Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THO W o r ld Supercross GP/THO AMA S u p e rcr oss S erie s My 5 OWN RACE: Mike LaRocco 250cc 3rd With a bad start, Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's laRocco always ends up in the to p five . With a good start... "It's definitely what you've got to do these days: get a good start," he sa id. "I've given a lot of races away because of my poo r starting. but tonight it went all right. I got up t here enough to be in the race, and I had a lot more fun." He battled it out w ith Reed (or second after Reed fell. '" made a mistake over there, and he got inside me , and I just tho ught I'd do what I could to try to get him back ." 20 Damon Huffman 4th Huffman was looking a lot like th e Huffdaddy of old. Last week, he was running fifth when he fell over. " Believe me , I tho ught about the tipover I d id last week when I was out there , and I wasn't going to allow myself to tip over like that again," the MotoXXX rider said . "1have a two-point lead in the World points now. From the ge t-go. that's been one of my goa ls along w ith th e top privateer thing. but I think what I was really focu sing on this year was getting back into the top five and ge tt ing o n the podi um. I mean, I can't wait to go back East . The tra cks back there are usually really good with better d irt and in the domes." 12 David Vuillemin 5th Yamaha's star Frenchma n d idn't have a great night, but he still finished inside the top five. "T he night did not go very good fo r me . My bike was running great, but I had tr ou ble be ing comfortable o n the slick surface ," he said. "In the ma in event, I d id not have a great jump out of the gate. I passe d a co uple o f guys in the first lap , and I was fifth at the first lap, It did not change for 20 laps. Huffman go t fourt h and rod e a very co nsistent race . I was not fast enough to pass him, just enough to follow. My speed was o ff this weekend , and [I] loo k forward to San Francisco to redeem myse lf. I have to go to work." 26 Michael Byrne 6th C hevy Trucks Kawasaki's Aussie 2S0c c pilot loo ked to have the holes hot. "I thoug ht I had th e hoies hot go ing in the re , and Anderson came in fro m t he outsi de and tried to fit where there was no more room," he said. "It stood me up, and th en Kevin went by us both. It kind of jacked me up th e re . I was com ing th ro ugh , an d I passe d Tige r Lacey, and then I do n't know why, but he go t all excited and jumped into the side o f me and took me down after the co mbinat io n section. I go t up again and tried to put solid laps in. I kind of came fro m the back , and we kep t picking o ff people - Langston wen t o ff the track and pretty much made it easy fo r us there. But w e were catching up to David [Vuillemin] and Huffman, fo r sure. It's o kay o n pape r, but it's not w hat I want ." 11 Ezra Lusk 7th Mach I Yamaha's Lusk moved forward fro m be hind admirably, conside ring th e co nditions. "That split start - I th ink it was a good idea, but I kind of got the short end of th e stick ," he said. "I go t a bad st art on the left side and just go t shut ou t . I think it wa s good - the track was really slick, and it was re ally hard to make up time . On ce I caught up to Byrner, I rea lly co uldn' t make any more ground , and I was watchi ng all t he guys in fro nt of us, and we were cat ching 'em. I think I got to a po int wh e re I stopped hanging it out th at little bit - abo ut tha t half a sec o nd th at I needed - and I just kind of sta rted th inking, 'Ali right, let' s just try to get a ma in even t unde r o ur be lt,' which kind o f sucks ." 8 Grant Langston 8th Langsto n was runn ing fifth wh en he went off the trac k. "I got kicked , and I endoed o n o ne of the last o nes , and I kind of rolied up the be rm , and as t he rear w heel d ropped , I hit the bra kes , and th e back en d slid th e wrong way, and it kind of po inted me in th e w ro ng d irec t io n, so I went over th e be rm, and I had to turn around and go back around the be rm," th e Red Buli KTM star said. "I kind of saved it, but I st ill lo st three po sitions." He hung on for eighth. 16 FEBRUARY 11, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 74 Er ick Va lle jo 9th For the sec o nd week in a row, Star Racing's Erick Vallejo was o n fire , finishing inside the top 10. "T hings have be en going realiy good," he said. "I seriously don't know what it is. My gate pick was pretty bad , but I was stili able to get on the inside. Th at's ali I wan ted because my jumps o ut of the gate are realiy good. I go t a pre tty good jump , and I aJmost got st uck th e re , and I railed th e berm, and next thing you know, I'm in the to p five o ff the start. The next thing you know, I'm pulling away fro m peo ple. T he last cou ple laps, I got a little bit tired, but I still got a top-10, whic h is my goal. I just wan t to keep it going." 