Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

BRIEFLY••• SoBe Suzuki's Travis Pastrana suffered yet another setback at Glen Helen. After sitting out most of the Supercross Series with a knee injury and a shoulder injury, Pastrana re-injured his knee during the first mota but not before bruising his tailbone in a crash during practice. In that crash, Pastrana was trying to quad a set of jumps when he went down. He started the first moto and was running about ninth when, according to Roger DeCoster, the SoBe Suzuki team manager, his bad knee gave out. "He did not crash; it just collapsed," DeCoster said. "You know it's pretty serious when Travis pulls off, because that kid can ride through a lot of pain." Pastrana is scheduled to have an MRI the first thing Monday morning. Following his crash in the opening 125cc mota, SoBe Suzuki rider Casey Johnson was transported to Lama Linda University Medical Center in Lama Linda. California, where he was treated for a compressed T-9 vertebra, broken ribs and blood in his lungs, according to Suzuki officials. Johnson will be out of action for at least four weeks. A lot of people were surprised to show up at Glen Helen Saturday and see Red Bull KTM's Grant Langston ride practice in the 125cc class. Just a few weeks ago. Langston, whose plan was to ride the 250cc class all along. hadn't decided on which bike he was going to ride in the 250cc class - the 250 SX two-stroke or the 450 SX four-stroke. Apparently Langston wasn't sold on either bike and started thinking about the 125s, and when defending champ James Stewart got injured last week at the Las Vegas Supercross. the decision was easy to go back to the 125cc class. Plus, coming off an injury that has kept him off a bike for a long time, Langston and his team felt that it would be easier to adjust to the lighter, better-handling 125 - especially for longer motos. Langston added, "It was basically just that we realized the 250 needed a little more work, and we were running out of time. So before Vegas I spoke to KTM about it. They had to get clearance from Red Bull and themselves £Austrial to do it. At the time, it seemed like they weren't too sure, but then it was like, 'All right, let's do this.' They wanted me to ride what I was going to be comfortable on. " Cernics KTM rider John Dowd also rnade a last-minute decision to ride the 250cc two-stroke in the 250cc class. Last year. Dowd rode the KTM 520 four-stroke and pulled off a number of holeshots with the powerful machine, but after testing both bikes back to back, Dowd decided that he just liked riding the twostroke better. Dowd's teammate, Keith S. Johnson, however, stuck with the four-stroke KTM (although this year it's the 45OJ. "I didn't really get the time [to testJ the four-stroke this year," Dowd said of the switch. "I had a 250 and was doing a lot of riding on that at home, and we got it working pretty good. I felt like I was more ready on this thing [the 2501. The KTM four-stroke is a little different this year. The new 450 is a lot different: we were kind of starting allover again. If it was the 520 again, we'd be all set to go." Speaking of KTM riders, Josh Woods was the only Red Bull KTM team rider not riding at Glen Helen. Woods injured his heels at the St. Louis Supercross and is just now able to work on his conditioning. According to the team's Ron Heben, Woods will probably miss the first three or four rounds of the series. Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin was another rider who made a big last-minute decision. Vuillemin, who just started riding 10 days before the Glen Helen National after breaking his back at the Daytona Supercross, decided to give the YZ450F a try and started testing the bike about a week ago. Just a few days ago. Vuillemin committed to the big 450. "I thought it would be something different to do," Vuillemin said after Sunday morning's practice. "I like the bike; you don't really have to push as hard on it. I just have to get used to it." Vuillemin added that he was practicing at Jeremy McGrath's personal track when he made the decision. Vuillemin added that he was still feeling the effects of his back injury. "It still feels pretty sore, especially after a while [on the bikel." Vuillemin said. He felt going into the race that his endurance would be a big factor. ''I've got to save my energy out there, - he said. the 125cc class. Although the Frenchman's results were spoiled by bad starts, his speed came as no surprise to Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks team owner Mitch Payton. "Eric had some good motos last year," Payton said. "He started off this year I don't think in real good shape, so we changed his training program, And he has been riding with James Stewart a lot, and I think that helped a lot. I think he can be in the mix." Finishing fourth overall at Glen Helen, Sorby certainly is in the mix at the moment. Greg Albertyn decided to come out of retirement for a day and competed at Glen Helen just for fun and to get into shape. For