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/128308
Ivan Tedesco continued his pounding of the 125cc class with his third consecutive win. This time, however, he had to pass some people. By STEVE COX PHOTOS BY STEV E BRUHN ven though Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco took his third w in of the season at Anahei m II, one streak actually was bro ken. Co ming into t he eve nt, be lieve it or not, between ride rs Tede sc o and Ste p ha ne Ro nca da , the Pro C ircu it Kawasaki KX250 Fs had led every single lap of eve ry single race t hey had competed in, incl ud ing all four he at races at roun ds o ne an d two a nd bo th ma in eve nts. Although Roncada did his part to keep the streak alive in the fi rst heat Saturday night, Ted esco act ually lost his heat to Team Hond a's Nathan Ramsey. "In first practice I was feeling good , and the n in second practice I didn't fee l rea lly goo d," Tede sco said. "In my heat race , I just wasn't feeling it. Going into the main event I wasn't rea l confide nt, but actua lly I rode really good in the main. I was very sur prised ." It could be safe to say that some of his dou bters were surprised as we ll. "Everybody was saying that I cou ldn't win if I did n't get a good start , and I didn't get the greatest sta rt," Tedesco said. E Two Ho nda CRF250 Rs actually led the main eve nt off the start, with 2002 125cc Western Regional Supe rcross champ Travis Preston taking over the lead right away in the first set of whoops with Ramsey o n his ta il. Roncada and Tedesco sat third and fourt h, respectively. "Actua lly, I started to start in second gear - that's w hat I did different, " Preston said of his start. "Eve rybody starts in second , so every body was get ting me - when I'd go to shift to second , they we re shifting to third." Preston put some distance on the field in t he first cou ple of laps as Tedesco and the n Roncada worked their way around Ramsey. "I got stuck behind Nath an a litt le bit, and I strugg led to get past him," Roncada said. "That' s whe n Ivan made the move on me, and t hat's where I made a mistake right there at the beginning. And the n I kept playing catch-up with those guys." 16 JAN UARY 28.2004 • By the time Roncada made it arou nd Ramsey as Ramsey fell in a co rner, Tedesco was just beginning to pull up o n Preston . It loo ked like Roncada wa s actually the fastest of the bunch, if the least aggressive, as he was catch ing Tedesco as Hot Sauce was catching Prest o n. "I t hink that to night maybe my riding was a little bit too crystal-clean," Roncada said. "Maybe if I was a little more aggressive , I may have won it, but it was pretty clean o ut the re . It's goo d racing. I'm not going to go o ut and knock peo ple down if nobod y do es it to me ." The first time Tedesco made a run at Preston , o n the I It h lap, he did it heading into a section t hat was half shut dow n with flaggers blocking the track - and had been for many laps. "There were guys going down all over the place - in the whoops and in tha t big section," Ted esco said. "It was pretty crazy, and you just had to watch yourself. It CYCLE NEWS was pretty weird. It kind of sucked that the big tunnel-jump section was blocked off on the left, because t hat's where I was going, and one time I got next to Presto n and I forgot it was blocked off, and Roncada caught us a lot the re . Luckily, I didn't go down there, and I think I ended up gett ing him the next lap." Indeed, it too k until lap 12 fo r Tedesco to be close e nough to Preston to make a move, and by the n Ro ncada was right o n his tea mmate's tail. "Yeah, I got out in front, and I started riding kind of tight," Prest on said. "I started riding it like a 125 and just got a little tight, and then Ivan came up on me in the w hoo ps, and I didn't think Stephane was that close to Ivan, but Ste phane was glued to Ivan's back tire , and they bot h just went by me in one corner. "It fee ls pretty good. Every weekend's getti ng better and better, and Ivan rode a rea llystrong race, and Stephane was riding 40th Anniversaru well, and everyone got by me , and I was th inking, 'W hat am I doing? I need to pull myself toget he r.'" As Preston realigned himself and started pressuring Roncada, the Frenchman began to pro tect his lines , and Tedesco pulledaway. "I pulled myse lf together and got right on Step hane and made t he pass o n him, and that was t he end of the race," Preston said, as he finished less than two seco nds beh ind Tedes co . Roncada actually felt much better at Anaheim II t han he had all year. "I felt pretty good all day," Roncada said. "I've been kind of sick since the beginning of t he seaso n, and I'm bare ly getting over it, so today I felt a lot bett er than t he last two races, and I was kind of fi red up about