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/128233
S u z u k i R M C u p C h alle n g e Washougal MX Park UZUKI'S Broc He pl e r headed back to Kittanni ng, Pennsylvania, $4000 richer. HOVVCASE H ep ler, LaPaglia, Lawrence doub le up at the 2003 RM Cup Jason Lawrence, quickly outgrowing his AMSS, took two m ini c la sse s. WASHOOGAL, WA, SEPT, 6·7 S u zu k i has been enjoying an impressive run in the amateur m otocross scene, crowdi ng the top of the results sheets at every major amateur eve nt over the past year. RM ri ders, many of them runn ing under th e Suzu k i Sp o rt s support p ro g ram ban ner, have in fact co lored the winner s' ci rcle yell ow th e ma j ority of th e t im e ( and yo u 'd b etter believe t h at ev ery m anufa cturer k eeps a tally of total titles won at events like the Min i Olympics, th e GNC Internati onal F in a l s, th e Wo rld M ini , Mamm oth , Pon ca City and Loretta Lynn 's ). In appreci ati on of t h ese ef forts, Suzuk i hold s a season-e ndi ng "tha nk you " pa rt y for ride rs who hav e been lo y al to th e brand an d it s dea lers and ha ve earne d Suzu ki motocross con tin genc y prizes and poi nts thro ug hout th e year. In the ni ne years since it began, the Suzuki RM Cup Challenge ha s become a m ust-do event - not only for the tr em endou s payout, but for all th e hospita lity offe red. National -c aliber track s and announcers , a couple o f n ic e meals, and full , free technical support help to make thi s a four -star weekend for Su zuk i ra c ers and their fam ilies. Th er e is literall y nothing else like it. Th is yea r, ov er $127 ,000 was up fo r grab s, pulling rid er s from eve ry corner of the co untry to du k e it out at th e fam ed Wa shougal MX Park. Som e 563 entries in 14 cl asses we re posted at th is AMA Natio nal facility , and its c re w we n t all - out t o pr o vid e t h is c ro w d with a fir st -cl ass ex pe rie nce. Even Moth er Nature contributed to the ca use with a li ght Sat urday-night rain (the first precipita tion in th is area in 8 5 da ys) to provide Velcro- like tra ction fo r the sing le- moto main events 42 S EPTEM B ER 24 , 2003' eye on Sunday. Un aer idea l, partly cloudy conditi o ns on a pe rfect track in an abs o lutely gorgeo us, woodsy setting , i 's no wonder riders were getting face pump from grinn ing all day. Th e big w inners o f the w eek end were Kittanning, Penns ylvan ia's Br oc Hepler, Michael LaPaglia of Murrietta , California, and Ja son Lawrence, from E st ell e M an o r , Ne w Jersey . Thes e three teens took two class wins ap iece : Hep ler claimed th e 125 and 250cc Pro/Expert divisio ns to pocket a cool $4000 in cash, laPaglia took th e 125 . and 250cc Interm ediate/B clas ses and $30 00 worth of Suzuki gift certifica tes, wh il e Lawren c e ran aw a y w ith tw o m ini cycle vict or ies (and $3000 in ce rti fi c at es) . It w ou ld be Hepl er ' s fi na l ama teur event , having already ridd en th ree AMA N ati on al MX rac es at th e e nd of t he season and signing with Team SoBe Suzuki fo r 2004. Hepl er' s b iggest challenge came from crowd favo ri te Ryan Hu ffm an , whose family ow ns Washo uga l M X Park . Huffman won his Saturday 250 Pro /Expert q ual ifi er - used to determi ne gate po si tions for th e Sun day fi nals - over Hepler and th en t ook the early ma in eve nt lead aboa rd his F£,S S uz uki. T h e AMA SX / M X v et eran m ana ged to o pen a sma ll ga p durin g th e firs t two laps, bu t Hepl er found h i s rh y t h m and c lose d in th e ne xt time aro und to st a rt ap plyi ng so me heavy pressure. After tr ad in g the lead once on the fo urth of ni ne la ps , Hep ler found his way around Huffm an for go od and gra d ually pulled away fo r Michael La Paglia (31) ran away w ith the 2 50 Intermediate/B class ahead of Kyle Ku bitsch ek (647) a nd Ada m Metzler (339). Ie nevus the victo ry . The fi na l p l ac e o n the po d ium we nt to Ryan Abrigo of Snohomish , Wa sh ington, ge tting around T ommy Harri son and Suzu ki Sp orts co nt ende r J osh Li chtle, wh o both had lat e-ra ce pr obl em s. Col e Sieb ler and Matt Karl sen battled to the end t o fill out the top five overall . Nati onal o ff - ro ad ra cin g regular Robert N aug hto n ex ite d th e fir st turn wi t h a clea r le a d i n th e 1 2 5cc Pro /Exper t fin al but w ould l at er be docked a lap fo r j um ping th e starting ga te. T hat l ead wou l d soo n va ni sh anyway, as Hep ler m ov ed up fro m a th ird- place start to c harge in to th e point position before the fi rst lap was complete . Trailing the pack was recent So Be Suzuki factory sig nee Davi Millsap s, who had tang led with H eple r an d gone dow n; he wo ul d come bac k to fi ni sh 13th . Josh Lich ti e crashed spectacularly on th e sec o nd lap and was un abl e t o restart. Hepler , m ean while , was being k ep t co m p any b y Red lands , Ca li fornia 's T om m y Harrison , aboard a Simi Va l ley Cycles RM 125 . Mov ing up rap idly fro m a m ed ioc re st art was Hu ffman , who se pr ogr ess you co uld chart from the c heers eru pting aro und the track. De spite th e two leaders opening up a co mforta ble margi n by t he halfway po in t, Huffm an was able to ree l in Harrison and make th e pass wi th a lap and a ha lf rema in ing . Time wa s o n Heple r's side, ho w e ve r , and h e was ab le to cruise hom e with his second win of the day. " E v e r y t h i n g wo rked out we ll