the Glen Helen race, Albertyn got to ride one of the factory Team SoBe Suzuki RM250s. "He's been good to Suzuki, winning a World Championship and a National title," team manager Roger DeCoster said. "If we can help him out. we will. We had enough equipment so we were able to do it [loan him a works bike]. He hadn't raced in two years, but when I saw him in practice, I knew he'd get top 10." At the end of the day, Kevin Windham said that he felt good to be racing again and wasn't too surprised at his speed. "I flashed back to my first race at Mount Morris." Windham said. "I was the new kid on the block and was able to hold off [Dougl Henry to the last lap. I was out there thinking that this is too good to be true [leading the first mota at Glen Helen]. A lot of people asked, 'Are you surprised to come back and ride as well as you have been riding?' I'm not that surprised, because I'm happy; I'm where I want to be. When I left I was kind of feeling torn - I felt like I needed to be home instead of being at the races. After spending a year and a half at home, I've come to realize that this is my home; this is where I belong; this is where I want to be. So now I'm able to put focus on racing without being distracted. This is my first race back. I feel like I've got room for improvement and 11 races to do it. " Chad Reed's weekend did not get off to the greatest of starts. Since Reed did not ride the 250cc class last year, he had to ride a qualifier on Saturday to get him into Sunday's program, and he aimost spent more time digging himself out of the dirt than he did on the bike. He barely made the first transfer after finishing eighth. It didn't give him a ton of confidence going into Sunday's race. "I think it was a little bit of a reality check." Reed said. "Crashing three times and thinking I'd have to ride the last chance; it was a tough race to get it out of my system. Now I can go straight to the gate next week, so that definitely makes it easier on me and the team." Ricky Carmichael's former mechanic Chad Watts was filling in for "Bundy," Nathan Ramsey's mechanic, at Glen Helen. Bundy had family commitments that prevented him from attending the Glen Helen race. Watts is pretty much an - in-house guy" at Honda now. He works in Honda's race shop full-time maintaining the CRF450R four-stroke factory bikes - primarily the engines. Watts says he likes his new role at Honda and doesn't have to travel nearly as much as he used to. Speaking of tuners, Jeremy McGrath's former mechanic Skip Norfolk (pictured) has been hired by Kawasaki, where he once worked as a member of Team Green Off-Road. Norfolk is now Kawasaki's testing supervisor. and his first "day" on the job was over the Glen Helen weekend. Ricky Carmichael made some drastic changes to his bike for Glen Helen. The recently crowned Supercross Champion is known for running unusual settings that see him using extremely low handlebars and seat and opting for extreme rear suspension sag. Evidently. the team has been trying to get him to use more" normal" settings but let him have his way since he was winning. But after finishing second in the last six supercross rounds going into the opening National Series. Carmichael reportedly "gave in." At Glen Helen, Carmichael's bike had taller bars, a taller seat and supposedly less sag in the rear suspension. Carmichael has mentioned on the podium in Supercrosses that he hasn't been real happy with his bike setup. - I had some different handlebars, a taller seat and just tried to find something a little better to gear me up for supercross next year," Carmichael said. "That's mainly what it is for. It was a change this weekend. I rode with it probably 30 or 40 minutes Thursday and raced with it this weekend, so I still need to get a little more comfortable with it." Many of the riders said that they like this year's track over last year's. One of the big changes was a tight. lBO-degree turn right at the base of Mount St. Helens. The riders had to nearly start from a stop right at the bottom as they headed upward. So just how big and long is the hill? It took about seven seconds for the 250s to get from the bottom to the top. Ricky Carmichael even toyed with the idea of switching to the four-stroke but thought better of it. "I had a chance to ride it [the CRF450RI, and I didn't choose to ride it," Carmichael said. "Kevin [Windhaml is a perfect guy for the four-stroke - he has a lot of finesse, and that thing is right up his alley. For me, I just kind of hammer through stuff, where Kevin is a lot smarter and picks different lines, better lines, so for me right now I don't think the bike is where it needs to be. So that's why I didn't ride it. I had the choice - I tested on it. but I wasn't as fast on it. I figured I didn't want to be fighting the bike all year, so I'll just go with something I know," Many people are already talking about Ricky Carmichael having another perfect season. Here's what Carmichael thinks of that: "I never thought I would do that last year," Carmichael