Mike Brown 5th ~@ 4th Pro-Circuit Kawasaki's former outdoor champ was tough to figure out at Houston. "My start wasn't good at all," he said. "IIJ think by the time I got to the first triple, I was about dead last [13thl. A crappy race for me. Stayed back behind everybody too long, made too many mistakes. I didn't have a good week of practice. I could tell I was a little rusty coming here, and it showed tonight." Branden Jesseman "I felt great on the bike, and my Suzuki ran great," said the SoBe Suzuki series points leader. "I had a pretty good start, but people were flying all over the place in the beginning. Someone cut underneath me, and I got thrown off balance and tipped over. I got back up, rode pretty well and got up to fourth, almost got third at the finish. I feel it was one of my best rides of the year; unfortunately it was for fourth place." cue I e n e _ so • APRIL 9,2003 13