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/128243
... AMA R e d B u ll S u p e r m o t o Champi onsh ip thread his wa y toward the front. "I just made a huge m ist ak e on the start," Nicoll sai d. "I j ust completely m iss ed m y b raking points. Com ing from the ba ck is not easy ." Car ls on jumped o n La n g ston befo re the latter cou ld ge t com fort ab le , m aking an agg res si ve i n sid e p ass fo r the lead as th ey sli d into th e right-hand er at the end of th e infield st raight away . Th e front fi ve th en began to pu ll awa y from sixth -p lace rider Mark Av ard , gapping the Aussie as early as lap two. Lan gston settl ed in behind Carls on as th e bat tli ng pair pull ed clear of Kopp , who also gapped Pegram and KTM UNLIMIT E D SUPERMOTO wou ld have happened, I'm hooked. love thi s stu ff. " Langston , w ho had qu al ified fo r the event th ro ugh the Dallas round , fi ni shed second t o his Red Bu ll HMC KTM tea m m at e and worldwide KTM raci ng boss Nicoll in heat one to land th e out si de pos ition of an all -foreign fron t row of the grid f or the 24 -rider fi n al. Flan k ing to h i s l e f t were Ea st H ills Motorsports / Harri ngto n Vertema ti -back ed Wo rld Sup ermoto sta r Gerald Delepine of Belgium , and Nicoll. Germany ' s Worl d Sup ermoto ace, Kunzel , was suppos ed to be on pole for th e ma in e v ent but wa s absent from the grid afte r his Red Bu ll HMC KTM ride expired on the sighting)ap , watering d own the start straightaway and caus ing a slight delay in th e program. • Ni coll got the holes hot wh en the green flag fi nally fla shed , bu t the Brit sho t r igh t a cro ss th e front of Langston and Carlson as they b ent in t o turn one an d near ly tag ged the hydro barriers, dr oppin g well back in the fie l d before h e r eco v e r e d . Langston t ook th e lead with Ca rlson h ot on his tail , the two fo llowed by fac tory teamm ate an d former AMA U.S. Flat Track Cham p ion Kopp an d Delepine. Anothe r Red B ull HMC KTM rider, Pegram , completed th e top five. Nicoll wa s m ired in 12 t h , but th at would change quickly as he began to While betting again st a KTM wi n presented lon g odds, on e of the m o re interesting wagers to be made coming into th e Red Bull Su permoto AGo-G o evening was w he th er or not th e American s could sto p th e im po rted Eu rope an s fro m d omina tin g the KTM Unl im ite d Sup ermot o F i nal , whic h feat ures th e sa me unl im it ed displacement machines on which the World Superm ot o stars co m pete regul arl y . If the race ha d been a rou lette whee l, with th e Europeans rep resenting th e bl ack numbers and th e Americans th e red, th en the b all clearly st op pe d on g ree n as re igning AMA 125cc National Motocross Champion Grant Lang st on , th e Sou th African who now resides in th e States, pulled off th e win in the 14- lap race. Langston battled with 18 -year-old Supermoto sensa tion Ca rl son for th e fi rst seven laps befo re pu lling awa y to sec u re th e vic t ory. He wo n the race . b y 2. 5 26 seco nd s. K u rt Nicoll was third, making for a KTM c lean swe ep of th e po dium. KT M finis hed in four of the top five po sitions . 'T hat win was more than I expected coming in here," Langston said. "I really was just hoping t o finish on the po dium, but getting the wi n, for m e, it' s a great ac hievement. This really su r prised m e , b ut no ma t ter wha t 12 DECEMBER 3 , 2003 ' C " C • e nevvs Mike Alessi, week-old broken c ollarbone and all, dom inated the Honda Red Riders Junior Superm oto Challenge ra c e, where the first three finish ers In the event w ere gifted their CRF150 race mach in es by America n Honda. Delepine . The Be lgian caug ht and passed Pegram on la p three. Carlson had the measure of Langston fo r the first five laps, bu t Langston found his way past the Wisconsinite on lap six . Not surprising ly , th e pa ss ca me over th e supercross st yle, ma n -made step-up j u m p j u st after th e dirt secti on. Lan gston soon b e g an p il ing up time on Car lson , pulling out to a 2.279-second advantag e. Carlson could not cut back into it . "I knew I had my work cut out fo r me," Car lson sai d. "I just ke pt plugging away on th e la ps , st uck wit h it and got second. At the beg inning of th e rac e I was working the fro nt a lo t harder , and I le arne d some th ings in t he di rt secti on . Grant st u ffed me p retty good in a b o w l tu rn , and I about went off the tr ack . I'll rernern - ' ber that for next time. I got beat , but all in all it was a good day ." Langston's gap would remain fai rly consistent to the fi nish . "I thi n k that I wa s a little too ca utious at the beginning, and he [Car l so n ] go t b y me, " Lan g st on sai d. " I j ust watched to see his pace and see exactly what was go ing on , and th en I got in m y groove and go t aro und him and pull ed a bit of a gap. I j ust tr ied to be smooth and co nsistent." Mea nwh il e, Nicoll had charged his way b ac k into con te ntion. He w a s ninth by lap fiv e and fifth by lap nine as he barreled toward the fron tru n ners. O n lap 1 1 Nicoll got a drive on Kopp off th e right-hand tu rn afte r the d own h il l kicke r j u m p, and he w as ab le to m ak e an outside pa ss for thi rd p la ce as they set up fo r the doubl e ape x l eft - ha nder t h at le d onto the long ba c k strai gh t aw ay. Th e move seemed to mot i vate Kopp , and the two ri ders freight-trai ned their way to Carlson's rear wheel by la p 13. Nicoll then sneak ed past C ar l so n under braking i n the same r i gh t - h an d er where he initiated hi s p ass on Ko pp, but Nicoll sli d wide, and Carlson was able t o retake second pla ce. That's the way they finished. K opp wa s a c onsistent f o urth, though he w asn 't overly happy with the big KTM boss , Nicoll. "H e ki nd of stuffed me in the righ thander after the downhill jump, and I don't m ind if someon e do es th at to me , but then he missed me and took m e outside with him. I caught bac k up to him and Ben on the last lap , but then we caught Chuck Sun , and I got caught up behind him. I' m happy with fou rth. Getting fourth with all them boy s in th ere , that's a good race ." Nicoll got up to third , but that was it. "I' m disappointed, because I know I was fast enough to win that race ," he said. D el epi n e held on f o r fifth , fi rst non -K TM . "I push ve ry , very ha rd ," Delepine sai d. "I h ave problem with m y cl utc h. It w as too hot , and I have no good feelin g, and I fin ish fifth . I thin k th at's