Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks 250cc U.S. Motocross Championship Round 5: Budds Creek Park nitely good." "It was definitely a fun race for me, even though I didn't win, as long as it's fun and I'm somewhere up front," Carmichael said. "It was really fun - I wish I wouldn't have crashed; I had to play catch-up after that. And I don't know if I could've gotten by Kevin if he wouldn't have made a mistake - he was riding good, and it was a bit tough to pass. It was kind of one-lined, and those 450s definitely have some horsepower. I was able to stay in front of him and got second, so it was fun, and I love the challenge it's good for the sport, good for the fans." The start of mota two was a disaster, as Ferry, Windham, Joaquim Rodrigues, Ezra Lusk, Larry Ward, David Vuillemin and more were involved. Ward couldn't continue. "I didn't get off the gate as good as I should've, and then everybody on the inside just kept highsiding off the guys next to them," said the MotoXXX Honda vet. "I avoided one, and then all of a sudden the whole pile just crashed turned left. They were like Windham, who by then had about 10 seconds on Roncada. Ferry then backed it down a touch with only four laps left to run, but Carmichael didn't. With three laps to go, Ferry led by 6.9 seconds. Then 3.9 with two to go. Then just 1.9 at the white flag. But it was just a bit too little too late for Carmichael, as Ferry held on to win by 1.244 seconds. Then came Windham in third followed by Roncada and Reed, who was about 23 seconds behind the SoBe Suzuki rider. "It feels good to be right up there with him again," Ferry said. "My fitness is good, and I've been working on my starts, and that helped me. '" just needed today to get through the first turn standing up," Ferry added. "' felt good at Southwick, but I surprised myself a little bit today. I thought I could run up there, but I passed Kevin [Windham], and Stephane [Roncada] was riding good today, and to have Ricky [Carmichael] just sit on my back wheel the whole time and be able to hold him off, I kind of surprised myself a little bit. It was kind of bringing back flashbacks of 2001 when I was racing with him at Troy and he got right behind me but couldn't get by, so it was defi- 10 JUNE 25, 2003' cue I Chad Reed rode through a broken frame In the tim moto but stili _nt 5-3 for fourth overall. e nevvs dominoes. I was on top of two guys, but from my knee to my hip was on somebody's skid plate on the side of their motor, and guys just kept landing on me and driving the side of my leg into this guy's bike. It's the first bad thing I've had happen, so I have two weeks off, thank goodness, and I've got two weeks off to heal before I go to Red Bud. It's just a bone bruise - the big bone [femur]." Nathan Ramsey actually got the holeshot, with Carmichael, Roncada, Ernesto Fonseca and Nick Wey in tow. Carmichael got by Ramsey right off, and Roncada followed him past then those two basically left town. Roncada rode valiantly to keep Carmichael in sight while the two started putting time on third place at an alarming rate. On the second lap, Thousand Oaks Kawasaki's Bobby Bonds went down in a heap over the finish-line jump, and his bike collected LaRocco's. "It sucked," LaRocco said. "I just came over there, and Bonds swapped out, and his bike shot across the track, and it got underneath mine and just tossed me down the hill. It knocked the wind out of me, so it took me a minute to get my breath back and then go find my bike, which was in the fence. That was ugly. I didn't like that at all. I wasn't real happy about sailing through the air and wondering where I was going to land. , had a bad day. , just had a bad day." LaRocco's CR250 flipped like a gymnast down the hill and came close to leaping the fence into the crowd. Both Bonds and LaRocco eventually got up, and the tougherthan-nails LaRocco actually finished the race on pace, but a lap down. Wey worked his way past Ramsey into third, but by then he was already 12 seconds down on Roncada. Roncada stayed close to Carmichael throughout the race, while Wey's bike broke while he was battling over third with Reed with just three laps to go. Carmichael went on to the win with Roncada relatively close by, while Reed finished third, 22.5 seconds behind Roncada. Windham actually worked his way all the way to Reed's rear wheel in fourth, and Vuillemin rode well to catch all the way back up to fifth. Ramsey held on for sixth. Roncada was happy, and he felt riding the 125 helped him get his best 250cc finish. "I think riding the 125 definitely helped me because when , got on a 250, I was more aggressive in the turns, so I think it was a good point, riding the 125," Roncada said. "' think it was a good thing for me. I got back on the 250, and I'm riding it even better than before, so it's good. My endurance was really good today. I think' can still improve. It wasn't a very hot day, so there's still some

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