Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

BRIEFLY••• Pro Circuit Kawasaki said Matt Walker will go to his doctor on Monday hoping for medical clearance to return to the track. Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Travis Preston may be back in a minute-long whoop section that you're going through. " few weeks too after his major knee surgery. Stephane Roncada (below) returned to action at Unadilla. The Team SoBe Suzuki rider was injured in a nasty first-tum crash at Red Bud and was forced to sit out the remainder of the race. "I feel pretty good: Roncada said. "I usually have lots of trouble going fast on this track. but it seems like I was pretty fast in practice. so rm pretty stoked about that. Hopefully. I can cany that White Brothers/ Honda's defending Four-Stroke Champion Paul Carpenter (right) was on doing my engine and suspenSion. I really like it. It's a lot better hand than being on ECC." momentum into the race.· Unadilla. "We had an off weekend in the Four-Stroke Nationals, and Unadilla is only about two hours from my house, so I figured I would come out and play with the boys and see how I can do," said Carpenter shortly after Saturday's practice to race Former ECC Suzuki rider Jeff Gibson (below) is back on the tour as a KTM privateer. -It's going well," Gibson said. "rm getting some help from DFW KTM, and Performance Factory is at sessions. "I feel real- ly good. Everything's working out. I'm riding one of my practice bikes, but it seems to be running really well. We're pilling out of the back of my pickup truck this weekend - just haVing fun with no pressure." He said he'd be back at Binghamton and Washougal in his White Bros. truck. With just one race under his belt so far. new Boost MobilelYamahalTroy Racing team manager Jeff Montgomery seems to be adapting well to his new position. "Things are going very well." Montgomery said. "Better than expected. I think that. as we all know, to be successful in this role - with the way the sport IS constantly evolving - being able to manage relationships is everything. I feel like rve been able do that pretty well. It's been a pretty seamless transition, In terms of being able to do that. Having known most of these guys prior to me coming here - that's been a big assistance." U.S. Tobacco continued to support the journeymen of the sport at Unadilla with their U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Pro Privateer Challenge Award. JeanSebastien Roy and Keith R. Johnson were the top 250cc privateers, and Kelly Smith and Tim Weigand (left) were the top 125cc privateers. The top privateer in each class receives $1500, while the runnerup receives $750. Fans at Unadilla were treated to a demonstration of the Championship Off-Road Racing Lucas Oil Series, which was held on a portion of the Unadilla track. The seven-event series features two rounds of racing per event with three Pro divisions. Unadilla hosted another round of the Motorcycle Product News Minibike Nationals. a series of industry races on 50s and 110s. As an additional attraction at this event. a rider named Aaron Smith pulled off a backflip on a Yamaha IT-ROO. Among the riders spotted watching the event were Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Chad Reed and Grant langston. Unadilla began hosting the series in 2002 on its new one-mile Montgomery also confirmed that the team has signed Danny Smith for the 2004-2005 seasons. "We feel like, particularly indoors. there's no question he' II be a title threat." Montgomery said. "And we've all seen what he can do outdoors, being a course. which is just across the street from the motocross track. National winner. We feel like, on these bikes. with this kind of teamwork, he's only going to improve. There's definitely a lot more under the hood there with him that we haven't seen." According to Montgomery, it has not yet been determined if Smith will ride a YZ125 or YZ250F. In what may have been foreshadowing of things yet to come, James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse in Saturday's practice session. Stewart made a somewhat aggressive pass on the Team Honda rider late in the session, and Carmichael began to give chase. With all eyes glued to the action, the flying pair aggressively circulated the Unadilla Team Honda's Nathan Ramsey was absent at Unadilla. Ramsey tweaked his left wrist in a crash in practice two weeks ago at course for several laps beFore Carmichael gave in and chose to spend the remainder of his practice time looking over the track the Red Bud National. Cliff White was acting as Honda's team instead of racing with Stewart. The sight of an BOO-horsepower truck soaring through the air is truly a thing to behold. manager at Unadilla and provided an update on Ramsey's status. "It