Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THO World Supercross GP/THO AMA S u p e r cro s s S eries T hat was it. Re e d w ent o n to wi n by a litt le over 12 seconds, w hile Wind ha m rode a ll alone in se co nd . "I just kind o f put m y he ad down and t rie d to charge for him , and by the t ime I got there , I was just kind of balled u p w ith an xiety and kind o f d idn't ride the way I wanted to," Wi ndha m sa id . "T his weekend w as a littl e bit le ss than stellar for me. T his w ee k just wasn't the best for riding, and it My 32 kind of showed. But C had rode great, he was strong at the end, an d I just t ight e ne d up ." Reed seems to th ink that t he raci ng w ill be much more acti o n- pac ke d in the future . " I believe the racing from now on will be more agg ressive," Reed said. ''After Kev in's inc ident , I t bln k everyo ne was kind o f ca re ful. And now that he got h is points bac k and things like t hat , it's probably one OWN RACE: Andrew Short 250cc Heath Voss 18th 5th Mach I Yamaha's lone ride r at Houston had his be st race of the season by far, desp ite getting V iolently illthe night be fore (see Briefly...) and forgetting to put his goggles on . "My mechanic co mes and hits me in the bac k o f the head and grabs my goggles off of my he lmet because I had my goggles sitting backwards on my helmet. and it's like fIVe seconds unt il the board is go ing Sideways, and I didn't realize my goggles weren't on ," Voss said. "That' s how out of it I am today. He hit me , and I put my goggles on, and the board went side ways." Voss got a bad start but worked his way through the fie ld for his flrst top -fjve. 3 Mike Brown NickWey 15th 6th Team Suzuki's Michigander wasn't happy with his performance in Ho usto n. '" go t a good sta n to night [th ird] , and it' s one o f my first chances to ra ce with those guys , but I was disappointed,,. Wey said. "I wish I could've run with the m. I knew I had the speed, but I feel apart a little bit ou t there. I'Ujust go home, rest up and get some motes in and come bac k nex t week sw inging." 36 Sean Hamblin 8th Team Suzuki's young 2SOcc pilot is still working on his race pace. "I got a decent start , but I fell into too many guys' pace, and that cost me q uite a few po sitions ," he said. '" th ink I should've been topfive tonight. I fell into the ir rhythms and pace , and I did n't get arou nd th em fast enough, and it cost me to night. I deserve what I got , and it's time to move o n to next weekend." Hamblin's been seeing a spo rts psych o logist to he lp him with his co nfidence and foc us. 12 David Vuillemin 4th Team Yama ha's Vuillemin has consis te ntly bee n one o f the four co nten de rs this year, and if not fo r a bad start , he wou ld've been right in there again in Reliant Stadium. 'I\ccually, 1got a okay sta rt, but Ryan Clark came fro m the inside and kind o f blocked everybody in t he second tum - he didn't turn inside - and I was in it. and I couldn't jump, and a lot of peo ple passed me ;' he said. "I got a bad sta rt , and it was tough for me to come back. I wasn't as fast as last week. 1just wish I sta n with the first bikes." 26 Michael Byrne 9th Ryan Clark 19th FEBRUA R 25,2004 • CYCLE NEWS Y 74 Erick Vallejo 12th 14th Subwa y Ho nda's Thomas mad e the ma in in his second race back after tearing his ACL ''I'm still struggling with my qualifiers, but I felt good in the main : ' said the still-injured rider. "It' s still a little bit tough with my knee, and I'm a bit scared of what it' s go ing to do , but it' s ge tti ng bener. I'm scared to hang it out, because if I crash, I'm scared w hat it's go ing to do. It's the little t hings in the back o f your mind that keep you fro m go ing for a rac e pac e . I t hou ght I was go ing to be o ut th e whole ye ar, and at least I'm back o ut the re a nd in the main eve nt. " 8 Grant Langston 20th Langston had a scary ge t-off in the main even t w hile run ning a so lid third , eodoing off o f the track onto the co ncrete . "Sometimes I get mad at myself because I make stu p id little mistakes that end up be ing costly," he said. " My rear wheel didn 't quite ge t in that rut on t hat jump , and when I took o ff, it threw me side ways . I panic-re w ed , and I tried to save it , but I coul dn't ge t on the brakes . , had too much momentum , and I just ro lled over the Tuff Blo x and jumped. I went ove r in the air. I guess I came from 10 or 12 feet down and just landed on the concrete. Pretty much the whole leh side of my body hurts - my shou lder, my elbow, my knee and my hip and my head. But noth ing's b ro ke n. I th ink someone upsta irs is on my side . I've had some pretty big crashes , and I'm able to walk away fro m it, so I guess tha t's the positive." 