28 Heath Voss II th Mach I Yamaha 's Vo ss is ma king inroads o n his yz4S0F with testing. "I had a gre at race ," he sa id. "I w ent into th e first turn in the main, and I think I was second - I was just behind Reed - and coming into that seco nd turn , m e and laRocco hit, and I fell over on a Tuff Block. That turn was rea l tight , and I fe li over, but I kep t the bike running. But I started 20th , and I think 1passed everybody besides Evans up to I Ith oAnd going through the whoops, Tiger Lacey looped ou t, and I did everything I cou ld to m iss him, and I ran right ove r his leg. I felt real bad. I hop e he 's okay." 36 Se an Hambl in 12th After getting run over in his heat race, Hamblin was feeling it in the main. "I'm definitely not 100 pe rcent - I definite ly cou ldn't ride the main eve nt to w hat I practiced at and fe lt in practice," the Suzuki ride r said. "I felt really good in practice, and in the hea t ra ce I felt tha t I cou ld 've been up there with Kevin and C had , W ith last week o ff, I had a little bit of time to think, and I thought this was going to be a rea ily good weekend. But you know, shit happens, and Anahe im was neve r very good to me , but no excuses, but I'm loo king fo rw ard to the East Co ast. From he re o n ou t, I ex pect to be noth ing but inside t he top five." 31 Keith R. Johnson 13th Th e Star Racing 200 3 to p privateer has a plan to imp rove his starts - and he needs one. "I keep ge tting bad sta rt s o nce again, and t hey just aren't making tracks very d ifficult , so it makes it hard to pass once again if you get a bad start," he said. "Fo r next week, me and my me chanic have a be t th at if I get a bad sta rt , in th e hea t o r se mi, I have to rub Icy Hot on my balls, so we' ll see w hat hap pe ns. I try, I don 't know, ma n. I made up my mind. I wan t to ge t a good sta rt , and I think my bra in just goes blank. I need to figure it o ut mentally. I know I can do it ; I just have to put it together." 43 Ryan C lark 14th Team Solita ire 's Clar k summed up his race q uickly. "Bad start, moved up pre tty goo d, had a litt le lapse in the midd le, and the n picked it up again at the e nd, " he said. "T he track was so ha rd to make up t ime on . It w as so slippery, I was more co ncerned w ith staying safe and making the triple s than ma king up t ime , Y u had to gamble to make up time , and I o just was n't into gam bling ton ight ." 58 Tyler Evans 20th Suzuki pr ivateer Tyler Evans has been having a to ugh go o f it late ly. He crash ed out of the main o n lap seve n and finished 20t h. He now sits 12th in AMA po ints and an incr easingly d ista nt third in th e World po ints . 4 0 t h A nniversary Briefly··· Team Yamaha's Ti m my Fe r ry sat out the round to he lp his w rist recover so me more. Sean Ham blin returned to action at Anaheim III , only to get run ove r in his heat and hurt his hand. "My lung and everythi ng's fine , just the new injuries now - my hand and both legs are hurti ng p re tty bad ," Ham blin said. "So meone ran ove r my hand . I got hit by, like, four people, but o h well. T hat 's part of th e game." He still finished the main, although a little off the pace . After not icing tha t Team Ho nda 's N a tha n Ramsey was ru nning a Cycra fro m num be rplate o n his C RF2S0R, similar to th e o nes that the AmsoiVCha parral Hon da team runs , at Anaheim III , we fo und out tha t its wraparou nd d esign reported ly helped hide so me so rt of st eering dam pe r. Kevin Windham is reportedly running the same piec e on his factory 450. T he te ilta le sign is tha t both bikes ' num berplates feature a significant spacer between the top of the numberplate and the to p triple clamp , where they bolt o n. After running Bridge sto ne tires at San Diego, to much success, there were no Mich e lin stickers on the facto ry Suzuki RMs. Mo toXXX's Ti m We igand 's thumb isn't as bad as previously thought, and he was able to race Anaheim Iii. "My [left] thumb's doing ail right," he said. "It qu its hurting after like o ne lap - it just hurts until your adrenaline gets going , and it just goes away." Speak ing of MotoXXX, they were spotted ta lking to Greg S ch nell afte r the San Diego main even t, but Schne ll was still pitted o ut of his own van at Angel Stad ium. "They were loo king for a ride r for t he East Coas t beca use a co uple of t heir guys are hurt , so o ne of th e guys men tio ned it to me , and I ta lked to them, but I'm in th e top lO on the Wes t , so I can't ride th e East ," Schnell said. "I guess, if you're not in the to p 10 , you can ride th e East. It seeme d like a good deal, but I was kind of wo rried about swit ching over just fo r some of my spon so rs. I don't want to burn any bridges or anything like that . But there 's nothing go ing o n no w. I guess they're go ing to hire a co uple othe r guys o r so me thing." There's been a lot o f spe culat io n abo ut so me special t ra nsmissio n pa rts in th e Pro Cir cuit Kawasak i KX250 Fs, but Mitch Pa yton says it's nothing new. "We've been ru nning so me o f those parts for t hree o r fou r years, and it's just now getting to a point where othe r team s wa nt them, too," Payton said. David Vuill emin ligh ten ed the mood during the o peni ng ce re mo nies w hen he looped o ut w hile trying to do a seat-s ta nding w hee lie during his introdu ct ion . He had performed a similar move last year d ur ing the Indianapo lis Supercr oss openi ng ceremo nies, excep t he went over th e ba rs , "I wan te d to do like W indham ," he said aft er the Indy main. '" wan te d to stay a long tim e sto pped, but it came over o n me

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