wasn't a high-speed crash. but it kind of bent his wrist. lateralIy." White said. "It swelled up real qUick. The doctors X-rayed it at the track and couldn't find any kind of fracture, but sometimes it take a few days to show, after the swelling goes down. He went back to Tennessee and had another X-ray along with an MRI. and they still couldn't fmd anything. The doctor there thought maybe there was a torn ligament. They sent the MRI results out to Dr. Murphy ,n San Diego, and he referred Nathan to a speclal,st in Tennessee, who then said that it looks like a bruised bone. Nathan's going to stay off of it for a week or so, do a lot of therapy and try nding next week. " Another nder absent at Unadilla was Team LamontRacing.com's Jeremias Israel. Israel broke his back in a crash two weeks ago at the Red Bud National. "Jeremias is back in California now," said team manager Jamey Grosser. "Luckily, there's no spinal cord damage, and his vertebrae are going to be all right. He didn't need surgery, but he has kind of a full-body cast. He's Aying home to Chile on Monday to recuperate with his friends and family. He'll be out for the rest of the season, for sure. My best guess is that his recovery is going to take about five months. It's just kind of 'wait and see.' It could have been a lot worse, that's for sure." Before the injury, the Excel Motor Sports Honda CRF450R pilot had been doing quite well in this year's nationals, scoring top privateer honors at Budds Creek. Speaking of Grosser, the Honda pilot has been attempting to qualify for several of the 250cc Nationals himself. "It's been good," he said. "This is the first year I've ever done the Outdoor Nationals. Normally, I just do supercross, bag it for the rest of the summer and hang out and wait for supercross again. The team grows every year, so this year we're doing outdoor nationals. It's been kind of a rude awakening for me compared to supercross - I'm used to jumping all the time. Outdoor laps feel like a two- The Unadilla course. one of the most historic in the sport. continues to evolve. Thanks to the "U2" amateur track. the pro course was left under grass until Pro practice began Saturday afternoon. This left the soil In Branden Jesseman's bike was in a better state of tune for Unadilla than it was for his first race this season at Red Bud. "We basically guessed on settings in Michigan," said his mechanic James Coy. "As soon as we found out Troy was postponed, he flew to California for testing. So we've made some improvements this week." He also switched to mousse tubes after suffering a rear flat at Red Bud. Team Escondido Cycle Center Suzuki is struggling this year, and it may prompt team manager Mike Craig to make a come· back. "Seeing [Ryan] Hughes come back like that got me pumped up," Craig said. "I love being around it. The next best thing to racing is having a team, but I want to race. We'll see after the Nationals. If I do come back, I'm not going to do it half-assed. When I raced, I probably gave it 90 percent. Now I realize it was a job. I will train harder if I do it. My boss IS starting to get on me asking for results from my guys. Maybe I will just ride next year. " better condition than usual, although most rid- ers say it is still far removed From the superrough. loamy dirt it used to have. "It is really rocky here." Tim Ferry said. "I remember racing in 1991 when I first turned Pro, and it was really soft and loamy. Now it is more hard-packed. " Kevin Windham (rightl is not Samson. He cut his hair before Unadilla and actually got stronger. "I actually had heat stroke at Red Bud," said Windham, who had been sporting 'fro-like locks since returning to the racing scene in May. "It really bothered me because I felt like I had the speed to win there. Then my train- ing schedule was messed up because I had to recover. I felt bad for my team because they work so hard." Windham theorized the shorter hair made him cooler and lighter. "I probably cut off a pound and a half of hair," he said with a laugh. "We had to reset the sag in the suspension. " Two top riders struggling through knee injuries may be back soon. Evan Laughridge (above), last year's AMA Horizon Award winner as the top Amateur to graduate to the Pros, made his 125cc National debut at Unadilla. A member of Suzuki's factory Arenacross team, Laughridge has raced a few 250cc Nationals and has just won the 125cc Western Canadian National MX Series. "I just need to raise my profile a bit," the Californian said. "Last year, at the amateur races, I was beating guys like Josh Hansen and Ryan Mills, but they already had their deals locked up. I need to get my name out there. rm not sure what I'm going to do next year. .. eye I e nevvs JULY 30, 2003 11

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