Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Left) Joaquim Rodrigues (108) and Ernesto Fonseca (24) each had their best showings so far this season. Rodrigues went 14-12 for 12th, and Fonseca went 8-10 for ninth. (Right) Carmichael has earned gO such trophies in less than seven years. an accomplishment, but the record I have been doing and not let it get to itself wasn't his goal in Pennsylvania. my head." "When I was out there, I really wasn't thinking about the 90 wins," he said. "I was just thinking about points for the championship and get a win. It was good. Kevin is a good rider, and I tried to keep it as clean as I could. It makes it tough when his bike is so fast. I did what I had to do to get the job done. "Other than last year's outdoor season, well this [the record] is the best. I am the best rider ever. I am the best rider. It is unbelievable. I can't believe it. I didn't think I would be here in 1997. But I am the win- ningest of all time, and that's all there is. I am just going to keep doing what eN High Point Raceway Mount Morris, Pennsylvania Results !Unofficiall: May 25, 2003 [Round 3 of 121 250 MOTO J (30 min. plus 2 laps): I. Rdy Cermichael (Hon); 2. Kevin Windham (Hon); 3. Chad Reed (Yam); 4. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 5. David Vuillemin (Yam); 6. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 7. Mike lllRocco (Hon); 8. Emesto Fonseca (Hon); 9. John Dowd (KTM): 10. Ena Lusk (Kaw): II. Nick Wey (Yam); 12. Akira Narit21 (Suz): 13. lzIrry Ward (Hon); 14. Joaquim Rodrigues (KTM); 15. Clark Stiles (Hon); 16. Jason Thomas (Hon); 17. Nathan Ramsey (Hon); lB. Damien Plotts (Hon); 19. Jean-Sebastien Roy (Hon); 20. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 21. Doug DeHaan (Hon); 22. Joe Oehlhof (Hon): 23. Ryzin Clark (Yam): 24. Mike Kalin (Hon); 25. Zeb Annstrong (Hon): 26. Aaron Dieter (Suz); 27. Chris Hunter (Hon): 28. Chad Sanner (Kaw): 29. Austin Squires (Yam): 30. Michael Sigmund (Yam): 31. Tom Welch (Hon): 32. Ted Campbell (Hon); 33. Clinton Shealy (Hon); 34. Beau Baron (Suz); 35. Bltlir Morgan (Yam): 36. Brian Mason (Yam); 37. Keith S. Johnson (KTM); 38. Bobby Bonds (Kaw): 39. Tom Wtlllace (Yam): 40. Steve Andrich (Suz). M.argin of Victory: 2.134 sec. 250 MOTO 2 (30 min. plus 2 laps): 1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 2. Kevin Windham (Hon): 3. TImmy Ferry (Yam): 4. Chad Reed (Yam); 5. David BRIEFLY••• Red Bull KTM's Grant Langston had hiS Injury woes continue at High POint. as he went over the handlebars In Saturday's practice and tweaked hiS bad wrist. "It's Murphy's Law. it seems.· Langston said. "I fell down and landed on the wnst. It's pretty bad. The doctors think I may have a fractured bone in there. I'll have to have it checked out." Regardless. the South African soldiered on in pain and finished a solid fourth overall. "It hurt on all the hard landings. I'm looking forward to get· ting a week off and then going to Southwick. I like sand. and at that track all the bumps are just rolling bumps. This track has harder landings because of the jumps. " Vui1lemin (Yam); 6. Mike laRocco (Hon); 7. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 8. Ezra Lusk (Kaw): 9. Larry Ward (Hon); 10. Ernesto Fonsecl:I (Hon); 11. Nick Wey (Yam); 12. Joaquim Rodrigues (KTM); 13. Nathan Ramsey (Hon); 14. Clark Stiles (Hon); 15. JeanSebastien Roy (Hon); 16. Jason Thomas (Hon); 17. Bobby Bonds (Kaw): 18. Keith R. Johnson (Yam): 19. Doug DeHaan (Hon); 20. Ryan Clark (Yam); 21. BllIir Morgan (Yom); 22. Tom Wallace (Yam); 23. Brian Mason (Yam); 24. Steve Andrich (Suz): 25. Joe Oehlhof (Hon): 26. Zeb Armstrong (Hon); 27. Ted Cempbell (Hon); 28. Clinton Shealy (Hon); 29. Austin Squires (Yam); 30. Chris Hunter (Hon): 3 I. Mike Katin (Hon): 32. Beau Baron (Suz): 33. Michael Sigmund (Yam); 34. Chad Sanner (Kaw); 35. Tom Welch (Hon); 36. Akirl:l Narita (Suz): 37. Damien Plotts (Hon); 38. Aaron Dieter (Suz); 39. Keith S. Johnson (KTM); 40. John Dowd (KTM). Margin or Victory: 6.509 sec. 250 O/A: I. Ricky Carmichael (Hon): 2. Kevin Windham (Hon); 3. Timmy Ferry (Yam): 4. Chad Reed (Yam): 5. David Vuillemin (Yam); 6. Mike laRocco (Hon): 7. