Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks 250cc U.S. Motocross Championship Round 2: Prairie City SVRA a lap later, crossing the line 17th as Carmichael went inside of Reed for (Left) Mike laRocco looked a lot more like his old self at Hangtown.Anhough he didn't get any excellent starts, he still soldiered on to 5-4 finishes and fifth overall. the lead. Carmichael began to check out right away, although Reed looked oodles better than he did in the first outing. "We struggled all weekend with bike setup a little bit, and in the second one we made a little improvement, and it was a little better - it was a little easier to ride for me," Reed said. "I'm really happy with my engine, but I'm just trying to get the thing to handle." (Right) Cannichael Is now finnly in control of the 250cc National Championship, leading Reed by 15 points after only two rounds. The next race he wins will make him the alltime winningest rider in AMA history - at the tender age of 23. From there, Carmichael slowly stretched his lead while Windham worked his way back up through the pack - eventually finding he could move no further than sixth. Carmichael eventually took the moto win by 10.4 seconds over Reed, who had a further 3.8 seconds on his teammate Ferry. Then came the hard-charging LaRocco and a great ride by Ward in fifth. m 1] 0 Own Race: 250cc Ttmmy Ferry 3rd (3-3) "In the first moto, I didn't get the best of starts, but I think I actually rode a little better in the first moto - got by Chad [Reed]," said the Yamaha factory thumper star. "I felt like, after the second moto, I had a lot more energy than last week," which is good, considering Ferry's Epstein-Barr illness. ®® Sean Hamblin 6th (7-8) "I didn't feel too bad towards the end [of the first moto]. but I still feel I could probably work out a little bit more during the week so I can finish on the podium," said the popular SoBe Suzuki rider. "I don't see why I shouldn't, and that's why I'm here. That's why we're here getting paid to do the things that we do, because we're not supposed to go backwards, so I definitely want to keep going forwards instead of backwards. I kind of fell out of my rhythm when Kevin passed me back the second time [in the second moto] - I got a little discouraged to see someone going a lot faster than me. I finished both motos without crashing today, I didn't lose anything out of my eyes, and I didn't beat myself up too bad, so it's something good to build on, and I'll move on to next weekend." High Point will mark Hamblin's one·year factory anniversary. 1] ~ David Vuillemin ~® Kyle Lewis 15th (18-12) "I'm just trying to build my strength and look toward the end of the season," said the just-recovered MotoXXX boss. "Just trying to get stronger every weekend. The first moto, I think there was five guys behind me, and I came all the way back up to 18th. The second moto, I got a little bit better start and just kind of rode my own pace. Some guys went by me, and then I went back by them at the end. I just set myself on a pace and tried to do solid 35-minute motos. Trying to get stronger, that's all. Last weekend I was hurting. I had surgery on my hand after practice because a screw backed out, so it's a little tender, but it'll get stronger." Damien Plotts MAY 28, 2003' cue I e n 12th (19-10) 1] @ Larry Ward 8th (17-5) "Last weekend, I had two strong motos, and today the second moto was great, and the first moto was terrible," said MotoXXX's top rider. "I had a problem [in the first moto]. and I got it fixed - obviously. You know, top five's fun. It's still fun when you get top five, so I'm just looking forward to the rest of the year." ~{l Nick Wey 13th (8-33) "I got a good start [in the first moto] . I would've liked to have ridden stronger and stayed up with those guys, but the fact is this week we just took the suspension off of the 450 and put it on the 250," the Mach 1 Yamaha rider said. "I didn't feel real comfortable the first time, but 1 did the best I could. The second moto, we made some adjustments, and I felt a little more comfortable, but I had a slow leak in the rear tube, and she went flat. I tried riding it around, but I couldn't do the big jumps when I was on the rim." 1] ® John Dowd 16th (9-38) Jason Thomas 20th (20-15) 1] {l Robbie Reynard "I like the 250," said the series' elder statesman and Cernic's KTM boss. "It seems like it works good on the track. I miss the four-stroke a little bit on the start, but the 25O's fast. I just got to get it down pat. I got a lousy start in the first moto and came back to ninth, and this isn't really one of my favorite tracks, unless it's like pouring. I've just got to work on my starts a little bit." "After last week, I think anything would be pretty good, but I got a really good start, and I just rode not-so-good," said the Subway Honda rider. "It was kind of muddy, and I didn't want to crash. I got going about halfway, and I tried to stay with Lewis, but a couple guys got around me. I'm pretty happy. Just to get out of here with some points and a top-20 overall is good." eVIls 7th (10-7) "I felt better, but my shoulder's kind of fatigued feeling," The Reynard Modifications/No Fear Kawasaki rider said. "I haven't really rode on any really rough tracks, and it was pretty choppy out there today. It'll get better though. That's the only problem with me. My fitness feels pretty good." ~0 27th (16-36) "I got a good jump off of the gate, and when all of the guys swung wide in the first turn, I just pivoted and shot across," said Crossroads Powersports/Rockford Fosgate's Plotts. "I thought I could've get the holeshot, but Windham came sweeping through. I charged as hard as I could until maybe about halfway, when Fonseca passed me, and then at that point I let off because I was afraid I'd get tired, and the two Japanese guys passed me right at the end." Plotts dropped out of the second moto. 20 Bobby Bonds Thousand Oaks Kawasaki's Bonds is notoriously fast at Hangtown. "I got a bad start in the second moto, but I worked my way up to right outside the top 10, and I was catching Vuillemin, actually. and I hit a haybale at the top and smashed my radiator and my pipe. so like the last four laps I was just salvaging whatever I could get," he said. 0eD 14th (37·9) The Cobra had a hard time in the first moto. "I fell over in a rut, and when I fell, I busted the radiator," he said. "The coolant was coming out, so I had to stop." After the DNF, he retumed in moto two for a strong top-] 0 finish, though he probably would have finished eighth if not for a late-race stall. cB® §@ Nathan Ramsey 10th (12-13) "It's been so long since I've raced that it's almost like I've got to leam how to race again," said the retuming Honda team· ster. "This week, I did the whole Saturday deal, and I went to the last-chance, so I got a lot of racing in, which is kind of bad on one end but kind of good because I got that learning how to do it out of my system. It just felt good to be out there racing."

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