Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks 125cc U.5. Motocross Championship Round 8: Washougai MX Park Own Race: 125cc Michael Byrne 3rd (7-2) Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Aussie may have supplied the weekend's biggest surprise. "For me, it just came down to the starts," he said. "In the first moto, I actually got a good start, but I think Bubba and Ando hit each other in the first corner. and I had to hit the brakes real fast. I was J 2th I think and had to work my way up and had a really good battle with Branden (Jesseman) and Brock Sellards. I couldn't get around Sellards and actually made a mistake in the whoops, and Branden got by me, so I actually lost a position. We battled all the way to the end. I just came back and regrouped and really focused on my start in the second moto and came out in third. That was pretty much what I needed." my own race. The track was really slippery so I couldn't push it that hard. I'll come back the next moto, and hopefully I can do it again." Brock Sellards chased him early, followed by Brown, Josh Woods, Langston, Daryl Hurley and Hughes. Brown and Langston moved up into the worked his way through Craig Anderson, Byrne and Hughes. Stewart was second by the end of the second lap, and he emerged from the trees with the lead to conclude lap three after Brown went down briefly. Stewart was as good as gone again, once in the lead, but Hughes was pressuring Byrne for third on the 10th of 15 laps when Brown got off a few seconds ahead of the pair on the backside of an uphill step-up. With second and third spots rather quickly, and Langston was threatening Brown for a couple of laps before the South African began to drop back a touch. Soon, Langston fell into the clutches of his teammate Hughes, and the fan favorite made his way around at about the halfway mark. At that point, the order was set, with Stewart winning by a large margin over a lonely Brown, followed by Hughes, Langston and Sellards. Jesseman came from way behind for sixth ahead of Michael Byrne, Woods, Ivan Tedesco and Hurley. "I've had a few bad races," Brown said. "[When Langston caught him in the riders involved blaming inappropriate flagging, Byrne almost hit Brown as the Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider tried to grab his bike, but then Hughes did hit him - dead on. Brown went flying and was down for quite a while, while Hughes lost a spot to Jesseman in the exchange. "I think he's pretty beat up - you know, cuts and bruises all over," Pro Circuit's Mitch Payton said after the race. "And then he popped his shoulder out, so they were able to get the shoulder back in. We're going to go in for some X-rays and get it checked out. Hopefully he'll be able to ride Millville." points], that's when I realized I'd better do something, you know? I just take every race as it goes. I want to do my best and get good starts, and if I do that, I should win." "I got a bad start, and I spun off the gate, and I tried to pick people off as quickly as I could," Hughes said. "It was slick out there, and I didn't want to fall down and make a mistake, so as sodn as I got in third, Brownie had a pretty good lead so I figured I'd save myself for the next moto. Third's better than 13th, so it's good." After the first moto', Stewart was keeping his championship hopes realistic. "It's hard when you miss the first four races, and I wish Mike and Ryan and all of those guys the best," Stewart said. "I'm kind of out of the championship right now, but I'm just going to try and win some more motos, and I'll see what happens." Stewart wasn't inside the top five off the start of the second moto, but he was by the end of the first lap. Brown got a clean holeshot and was trying to run away while Stewart 36 AUGUST 6, 2003' cue I The crash left Byrne in second and moved Langston up to sixth - and into the points lead. Langston soon worked his way around Tedesco for fifth, and he finished there, with Hughes just in front of him, Jesseman in front of Hughes, and Byrne in front of Jesseman. "I gave it everything I had and charged at the end and caught that group in front of me, and I realized every point matters right now," Langston said. "Ryno saw me coming, and he picked it up and caught Jesseman, and Jesseman caught Byrne - we were like a big freight train. My trainer goes, 'Aw, if there was only one more lap.' I go, 'No, if there was one more lap, I would've passed out.' I'm happy with what happened today. "The important thing now is that I walk away with the points lead. And Hughes, he ended up going down with Brownie - once again, pathetic mar- e n e vv s ~® Branden Jesseman 4th (6-3) "Actually, one of my goals is to win one of these before the end of the year: said the SoBe Suzuki SX champ. "I felt okay, but I was actually a little behind those guys. My RM's running great, and I just have to work on my reaction off the start, and maybe I can get some good results in." ®'Qa really good start in the first race, and16th (8-33) good finish," said the recently Josh Woods "I had I had a pretty healed Red Bull KTM rider. "I got a little arm pump just from nerves from being out front, but I was real glad to hang in there as well as I did. The second moto, I didn't get the start I wanted, and I was working my way up at the tail of the top 20, and I kind of got taken out in the air when the guy in front of me drifted over in the air, and I highsided pretty hard. I hit my head a little and twisted my ankle and my knee, but no major injuries. I'll be all right. It's nice to have these weeks off to get healed up and hopefully be back." ~®@ Tim Weigand ~@® Bobby Kiniry 1I ~® Brett Metcalfe 19th (20-15) "I don't feel very good: TRE's Weigand said. "I just had a bad day, and I tried to get some points. That's my goal each weekend, to try and get some points. So I guess it was all right. I've got 50, but I'm trying to get 90 - 80 to J DO, somewhere around there. We'll see how it goes." 15th (12-16) MotoworldRacing.com Suzuki's Kiniry showed he had the speed throughout the weekend. "The first moto, I got a halfway decent start and started working my way up," he said. "I kind of brain-farted at the end and let Brian Gray get me for J lth, and me and him stay together all week, so it wasn't too bad. The second moto, I got a really bad start, and I got caught up in the pileup in the second corner, and me and Brian both came from way back all the way up to J Oth and 11th, and i came up the big hill and tried passing him and Mills at the same time, and I swapped out in some sand whoops and cartwheeled my brains out. I crawled off the track and got up and was still in 15th. I just tried to salvage 15th, and I managed to do that." 40th (39-40) Red Bull KTM's likable Aussie suffered a big crash in the second moto, ending his day and maybe more. "I had a big crash coming down the downhill in the second moto, and I flipped into the fence and the crowd, and I landed on my knee," he said. "As soon as I landed, I guess I tore my ACL. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going in to get an MRI on Monday. I'll see what happens from there." ®® Chris Gosselaar ~1I Andrew Short 14th (16-12) "It was crappy," said the stitched Amsoil/Chaparral Honda rider. "The first moto, I crashed pretty hard, and the second moto I had some clutch problems, but I just didn't feel real good today." Gosselaar had stitches is his nose after a rock went through his goggle lens and smacked him in the nose at Unadilla. He removed the stitches himself after the race. 10th (15-8) The MotoworldRacing.com Suzuki 125cc Shootout winner is still improving his outdoor skills. "It was good for me, because last weekend I had my worst race of the year, and I really wanted to do better," he said. "The first moto, I got a horrible start and crashed back to 40th - I mean, I couldn't see 39th - and I made it up to 15th, so that was good for me. I was going fast. The second moto, I didn't get a very good start, and I started slow, but I made my way up to eighth. Compared to J 8th last weekend, that was a lot better. I still have a long way to go, though. I don't want to finish eighth. I want a top five. I'm tired of doing bad."

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