Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

kept running, and I got up." "He started putting a little distance on me, and he decided to take a Mount Morris soil sample, and I was able to get by him," Windham confirmed. "He rode a great race, and he continued putting the pressure on. All in all, it was a good ride for me; it's just that when I fall, I seem to go all the way back to 14th, but when he falls, he's still right there on your butt, you know?" That Carmichael was. He only sat about a second and a half behind Windham as the two started lap seven, and he halfed Windham's lead by the next lap. As the dueling Honda riders started the ninth lap, they were practically in a dead heat, and Carmichael went around Windham's outside, pressing number 14 to the inside. The two were more than 10 seconds in front of Reed in third at the halfway point, while Ferry was falling behind his teammate, and Vuillemin moved around Hamblin for fifth when the Suzuki rider fell. "He washed out," Vuillemin said. "I was all over him, and we were like together, and he made a mistake, and then I was kind of by myself." Hamblin remounted sixth and remained there to the finish. Ryan Clark stayed close to Carmichael throughout the remainder of the race, but Mike LaRocco, Ferry Carmichael took the win by just over two seconds. Windham beat Reed to (who rounded the first turn 11th), Fonseca, Hamblin, Larry Ward the line by about 20 seconds, and Ferry followed Reed home another one and a half seconds back. "I think Ricky and I both did a couple of surges," Windham said. "We were doing good and holding steady, then he opened it up a little bit. I tried to reel him back in. It was kind of a cat-and-mouse race. He had the lead, and today I was just a little bit off. When you're racing against guys like Ricky, you have to be on your game 100 percent. Today, I wasn't far off, and it showed. The better man won today." Carmichael repeated his holeshot of moto one with a matching start the second time out, and again Windham 23rd (23-20) Solitaire's lone 250cc rider had a hard time at High Point. "The first moto, I felt like I shouldn't have been out there - I should've gone bowling or something because I just wasn't into it," he said. "The second moto went a little better. I got tangled up in the first turn, and I came back to 20th, got a point, so all in all, it was a dec.ent week. I rode the second moto strong, so I'm happy about that." 1] @@ Joaquim Rodrigues 12th (14-12) Red Bull KTM's lone 250cc rider, on the other hand, felt good in Mount Morris. "It was pretty good, but I have a problem with my left grip coming off, so I was a little afraid jumping doubles, but it was pretty good," said the Portuguese factory rider. He had surgery for compartment syndrome in his forearms at the end of the supercross season. "My arms are doing pretty good. I've been practicing, and after my operation, I feel great now. No more arm pump." 1] 1] Ezra Lusk 8th (10-8) Another of a slew of lone rangers in Pennsylvania was Ezra Lusk. He's still recovering from his supercross wrist injury, but he's looking forward to the weekend off. "I was struggling really bad," said the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider. "I'm still struggling with my [left] wrist, trying to get it to where it's not hurting me anymore - where it's strong. It's just been agonizing. These two weeks, I've just been trying to get through them. I'm waiting for this weekend off, and I'm hoping to show up at Southwick and go a little faster than I have been." ®® Sean Hamblin 7th (6-7) With Sebastien Tortelli out, Hamblin was once again SoSe Suzuki's last full-time 250cc rider at Mount Morris - although Akira Narita was RM250-mounted too. "Another day off the ground, that's a plus, definitely," said the 20-year-old on his one-year factory-ride anniversary. "I felt strong until the end in both motos and didn't give up anything to LaRocco in the first moto. The second moto, I got off to a slow start. I kind of got held up behind Emesto for a while, but you know, everybody's riding really good today. We get our week off now, and it's time to have fun." Hamblin's fastest lap in the first moto was his 15th of 16. ~e.B Emesto Fonseca 9th (8-10) Honda's Fonseca is improving in his first 250cc outdoor season. "So far, this is my best finish, but it's kind of a bummer," he said. "I was doing good there the second moto and run off the track and almost crashed then came back and almost passed Larry [Ward], but I didn't. I love this track, and it's awesome that we had good weather, and I couldn't really ask for a better weekend for the fans and for Davey [Coombs] and the whole AMA group and everybody." 