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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STTARSlMoto-Connection Super Moto TT Championship Series Round 1: California Speedway Jeff Ward wheelies across the finish line as he leads Jeremy McGrath (2) out of the final tum to win the Open Pro final. Legends of all types battle it out in Fontana STORY AND PHOTOS BY JAMEY BLUNT FONTANA, CA, APR. 5ยท6 " ycle World's Don Canet and crew " really outdid themselves at Fontana to kick off the 2003 Super Moto TT Championship season. Canet, along with Todd Kelly and the Moto-Connection group, fabricated a 13-turn Super TT course complete with a bermed dirt section exiting to a ramp jump, for a total track length of six-tenths of a mile on the infield pavement at California Speedway. Picture-perfect weather greeted the fans as temperatures hung in the high 60s to low 70s over both days. The Super Moto IT was run along with the AMA road race nationals to give the thousands in attendance their money's worth. The entire infield and pit area was a kaleidoscope of color, sound and excitement, with every major motorcycle factory making its presence felt. Saturday's action saw seven heat races all run before the 2 p.m. start of the Superbike race. Three additional heat races, a semi, and three main events, as well as superpole were completed later in the afternoon. Superpole is a timed "fast" lap of each of the top two finishers from the three Open-class heat races, thus making for six individuals fighting for their starting position. Highlights from Saturday's main events saw off-road iron man Jimmy Lewis on the Gary Jones/White 28 APRIL 23, 2003' cue I e Brothers Honda CRF450R snatch victory over an impressively fast Troy Lee in the Novice main event. Gary Kauk, out of Bakersfield, California, on the Kern KTM mount, came home third. The Lightweight Main had American Honda/Arai Helmets' Garrett Willis pick up where he left off last year (earning the Mini-Moto number-one plate), taking the victory over Focal Point Racing's Cameron Beaubier and 4m Racing's Matt Foster. In the 50cc main, Pirelli-CRS Race Service's Sean Dodenhoff, out of Bakersfield, California, bested the field of 11 combatants over Rocket Ranch's Wade Boyd and the Derbi of Cory Call. After the conclusion of two semis at around 11 :30 a.m. Sunday, the first of four main events rolled to the start line. Nearly two dozen warriors had fought their way into the Middle-weight main. At the drop of the green flag, Motomaster's Mike Metzger won the long drag race to the first corner over Mike Cinqmars and Star Motorcycle School's Richard Alexander. Hitting the ground hard in turn one was former World GP Champion Kevin Schwantz. Schwantz called it a day with a broken left wrist. The first lap of 12 also claimed two victims in the dirt section. n e _ s McGrath led from just after the start of the Open Pro main until the last lap, when Ward snuck by for the win. Meanwhile, back at the front, Metzger was trying to get away. Four laps in, the order was Metzger, Cinqmars, Alexander and Jason Chisum. Volcom/Joe Rocket's Mark Cern icky was the hardest charger on the track, coming from the back of the pack to ninth place in front of Brad Lackey by the halfway point. Lap six also brought disaster for Mike Cinqmars as he clipped a hay bale in the dirt section and went down. This gave Metzger breathing room, while he consistently turned 54.6-second lap times to go on to victory. Alexander finished second, with Pinit Motorsports Jason Chisum coming through the semi to get to the main and round out the top three. Fasst Company's Gary Trachy, who's always a threat (he was the EI Cajon winner last year), fought his way up to fourth. Alpinestars' Garrett Willis and CHM/PR4's Casey Yarrow were the