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/128306
Ans_e~ Iva n Tedesco surprised some with his wire-towire victory at the newly renamed Angel Field of Anaheim. He was barely challenged. Tedesco's tops as fourstrokes rule Anaheim STORY BY Scon ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN it h each new year, the first round of AMA THQ Supercross Series at Angel Stadium answers a lot of questions that swirl and linger from the start of silly season to the completion of the offseason. At Anaheim I, the green flag is supposed to drop, and the bullshit is supposed to stop. But did the series opener answe r the usual questions w ith more questions? And are some of those questions really w orth asking yet? It may be too early too tell, but , first and foremost, it sho uld be sta te d that Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco finished first and foremost , grabb ing the holes hot and officially leading all 15 laps of the main eve nt to net his se cond career 125cc Regional Supe rcross vict ory - the first coming last year at Pontiac. Michigan, in the Easte rn Region. Tedesco was not defeated all night, as he smoked to the w in in his heat race , then backed it up with a powerful pe rformance in the main. winning by 2.909 seconds. "Th is is my second win, and I think it feels better than t he first one that I got ," Ted esco said. "I know that I worked really hard for three months going int o t his season . Hopefully I can do it [w in] a couple mo re times this season . I know it's going to be a tough season . We have got a bunch of fast guys in there th is year. It shou ld be good ." Wh ich begs the first question: Is the sho rt of the goa l. " I didn't get such a great start," Ramsey said. "It was n't te rrible, but you get up in the mix, riding with a few riders... I loo ked up, and Ivan was go ne. He was like a whol e straightaway down through there. I thought. 'Th is is going to be tough.' By the time I got into third place . I looke d over, and he was so far ahead. I'll never give up, but there were thoughts that it was going to be to ugh to catch him beca use he was riding well allday, and I knew he had the speed. I just tried to work my way up and just be str ong for 15 laps. Maybe I shou ld have bumped it up a notch and been a little more aggressive in th e beginning, but that's just one of those things that you have to carry on to the next race and leam from it ." As if there is anything that either Ramsey or Roncada have yet to learn. each having Regional titles on the ir resumes already and eac h arguably far from journeyman status. "I can understand it [the cherry-picker sentiment ]. but my answer to tha t is that th e 12S class is getti ng more serious , and it is becom ing mo re and more like the 250 class," Ramsey said. "It' s a business, you know? Hond a is out ther e with all the oth e r brands, and they want to see the ir bike win and the sport to gro w. I don't think this is W 20 125cc class really a developmen ta l class? After all, the fast guys that Ted esco beat were neither pink-cheeked fres hmen nor the usual not-quite -ready-for-pr imetimesusp ects that make up a typical I25cc Regional field. Instead . Tedesco ran away from two former I2Scc Regional Super cross C ham pions - o ne of the m a 250cc Supercross winner on top of t hat - e n ro ute to the w in. Team Hond a's Nathan Ramsey came from behind and caught Pro Circu it Kawasaki 's Stephane Roncad a with an aggressive run through the seco nd w hoop section to take over second place on lap I0 before att empting to track dow n Tedesco . Ramsey cut the gap dow n from eight sec onds to just under three. but he cam e up JANUAR 14, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS Y Bobby Kiniry (53) got together with Travis Preston (be hind Kiniry) in the first tum, causing a pileup that also took down Chris Gosselaar (35), among others. Troy Adams (61) made it through, and he ended up fifth . 40th Anniversary