1] @ Larry Ward third, and the two Hondas put almost three seconds on him by the end of the first lap. Reed was closely followed by Vuillemin, As for the racing, that was all the first moto had in it. Windham my Own Race: 250cc ®7J was all over him right off the bat. Reed started 10th (13-9) "The second moto, I got an okay start· top JO or 12, somewhere in there - and a couple guys, were really going crazy the first lap," said MotoXXX's top threat. "I got passed by a couple guys and then I slowly worked back up, and 1raced with Ernie most of the race and caught up to Lusk at the end, but didn't get him. I thought I was going really fast. Ninth doesn't sound that good, but there was eight pretty fast guys in front of me. 1felt I was faster in the second moto today than I was last week; just under the circumstances, I could ride a little and Rodrigues. Windham made a move to the inside of Carmichael starting the second lap, but again Carmichael struck right back, stuffing Windham in High Point's wall turn before the mechanics' area. The two went back Windham was ultra- smooth, as always, in Mount Morris. He finally finished two motos without falling and was credited with second o_rall. smoother and pick better lines because I was by myself. This week, there was always somebody by you it seems like, so you just had to take horrible lines trying to pass them and just hang on and kill yourself." 1] ~ David VuiRemin ~@ Nathan Ramsey ~7J Nick Wey 5th (5-5) The Cobra had his best shoWing in the big YZ450F thumper on one of his favorite tracks. "Top five is good: said the Yamaha rider. "I've always been okay on the 450; that's why I chose to ride it. But it seems like the first two races, I struggled a little bit, but we've been working on the bike, and I feel much better now. Top five was my goal, so that's cool. I could not do today better than top five. I'm realistic, and in the beginning of the second moto I was happy to stay with Chad and Timmy and everybody. My speed is almost like pretty good; I just need to work on it and get healthy again." 14th (17-13) Ramsey is slowly improving his speed. "It was a little bit like last weekend: said the factory Honda 450 pilot. "I felt like I had more this weekend; I just couldn't quite get myself to go to that next level. I feel like I left a bit on the table, and 1don't ever !.ike to do that. Racing, you can't beat that for practice. I'm going out there with the attitude of trying as hard as I can, just trying to make the best out of it, and hopefully I'll improve and get faster." 11th (11-11) Mach 1 Yamaha's Wey spent his second week back on the YZ250, and it still needs some setup work. "I didn't get too bad of starts, but not the best· I wasn't able to come through the traffic like I'd like, but 1rode as hard as I could every lap out there, so I couldn't really be disappointed," he said. "I'm just going to do some testing on our two weeks off and come back strong for Southwick." 1] ® John Dowd 15th (9-40) § 6th (7-6) The Cernic's KTM veteran did well in moto one, but his bike refused to start for moto two. "I don't know, I had a kind of a problem with my rear brake a little bit earlier on, and I sort of adapted to it, so I kind of got going again, and I came back up on them," he said about moto one. "I don't know if he got a little squirrelly, but I caught a good line and snuck by [LuskJ. That was the end of the race there. I can't wait for Southwick. I feel like I'm riding faster on this thing [the 250J; it's just the DNFs aren't helping me, that's all." Mike laRocco The Amsoil/Chaparral Honda veteran charged from behind all day. "In the first race, I got stuck behind Ernie [Fonseca], and I only had a lap or two to race with Hamblin. I started way too far back the first moto, and by the time I got there, I'd run out of time," he said. "The second moto, I got a little bit better start, but I just kind of got stuck there by myself, and I just couldn't make anything happen." laRocco's feeling better, though. "Shoulder's good, wrist's good, everything's fine. It just took me a little bit longer than I thought it would. I was off, and just jumping right into the outdoors is not the easiest thing. I'll try and catch up." cue I EO n ... _ s • JUNE 4, 2003 27

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