58 Tyler Evans I3th ECC Suzuki-backed privateer Evans w as ru nning seventh w hen And re w Short hit him. "Man, that 's the second time he's do ne that to us," he sa id . "He did that to us at Holland . I don't know. He 's got to lea rn to pick his place. If w as go ing to pass me , he could've waited . It seems to be , when I'm in eighth place, that's when it goes bad . But he y, it's better than last weekend. Each week, it's getti ng better. I've had a rough fo ur weeks , so hopefully I can ge t this crashing out o f my system. Ali i need is one b reak . I ca n't wait for just on e good start where nobody's taking me out." 15 25 Team Solitaire's Clark was off the pace in the 2SOcc main. After claiming a top -five in the 125cc ma in, he w as understa nd ably pooped. "Th is was pr o ba bly the worst weekend for me to pick to ride both classes, because I had a sore throat on Wednesday, and I didn' t feel too hot :' he said . "I 20 MAIN (20 laJK): I. Chad Reed (Y am); 2. Kevin Wind ham (Hon); 3. Mike LaRocco (Hon ); 4. David Vuillem in (Yarn); 5. Timmy Ferry I Ith Team Yamaha's Fe rry was icing his sore left wrist afte r the race. "Last night , we left the buck et of ice ou tside so it wouldn't mel t, " he said of the unseasonab ly co ld weather in the area . "I mean, II th place isn't tha t grea t for me , but it's better than be ing at home. I knew co ming in that I wouldn't be a ble to win or finish on the pod ium, but I was hoping to be arou nd the to p five . But it just wasn't possible. The main th ing is to ge t back to rac ing and ge t better each wee k." "I got not too bad of a start, like midpack, and the first half of the race was pretty good;' Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Byrne said. "I worked my way up, and th e n I was just fighting it the whole time . It finallygot to me abou t halfway thro ugh the main. I caught up to Nick [Wey], and he was in fourth, and I was in fifth , and I started rid ing t ight . I was too busy wo rrying abo ut eve ryo ne else 's race instead o f my own . Just because of t hat, it finallygot to me , and t hey finally got by me ." 43 R EUANT STADIUM HOUSTON, TEXAS RESULTS: FEBRUAR 14, 2004 Y (ROUND 9 Of 17/7 Of 16) Star Racing's Mexi-King w on his semi go ing away but tensed up a bit in the main. "My starts are great. I just go t th e ho leshot and won th e se mI. My ho metow n crowd w as her e fro m Mexico , and I put on a good show. I pulled awa y," he said. "It was great. In the main, I had a grea t start, and th at's where I wanted to be , but I just ten sed up. When I really ne ed to do so mething, I just ride too te nse . I just start thinking too much . I'm going to try hard er. I just ne ed to relax and no t even think about it . Wh e n I got tho se top-lOs . I d idn't even think. I just rode. I just pu t too much pressure on myse lf to do good in front of my familyand fans and stuff." 38 Jason Thomas Yama ha o f Troy's Bro w n had an ill YZ2S0 . It w as smoking all aro und the t rac k. "We 've had problems this week w ith the clutches," he said. "I'm go ing ou t, and in like fo ur laps, t he clutch es are burnt up. I do n't know. We've checked it befor e the races , and we co uldn't see anyt hing. but so me thing's not right. I've neve r had th is problem be fore." 27 "They're doing it right away an d early. I'm not ne cessarily doing it th at early. They're just d o ing it e a rl ier. I don't hav e th e full package. I do n' t have the e arly part of t he race dow n. I need to w o r k o n it." eN was unde r the weather. so I knew it would be tough . After riding IS laps in the 125 main, I had a stomachache, and I d idn't even know if I'd race or no t. I d idn't want to t hrow points away. and I ended up beating Langston, and I was battling with Short, but it wasn't my usual performance in tha t class. I feel like I'm a to p-10 guy in the 250cc class, but not when I'm riding bo th classes." Motowori d Racing.com Suzuki's sec o nd-year rider was ru nning inside the to p lO in his American 2SOcc debut w he n he ra n into Tyle r Evans - again. "Tyle r Evans. Me and him just seem to ge t together, and I se em to be the dumb o ne wh o 's makin g th e st upid mo ve , and ton ight I did that," he said. " I didn't mean it. But I've got to keep racing forward . He almost ran me over, but I guess that 's w hat I get fo r making a stup id mo ve ." 28 of t he biggest sit uations possible , an d he was given h is points ba ck , so I think t here really is no control on it." laRocco passed W e y for fourth early in t he race be fo re Langst o n had a serious crash o ff cours e , and he inh e rite d third . From t here, laRo cc o hu ng on for ye t a nother podi um finish . ''I'm just t ry ing to do w hat they [Re e d a nd W ind ham] are doing ," laRocco said . Nathan Ramsey 7th Team Hon da 's sole ride r is impressed with th e CRF450R since Windham 's been working on it . "T he bike is work ing good fro m w hat Kevin had going. and I just th ink I ne ed a littl e mo re time on it," he said . "My starts are bad , and pretty much eve ry time o n the st arting gate, I just w asn't quite dialed in. I knew it was 20 laps, and I just started picking guys off. Right at the end, I was on a couple guys, and it was realty clos e . With a couple more laps or som e be tt e r cho ices earl y, I cou ld've been in the top five fo r sure, even with a bad start." 40th A nniversary

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