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 8. Ezra Lusk (Kaw): 9. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon): 10. Larry Ward (Hon); II. Nick Wey (Yam): 12. Joaquim Rodrigues (KTM): 13. Clark Stiles (Hon); 14. Nathan Ramsey (Hon): 15. John Dowd (KTM); 16. Jason Thomas (Hon); 17. Akira Narita (Suz); 18. Jean-SebastIen Roy (Hon): 19. Bobby Bonds (Kaw): 20. Keith R. Johnson (Yam). AMA/CHEVY TRUCKS 250cc U.S. MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (Aner 3 of 12 rounds): I. Ricky Carmichael (147/3 wins): 2. Chad Reed (120): 3. Timmy Ferry (114): 4. Kevin Windham (113); 5. Mike laRocco (90); 6. Ezra Lusk (78): 7. La")' Ward (67): 8. Sean Hamblin (66): 9. David Vuillemin (64); 10. Emesto Fonseca (51): 11. Nick Wey (50); 12. John Dowd (47): 13. Sebastien Tortelli (33): 14. Jooquim Rodrigues (30): IS. (TIE) Robbie Reynard/Nathan Ramsey (29): 17. Kyle Lewis (28): 18. Greg Albertyn (25): 19. (TIE) Bobby Bonds/Akira Naritll (20). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Southwick, Massachusetts, June 8 Round 5 - Budds Creek, Maryland, June 15 wouldn't bend past 90 degrees. according to team manager Roger DeCoster. The plan was for him to get an MRI on Memorial Day. Robbie Reynard was looking forward to racing In Pennsylvania. as he usually does well in the state, but after sittIng out the muddy practice session on Saturday to save hIS dad some work on his KX250. Reynard only made it about four laps Into practice before he ran into a quad that a track worker was ndlng across the track behind a hill. so Reynard couldn't see It until it was too late. Initial X-rays showed a hairline fracture in his right thumb from the incident. and the track worker was taken to the hospital. Reynard's KX250 was pretty much ruined as well. ''I'm really disappointed because I really wanted to race here this weekend." Reynard said. "I rode tight at the first couple races. and I was feeling good here. then that happened." We spotted the New Mexico racing Johnsons. Keith R. and Kevin. at a steakhouse in Morgan· town. West Virginia. the night before the High Point National. Always a character. Kevin was wearing shorts and rain boots· and it wasn't raining outside. "We even got our waitress' number looking like that." Kevin said the next day. After an impressive top·, 0 finish last week at Hanglown. SoBe Suzuki let Brian Gray (right) ride Branden Jesseman' s factory bike at High Point. He put together another solid ride in moto one with a 10th despite a case of food poisoning. but mechanical problems led to a moto-two DNF. Still. the team seems happy with his performances. "He's almost beating our regular guys." said James Coy. his wrench for the weekend. "He's going to do his Loretta Lynn's stuff this year. but we may keep him on for all of the Nationals that don't conflict.