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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128210
Mike Metzger (875) came through from the
back of the pack to finish fourth In the Open
Pro main. He also won the Middleweight event.
GarTett Willis (1) won the
Lightweight main event.
class of the field in the Mini-Moto
main. Willis shot to the front, followed
by Yarrow and Roseville Cycle's
Cameron Beaubier. Matt Sadowski,
out of Cumming, Georgia, ran in the
fourth spot.
After two laps, the leaders had
opened up quite a gap on the rest of
the field, turning 59.4-second lap
times. On lap four, Justin Jones
threw it away just before the finish
line but was up and okay. Then, just
before the halfway point, Willis went
down while under constant pressure
from Yarrow. Willis remounted quickly and was away, still in the second
position, only to be bit again as he
tossed it away entering the right-hander after the finish line three laps later
- this crash ended the day for this
fierce competitor.
Yarrow, now with no pressure at
the front, lowered his lap times to 59
seconds flat and at the finish had a
16-second gap over Beaubier, while
Sadowski finished third.
One glance at the starting grid for
the Moto-Connection Open main
looked like a who's who of motorcycle greats. This talent-packed group,
going for $2500 in cash, contained
such legends as Supercross/
Motocross Champion/Indy car driver
Jeff Ward (riding his first Super TT
since the ABC Super Bikers some 20
years ago), five-time Daytona 200
winner and factory KTM pilot Scott
Russell, and the most successful
supercross rider in history and probably the most popular rider on the
planet, Jeremy McGrath.
By virtue of having the fastest
Superpole time, Ward sat on pole,
with Steve Drew alongside him in the
absence of Schwantz. Fourth in
Superpole was Maxxis Tires' Yarrow,
with factory KTM/THOR/Parts Unlimited's McGrath now on the outside of
the front row.
After a short wait for Matt Wait to
arrive (having just competed in the
600cc road race), the grid was set.
Russell was caught one row further up
than he was supposed to be, bringing
out the red flag on the first start
attempt and moving Russell to the
back of the pack for the restart. Being
the gentleman he is, Russell didn't put
up a fight and went to the back.
Yarrow won the drag race to the
first turn, but just barely, as Ward had
position on the inside and looked like
he would lead, but out of nowhere
McGrath shot past and closed the
door on both of them to take the lead.
Yarrow dropped into the second spot,
with Ward close in third.
One and a half laps in, Ward displaced Yarrow to take second.
McGrath, meanwhile, had about five
bikelengths of breathing room. Drew
ran fourth, with Cernicky in fifth.
On the third lap, Wait took a tum-
teen seconds behind the leading duo
as the race wound down.
Just before the start of lap twenty,
McGrath seemed to bobble off of the
jump, and Ward took advantage and
set him up for a pass coming out of
the tight right-hander just before the
finish line to take the white flag first.
McGrath came right back at Ward
and was never more than a bikelength away. As they entered the dirt
section for the final time, it looked as
though McGrath might make a move,
but he just couldn't get a clean shot
at Ward. Ward popped a little wheelie
to take the victory to cheers from
all in attendance.
away when Voyer took a tumble and
gave up his fourth-place position.
With a little less than three laps
remaining, Scott Bell began putting
pressure on Moates. Chisum prevailed over Dawson, with the thirdplace battle going down to the stripe
between Moates and Bell. Moates got
the spot by a slim margin.
eN
Califomia Speedway
Fontana, Califomia
Results: April 5-6, 2003 [Round 1]
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