Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128224
AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship Series Round 1: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca RIch A1eunder (5), Gary Trachy (31171,-4oe Kopp (30) and . . . Metzge (partilll~ hiclden)_bc It up ....ad of PIIIIIen Rolland (100). Metzge got a 1IttIe.mous In .... NI'tr goinaand CI'MbecI 1ft _ of the dirt Kopp and T ~ blnt. All three ...... ad race, willi Kopp the best, sizth. ._IlClI z: o Vl c:-_~ ...J OJ z: ..., z: < '" to > CD o f- _'0 J: Q.. ished seventh, with Option IT Yamaha rider Fabien Rolland of France, Metzger and Rad Racing's Mark Burkhart rounding out the top 10. when he piloted his factory HMC Supermoto Racing KTM to victory in the 24-lap KTM Supermoto Unlimited final on Saturday. The Englishman, who was a member of the 1994 Motocross des Nations-winning British team, let patience be his guide as he chased early leader and fellow HMC Supermoto Racing KTM teammate Joe Kopp, the former AMA Grand National Champion KTM SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED Former World Championship motocross contender Kurt Nicoll made history as the first rider to win an AMA National Supermoto event 46 JULY 23, 2003' c: U c: • e n e VII" S setting a torrid early pace. Lappers came into play just past the halfway point, allowing Nicoll to erase the four-length advantage that Kopp had held for much of the race, with the Brit making his move on lap 16, on the fast, paved right-hand Sidi Corner that led riders to the large dirt section on the course. Nicoll then pulled away to win the race by 5.4 75 seconds. Kopp finished second, with HMC Supermoto Racing KTM's Christopher Fillmore finishing third to make for a one-two-three sweep by the new KTM factory team that is run by former Ducati road race team owner Mitch Hansen. "I enjoyed that very much," Nicoll said. "I didn't get off the start real fast. I had to take my time before I went to the front, so I followed the other two guys for a long time. I was pretty sure that with 24 laps I'd be able to make it to the front." That wasn't necessarily cut and dried, as 2000 AMA U.S. Flat Track Champion Kopp established a solid lead early in the race and was riding virtually mistake-free, even in the face of pressure from Nicoll, who got an assist from the backmarkers. The traffic jam in front of Kopp got especially heavy around lap 10. After Nicoll shot past Kopp in Sidi Corner on lap 15, Kopp was unable to answer back. "KTM one-two-three on top of the box - it can't get no better than that unless I was on top of the box, I guess," Kopp said afterward. "I got a great start, and then I heard Kurt. I didn't know for sure if it was Kurt. I figured it was. I seen a orange bike, and I heard him hootin' and hollerin' in all the real slow switchback corners, and I thought 'That ain't gonna faze me. I'm used to this shit.' Lappers, they were a real problem. I don't think they were throwing any blue flags out there, and as hard passing as it is out here... Kurt snuck by me in that 180-degree asphalt turn [Sidi Corner]. There was nothing that I could do. He was already there by the time I seen him." Kopp appeared to be making most of his time early in the race in the sweeping dirt corners that came after the big tabletop jump and triple rocker that initiated the main off-road section on the course. "For sure I was the most comfortable in that area," Kopp said. "It got pretty slick, and the slicker it got, I figured that was going to be more and more to my advantage. But it got so slick it was like I was kind of on the defense mode there for a while - just don't put it down and keep your two wheels on the ground. I'm happy. Kurt's a hell of a rider. Running second to him is nothing to be upset about." Fillmore held on to finish third, yielding to Nicoll on lap nine before crashing in the second of the two sweeper turns, the right-hander that