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/128245
THO W orld S u percro s s Ch a m p ion sh ip R o und 1 : L a Cartuja S tad iu m 1:0 9 . 15 3 - a lthou gh he a lso did a 1:59 .24 1. '" fell, I thi nk , five tim es," Langst on sa id . " It was a n i g htm ar e . I' m j ust giad to m ak e it direct to th e ma in th e idea of rac ing a sem ifi na l in thi s was not ver y inte res ti ng ." T he next hea t, T yl er Eva ns pi ck ed up. Th e c ha ris ma t ic E v an s w as a c row d fa vo ri t e in Se vill e , a n d he pa ssed ea rly lead er Craig Anderson . sur pri sin g w inne r , as yo u ng A us trali an C hey ne B o yd , m a kin g hi s debut i n m aj o r su pe rcross , slipp ed and slid his way t o an easy victory, l e a d in g h om e f e ll o w K T M r ider La ngston an d Hurl e y 's t e amm at e St ev e Boni f a c e . Fo r t he yo u ng Aussie, it was all abo ut sur viva l. "I k ne w I had t o ge t th e sta rt, " Boyd sai d. " O nce I did t ha t , I j u st wanted t o rid e aro und at a sen sibl e Riders attempting to extract their motorcycles from the mud was an extremely common sight. pace an d not do anyth ing that m ight see m e o n the ground. I was able to do that - in fa ct, , was so ca reful, I did an extra lap ! It was rea lly difficult to k now wh at was goi ng on out the re." La ngsto n , in seco nd p lace, didn 't enjoy the sam e ride as h is yo unger te am mate. T he Sou th Africa n spen t a lot of time on the ground, and he was ha p p y wi th h is secon d -p la ce finish . T o t e ll th e t a l e of t h e diffi culties , L a n g s t on had , in fact , taken t h e q ui ckest lap of the rac e - a tim e of 12 J ANUA RY 7 . 2004' eye I On c e in th e l ead , t he T eam E C C Suzuki rider kept it co o l and c oaste d to vi ctory ahead of Mach 1 Yam aha 's Heath Vos s and loc al favorite Alva ro Lozano. "I k ept my head down and tried to rem ain fo c used ," E v ans sa id. " T h is was tou gh , although I k new if I co uld ge t to the front, I just had to ride a sl ow pa ce and no t get stu ck in the e n Ie vv S mud - o nce in th e re , you weren' t com ing out. " With th e tw o heat rac es run, D orn a and Clea r Cha nn el decided t ha t th e t ra ck was t oo di ffi c u lt an d c ut the program , leaving out th e t wo semi finals and giving the ri de rs in the last cha n ce q u ali fi er six places into the final. T wo of the big names were left " t o p o n d er th e last-c h anc e ra ce , as Ern esto Fons e c a" a n d Mik e Brown both m issed out in their heat races . F on se ca DNF' d hi s he at with bike trouble , and Brown struggled hi s way to ei ghth place in his heat. Br own w ould go th ro ugh in the last-chan ce , taking the win , although F o n sec a wo uld once aga in sco re a DNF with a badly smoking Hon da. "Not sure what it is," Fonsec a said. "It's terrib le out there ; yo u j ust don 't have a c hanc e. I tried to fi nd so me dry lines, or at least something th at was a little d ry . I' ve nev er ridden in anythi ng li k e this before - at least not in supercross." By th e time the riders arrived for t he m ain , it was o bvio us that anyone in th e fiel d co uld have co me up with the win . It was n't abo ut form, or thei r place o n the 2003 cha mpionship lad der; it was about surv ival, and everyo ne k new wha t to expect. As th e ri ders b las te d o ut of th e muddy start gate, Langston rek in dled hi s rel ati o n shi p w i t h th e m ud . Th e former Worl d Ch am p io n went headfirst in to the ground as he tipped over ju st 100 ya rds fro m the sta rt .