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/128242
style ALBANY, NY, NOV. 7-8 he National Arenacr oss Series not only kicked off at a different loca tion th is year, but it also started with some ne w faces , new b ikes for old faces , and new teams . Th e mu ch anticipated season opener was also the debut of veteran John Dowd, now with the new Empire Suzuki team along with his teammate Jim Neese. " I don 't have any great expecta tions ," Dowd said before the raci ng began. "I' m looking forward to getting out there and seeing what I can do ." Fi ve-time c ha m p Buddy A ntun ez esca ped the fires aro und his home ne ar Te m ec u la , C alifo rn ia , t o ra ce int o A lb any as pa rt of an all -n ew Pro Co re Honda team bac k ed by T am er and Troy Lee design s. " We could see the fires from ou r dr iveway at our home, but everything and everybody is safe: Antunez said. "I'm ready to get on the gas and get Honda up on the podium." With the even greater onsl aught of four-stroke machines this year (since Kawasak i, Suzuki and Honda are all making 125cc -c1 ass thumpers now) , most of the racers chose to ride th e teeny thumpers in the 125cc class and 250cc two-strokes in the quarter- T 12 NOVEMBER 26, 2003 ' c ue I mg Shogun Yamaha YZ450F that h e w on on regu la rl y last ye ar to a YZ250. " Believe it or not, that thing was just way too fast, " Demuth said of th e YZ450F. "We tried to detune it and get it to work , but the 250 j ust seems to work out bett er." It d idn 't t a k e long for Dowd t o announce his arrival , as he grabbed the holeshot in Fr iday ' s 125cc ma in even t. B u t t h e N e w E n g l an d e r dropped back right off . "I got the holeshot, that was a go od thing , but I m ade a lot of mistakes in the first five or six laps, and it dropped me .bac k to li k e ei ghth : Dowd said. "I' m trying hard to relax, but I'm j ust really nervou s." Tea m m ate s Demuth and Hofrnas ter t o ok adv antage o f Dowd ' s m i scu es, m ov in g int o the to p two spots. Bu t the surp rise w as th e spee d and det ermination of Brad Hag seth , who so on sped past the du eling t eam mates and soon found himself leading the first ma in even t of the season . "I go t a good start and got around Dowdy when he made a litt le mistake early and let me around ," Hags eth said . "I rode my own rac e, but Josh is the champ and finally got around me e n e vv s toward the end." Lu rk ing cl ose beh ind the battle for first between Dem ut h and Hagseth , Ho fmast er and Darcy Lang e battled for third and began to close the gap on Dem uth and Hagseth ou t front. Dur ing th at battl e, Hofm ast er lost his chain and sat idle as La nge pressed on to ch allenge the leading duo. " I was c o m i n g aro und that firs t corner, and something just sna p ped b y t he re ar s p ro c k et, " Ho f ma st er said. "If that' s the only bad th ing that ha ppens all year, I'll be okay ." So on afte rw ar d , Dem uth p assed Hagseth go ing through th e whoops. " I had a hard time getting around Hagseth , " Demuth sa id . " He rode stro ng the entire time , and I took a c ha nce and gassed it com ing out of the first corner. It was a lot t ougher than I expected." Demuth hung on for the wi n over Hagseth and Lange . Friday's 250cc final was less of a. b u t w as ex c i ti ng b y its o wn Lang e to ok th e ho les hot and loo ke d ba ck as he bu il t on a l ead throughout th e ev en t. on c e again got o ff to a great foll ow ed clos el y by B r andon nd th e Shogun Yam ah as o f th an d Hofm aster. Demuth and H o f m a st e r m ad e passes on Bart z a few laps into the ma in , but Dowd was hanging to ugh, and al thou gh the d uo also m a d e it past Dowd , he finished up the n i g ht a very cons ist ent fifth in each event. "I' m having a hard time getting comfortable, and I just nee d to rela x and ha v e f un , " Do wd said . " T hese tra cks are tight ! I feel I got through the night un scath ed and h ad good st art s , so I' m pretty happy ." Dem ut h and Hofma st er so l d i e r ed on to try t o close the ga p as Hagseth m ov ed int o fourth beh ind th e duo . Lan ge sho wed he belonged up fron t, building nearl y a n in e -sec ond lead over Demuth by the checkers. Hofm aster rounde d out the podiu m . "It was a great race , and I'm happ y to be with th e arena cross family for ano ther year: Demuth sai d. Saturday ni ght's raci ng was helped out wi th some trac k wo rk that many ri de rs f el t woul d ma ke the racin g actio n a little closer than Frida y . " Last night's racing w as one -lined: Antunez sa i d ab out Fr ida y 's t rack . "Outside th at one li ne in the whoops , they had brok en up so much that they we re square -edg ed , and passing i n tha t section or setting up for the turn was tough. T he track crew wa s awesome about listen ing , and 1 think the tra ck is way better tonight. " Nees e grabbed the holeshot in the 12 5c c main ev ent, followe d closely by Hofmaster and Lange . D emu th started fifth. "I'm really struggling with my starts; it's one of my weak points, and it's something I have to work on: Demuth said.