said. "So you can never say that it can't be done. But with all of the competition it would be tough to do that. The main thing is to try to win as many races as possible; what happened last year was last year; it's all water under the bridge. This is a new season, a new page and a new chapter. " From the start of practice, Eric Sorby turned a lot of heads as he demonstrated the potential to be one of the fastest riders in Kyle Lewis, who is coming off a wrist injury, had a creepy start to his weekend. "Yesterday [Saturdayl one of the pins in my arm broke and was getting ready to poke through my skin," Lewis said. "Dr. Augustine cut me open and pulled it out yesterday in the Asterix trailer - they hooked me up. " Sebastien Tortelli made what turned out to be the wrong choice when it came to inner tubes. While all of his SoBe Suzuki teammates chose to go with foam inserts, Tortelli opted for standard heavy-duty air-tubes for the Glen Helen race. While running sixth in the second mota, Tortelli's rear tire suddenly went fiat just before he launched off one of the track's long tabletops, and he went down. "Yesterday, we tested with mousses [foam insertsl. and I was not feeling very good with them, so I decided to run with a very thick tube on the rear, so I guess it was not enough. I had a good crash, I guess I had pinched the tube when I was going down the hill. and on the big jump, when I landed, the air was gone. I started swapping and crashed on the straightaway. That was a nasty crash: I landed in the sand, so that was okay. Tortelli added that his knee is feeling good, but not 100 percent. In the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company Pro Privateer Challenge, where the top-finishing adult nonfactory pro privateer of each round in the 125 and 250cc classes earns bonus money, Michael Brandes, Troy Adams, Robbie Reynard and Evan Laughridge came out on top. For being the top privateers in the 125 and 250cc classes, Brandes and Reynard each picked up S1500. For being the second-best privateers in the two classes, Adams and Laughridge each earned $750. Larry Ward customized the seat on his CRF450R. He put in a - step" (extra padding from the middle on back) to keep him from sliding off the back of the seat. "This thing's got so much power, the step helps me stays put." Ward said. The outdoor National Series now has a brand-new podium, thanks to Parts Unlimited, who paid for it. The podium looks very similar to the podium used in supercross and will travel to all of the National rounds. Depending on who you asked, the attendance for the Glen Helen National varied, but the general consensus was that about 22,000 spectators turned out for the "Mother's Day" race. But everyone did agree that the race was well-attended. Not only did Glen Helen host the opening round of the AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship Series, but it also held the first round of the AMA/WML Altex Computers MX Championship Series. The first round for the Women's MX League Series took place on Friday, and KTM rider Steffi Laier took the win ahead of Yamaha-mounted Sarah Whitmore and defending champ Stefy Bau, who rides a Honda. On Saturday, Laier again won to take the overall victory. After finishing fourth on Friday. Yamaha-mounted Tania Satchwell came back to finish third and take second overall, while Jessica Patterson, on a Kawasaki. went 6-2 for third overall. Bau ended up going 3·5 for fourth, while fifth went to Whitmore with a 2-6. The Wednesday before the National, Glen Helen Raceway hosted a golf tournament to benefit the Emergency Trauma Care Center at Lama Linda University's Medical Center. For the past three years, with the help of the motocross industry, Glen Helen Raceway has raised over $60,000 for the Emergency Trauma Care Center. The funds raised go directly toward equipment and research "to make motocross racing a safer sport." This year, the tournament raised an additional $20,000 to help subsidize the Kawasaki Mule, which has been customized with a trailer to be utilized as a four-wheeldrive. off~road ambulance and a mobile emergency clinic. Some of the motocross stars - past and present - who participated included Billy Laninovich, Phil Lawrence, David Pingree, Danny laPorte, Mike Healey, Steve Wise and Broc Glover. Team Oakley won this year's tournament. held at the Jurupa Hills Golf Course. In addition to the Women's class race, Jeff Alessi won the BOcc Exhioition, while his brother Mike sat out the race with an injured leg. Glen Helen marked the first of three run-what-you-brung Celebrity Motocross Races this season as well. Marathon runner Kevin Vidana-Barda won the celebrity class over mountain biker Todd Snider and Allen and Aaron Cooke of BMX fame. Mike Metzger won the overall and the Freestyle class, while Carey Hart was the second freestylist. and Motocross Action' s Tim Olson finished second overall, winning the Journalist class ahead of Cycle World's Jimmy Lewis and Cycle News' Steve Cox. eye I e n e vv s MAY 21,2003 13

• Cover