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/128240
AMAIRed B u ll Supermoto U n limited Champio n sh ip The Ringer Jurgen Kunzel comes over from the World Supermoto wars to dominate at Irwindal e hop ing , since we got togeth er in the heat race , th at we co uld keep everything clean - I k new he'd be wantin g to get m e pretty bad , so ..." " I pa ss ed him abo u t halfway through," Kopp said, "then he cam e back at m e li k e a lap later, and I was like, 'Sh it .' He's pretty easy t o fo llow , but it' s hard to lead ." Kopp gathe red h im self up beh ind By S T E VE Co x on d . Joe Kopp caught Carlson afte r a fe w la ps , and the two had it out for th e remainder of the race. Kopp and Car l son had gotten t ogether in an earl ier heat ra ce , with K opp g ettin g th e sho rt end of the stick, and he figured it wa s payback time . "I was fir ed up about that," Kopp said , " so wh en I started catch ing him in t he ma in event there, it was like 'Okay , h e r e ' s a little p a yb a c k . ' I m ean , I wasn 't going to bump him or anything , but.. ;" With K unze l co mfortably leading, Kopp made his m ove, diving ins id e Carlson at the hal fway po int in th e transition from the dirt to the aspha lt , but Carlson got righ t back around two laps later. " In the middle of the race , I wa s just k ind of conserv ing m y energy , and Kopp r eele d me i n, " Ca rlson said . "By tha t tim e, for me to m ak e a charge was hard. He passed m e, and I pass ed him back. I was kind of just P HO T O S BY R A YM O N D G U N D Y IRWINDALE, CA, NOV. 1 ith the World Sup ermoto Cham pi onship not ev en fi ni sh ed ye t, KTM th ought it smart to bring in one of its sta rs from Europe in hopes of he lpin g ensure success in the fl edg li ng AMA Sup ermoto Series - current series run ne r- up Jurgen Kunze!. T he Germ an was co nsistently am on g the fastest ri ders all n ight lon g, and in the su p port-class Su pe rmoto Un limit ed m ain e v ent , h e was si mp ly i n a leag ue of hi s own. " I think when yo u look, it was very easy," Kunzel said , "In the beg inning , I pu sh very fast, and th en I see I was in the fro nt , and th en I go m y speed , and that's th e race for me." It really did seem that simple. Kun zel had the ma in-event holeshot, but Red Bull KTM 's Ben Carlson actually grabbed th e lead from him befor e the fir st lap was co m pleted. The dirt tr ack specia list led impre ssively ov er h is m uch m ore experienced teammate for a cou ple of laps, but Kunzel made his move on lap three. speedi ng by Carl son in an asph alt right-hand hai rpin. " For me, I have a good start , and B en Carl son d ri ve real h ard in the first turn , and I d o three, fo ur l ap s very fast ," Kunzel sa id . " A nd th en I pass him , an d then I go w ith m y speed, and I see I make distance, and the n I do n' t push fu ll gas . Then I go a little bit easy fo r the next race. Fo r me it was good th en." Kun zel b a si c all y took off from th ere, but the battle was soon for sec - W 16 N O V EM B ER 12,2003 ' cue Irwindale Speedway Irwindale, California Resulls: November I, 2003 [Round 51 Carlson and sta rted do ing his ho mew o r k. K o p p sh a d o we d hi s mo r e youthful tea mma te fo r th e next few laps, and when the laps started wi nd ing down, he beg an th ink in g abo ut making his move. " I stayed rig ht on him until there w ere five laps to go, and I said , 'O k ay . Here it goes ,' " K opp said. " I wanted to wait until the last couple laps so he wouldn 't have a chance to co me back on me : Kopp repea ted his earlier pass for the le ad - same spot and style - on the wh it e-flag lap. Aga in , it stuck , but this t im e Carl so n d idn 't h a v e an y (Ri ght) Ryan Hughes had fun i n h is first shot at Sup e nnoto , b ut h e a dmittedly took it a little t oo easy at fi rst. He went from 14 th to seventh i n the main. (Left) Chris Fillmore rode strong f or f" rfth. I e n .. VII' S more laps to retal iate. Kopp stuck his lines f or th e rest o f th e lap and grabbed second , 3 .8 sec onds behind Kunzel ( w ho slo we d to pull a seatstanding wh eelie ac ross th e f inish line), an d . 15 1 of a second in front of th e im p ressive Car lson, who completed the KTM podium sweep . " I just followed him until the las t second , and I was n 't goi ng to give him a second chance to pass me back," Kopp said . "I seen two to go , and I wa s like, 'Okay, let' s do it this lap or the next, ' and I went for it on the last lap. I k new I was going to get him in the dirt somewh ere becaus e I felt better in there, and I got him. " White Brothers ' Steve Drew finished a strong fourth on his Supermoto XR650R , followed by KTM's Ch ris Fillmore. But for Kunzel, it was like taking candy fr om a baby. "T he race was , for me, a little bi t easy ," he said . "Fo r m e, I'm looking forward to th e 450 race, which I think will be not so easy as this race. " eN M A I N EVE NT ( 2 0 l ap s ) : 1. Jur gen Ku nz el (KTM); 2. J oe Kopp (KTM ); 3. Ben Carlson (KTM); 4. Steve Dr ew (H an ) ; 5 . Ch ris Fil lm o re ( KTM); 6. Leon ardo Bagn is ( Ver); 7. Ryen Hug hes ( KTM ); 8. M ic k y Dym ond ( Hon ); 9 . Ma rk Ava rd ( KTM) ; 10. Gary Trach y (KTM ); 11. Sha ne Turp in (KTM ); 12. Jeff Harr ingt on (Ver) ; 13 . Chuck McCarty (KTM) ; 14. Jeff Mll tio sevich (K..,w ); 15. Celvtn Andlo vec (KTM); 16. Chuck Sun (KTM) ; 17. Craig Mason (KTM); lB. Brian Catterso n (Hus); 19. Mik e Kryn ock (KTM): 20. Gerald Delepin e (Ver) ; 2 1. Mark Ce mlcky (KTM): 22 . Kenny Carlotta (KTM ); 23. Jens Hainbach (Hbg) ; 24. Larry Pegram (KTM ). Race TIm e: 25 mi n.• 5.72 6 sec. Margin or Vict ory: 3.8 sec. AMA /RED BU LL SU PERMOTO UN LIM ITED NATIO NAL CHAM PIO NSHIP (A ft er 5 or 6 rounds): 1. Ben Carlson (99 /1 win ); 2. Chris Fillmor e (94 /1 win ); 3 . Steve Drew (68 ); 4. Larry Pegram (66); 5. Mick y Dymo nd (54) ; 6 . (llE) Leonardo Bagnls/Gary Trachy (53); B. (TIE) J oe Kopp/Mark Ava rd (44) ; 10. Dou g Chandler (29); 11 . (TIE) Jurgen Kunzel (25/1 win )/Boris Chambon (25/1 win )/ Kurt Ni coll (25/1 wln )/Ma n Pursley (25); 15. Chuck Sun (2 1); 16 . Jeff Harrington (20 ) ; 17. (TI E) Kenny Cool beth /Ch uck McCarty ( 15); 19. (TIE) Ryan Hughes/ G. Giroux ( 14). Upcom ing Round: Round 6 - Las Vega s, Nevada, Novem ber 21