· He lost out on the Smokeless Tobacco Top Privateer Award this week. though. He would've gotten $750 for second privateer. but he was a factory rider at Mount Moms. He got S 1500 at Hangtown for winning the award Team Solitalre's Ryan Clark was sponsored at High Point by local restaurant Mario's Fishbowl (nght). Mach 1 Yamaha's Heath Voss was a no·show at Hangtown. According to his team. he suffered a concussion near the end of the AMA Supercross Series. then at Hangtown he hit hiS head hard. He decided to Sit out for a couple weeks In order to let hiS head recover fully before returning to action. Speedy Yamaha's Steve Mertens was spotted after the races With his arm In a sling. "I fell over in the off·camber. and my shoulder just popped out of the bottom." he said. "It wasn't out for too long. so hopefully it just kind of tore a little bit. and it'll be all right by Southwick.· He's tough. Weather is always a factor at High Point. as the facility has hosted more than its fair share of mud races over the years. Rain earlier in the week indicated another possible mudder. but the rain stayed away on Saturday and Sunday. resulting in sunny skies and perfect temperatures. Earlier in the week. the Racer Productions track crew laid down truckloads of sawdust. The sawdust then mixed with the rain to create soft. loamy soil conditions. Racer Productions also added a new section to the High Point track. replaCing one of the course's many off·camber comers with a GP-styte run up and down a hillside. Most of the riders liked the challenge of the new section that included deep ruts in the bottom of the hills. making line choices critical. With the AMA considering making changes to the AMA National Motocross Championship schedule for the 2005 season. High Point may be on the chopping block after next year's race. In response. one group of fans hauled in a "Save High Point" banner. and Ricky Carmichael and Jeff Stanton held it up (right) as they cruised around the track after the race. It may be hard to believe. but Ricky Carmichael's holeshots were not only his first of the outdoor season, but his first of the entire year (excluding supercross heat races). SoBe Suzuki star Sebastien T ortelli sat out the Mount Morris MX National after he hyperextended his knee in practice Saturday· the same knee he hurt during the supercross season. He tned to ride again in Sunday practice. but it was too painful. and he couldn't tum right. since his knee MotoXXX boss and last year's top privateer Kyle Lewis broke hiS finger before the High Point National. so he sat the race out. The starts of both 250cc motos were held up as Larry Ward and John Dowd (rightl each had bike problems at the start line . Ward ,n the first and Dowd in the second. "On the parade lap, I lost my fork guard somewhere." Ward said. ·It fell off. and it was the nght-slde fork guard. so it had the start device on it. One. we don't have a lot of extra fork tubes. so we wanted to make sure we didn't ruin that fork tube. and we had to take the front wheel off to take the inside bolt for the fork guard off. but we didn't have a fork guard with the clip-in device. so I got a horrible start." Dowd's bike wouldn't even start. "I don't know. we had an electrical problem again." he said. "It's kind of baffling right now. because we had one last weekend. the same type of problem. I mean. every electrical piece on that bike was brand new this weekend. so we're stumped right now. I don't know what the hell's going on. It kind of sucks. and it's not helping me in points. that's for sure· two DNFs already. and it's only the third round." After Winning the Dave Coombs Memorial 125 East/West Shootout in Las Vegas. Team MotoworidRacing.com Suzuki's Andrew Short (rightl has been unable to duplicate his supercross success outdoors. "I like super· cross," said the Colorado native. "I like bowl turns and whoops. You can get Into a rhythm. Outdoors. it's rough. and there are ruts: you just have to hang it out. You have to be a man. and I'm not a man yet. I guess." 0:: U 0:: e n e vv s JUNE 4, 2003 29

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