Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

S U PER MOTO The tr aditi on al 80/20 -p ercent p avem ent-to-dirt rati o didn 't apply to thi s tra ck , It was c loser to 60 -40 , w ith a 30 - f o ot-h igh l u m p of ex cavat ed bu ild ing -sit e dirt leading off the dirt section . Track bui lders weren't expecting it when they arrived at the site, bu t th ey m ade the most of it and created o ne of t he very fe w pass ing zones o n an ot he rwise mostly o ne l i ne t r a c k that ca l le d f or o n ly the three lowest gears. T he hea t races got progressively slower, with Carlson's first heat wi n the fastes t an d He nry 's fo urth h eat w in the slo west; t he difference wa s clo se to 2 3 second s, despi te Henry b e i n g pre ssur ed b y Wa r d fo r t he du ra t io n . In b et w een , McGra th w o n t h e seco n d heat and Ra d Racing Disanto Yamaha 's M ar k Bu rkh a r t wo n the th ird. T h e t op tw o in eac h o f th e fo ur heat s m ade it to Superpol e, with th e riders goi ng in rev erse orde r. Having fin is hed second in th e slo wes t heat , Ward we nt fi rs t, and he set th e f ast t im e , a 56 .2 61. On e by o n e t hey att ack ed , but none was able to bri ng his sta rt ," he said. "We knew we had ou r wo rk cut o ut." Carl son and Henry took off; the n there was a gap to Ma rk Bu rkh art and Av ard , foll owed b y Mc G r a t h a n d Ward , th e o n l y ride r to use a sli ck fro nt Dunlop in a crowd of cut sli cks and rain s. "The tires we use , th e size wh eels , it won 't wash out on me and it won't chatter," said W ard , who ofte n uses a knee -out road-race styl e instead of putting his fo ot down. "I ' ll give up a little b r a k e power on the dirt so I wo n't go down on the pavem ent. " Bu rk hart we nt out on the th ir d la p w h en hi s fr ont wh ee l w as he d o ut wh ile he was cli m bing the lo ng dirt hill. He re- moun ted in 22nd pla c e. McGrath too k o ver third, and Ward wa s up to fourth on th e fifth lap. Carlson k ept the lea d over Henry o v e r a seco n d u n t il th e 10 t h lap , wh en it grew t o four seco nds. Henry had fall en . "I ju st went down the dow nh ill and was j ust try ing someth ing a little d ifferent, trying to get out of th e ma in line ; it was gett ing ~u mpy, " Henr y said . "J ust got into the .loose stu ff and wash ed out ""'" T he Co lumbus track ha d a decent dirt section, with whi ch former Supercross and Motocross champions M cG ra th (2 ) and Ward (3 x) ha d little difficu lty . ~ k new he was way faster than m e," The pair jum ped down off the curb leav ing the dirt section and onto a short pavement stretch, Car lson grabbed too much throttle and went air bo rne. " I just go t too gree dy on the as p ha lt and h igh s id ed t he t hi ng , " Carlso n said . That was the rac e, W a rd ' s lea d was quickl y up to nea rly 10 sec onds and he cruised to his sec ond win in tw o days. and h is second in three AMA Red Bu ll Supermoto rac es. " We di d a rac e ye sterday in Ca li forni a and I got here at 6 o'cl ock this morning , and Red BuJl's the only thin g that's kept m e going all da y ," Ward said o n the victory pod ium, fl ashing the sle nder red -blue -and-silver can . " Ho w about thi s all -motocross podium? " McG rath added . Henry was 11 sec ond s back, with T hi eb ault making a late ru n , noting th at m ot oc rossers were fast thro ug h the d irt section . "J l ea rn w ith them , and it ' s good fo r me in Europe," he sai d. A vard was cl o se behind Thiebault, in fifth afte r l o si ng the le ad bun ch while chasing Ste ve Drew. "I got c aught up b ehind S t e ve Drew there for a li tt le b it and I los t th e lea d bun ch , whic h was a rea l b umm er ," th e Austra li an sai d. " I tr ie d to m ak e a few advances. I had a littl e arm p ump . I got into it an d nearly caug h t T h i eb aul t towa r d th e e n d Speaking of former AMA Motocross champions, Henry (3 6 9) put his Yamaha VZ450 on the podium in his first-ever AMA Supermoto event. Here, he le a ds Ward (3 x) early in the race. him dow n u n til Car ls on , th e f i n al ri d e r , took h i s best sho t , a lap o f 56. 168 , earn ing the pole positio n. Th ere was a short chut e to the first tu rn, a loo p ing l 8 0 -d egree right, with not much room . In the ear lier Unli m it ed Super moto fi nal, Car ls on and t e am m at e D o ug Cha ndler had t an g led, with Chandler getting th e worst of it - a broken left fibula . T hi s time , mu ch of th e front row arrived at the same ti me , Ca rlso n o n t h e in si d e bumping Ward and McGrath , with Avard getting pushed w ide . No one went dow n, but Ward a nd M cGra th were pus hed back , with Carlson boltin g to the front. "I c am e down and Ben [Carlson ) kind of tapped m e on the arm and the arm came off th e bar, and if Jeremy [McGra th ) wasn't t h ere , I would've probab ly went down and m essed up the front end and went down." Henry went back to fourth. McGrath was no w in seco nd bu t vulne rable as his m otor began to go off -song . " I was wo nd er ing w hy I co uldn't get o ut of the corners ," McGrath said . "There was o il eve ryw he re." Ward closed , making the pass on la p 14 , th e nois e fr om M c Grath' s engine getting more ominou s. "Wh en he go t past m e up th e hill , it was j ust having no power," McGrath said . "Righ t after he passed m e , it sta rted knocking ." Carlson had more than 1.6 seco nds o n Wa rd on lap 15, and th en Wa rd was o n him, seeing sign s of fat igue . "I think it was lik e fiv e laps to go the sh oulders and th e el bo w s w ere falling ," Carlson said . " I really wasn 't rid ing too hard, b ec a u se I knew i f W ar d passes, I'll st ill podium, and I Troy Lee Design 's McGrath took second , be hind his te ammate Ward , after his engine started goi ng sou t h to w ard the end of the ra ce. cue len eVIls • O CTO BER 1 5 , 2003 21

• Cover