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/128312
THO AMA 12Scc Eastern RegIonal Supercross Series Keith R. Johnson had a get-off in his sem i and ended up not qualifying for the main for the first time this year. "Well, I crashed on my left side in practice, and it' s all bru ised and battered, so my right side was feeling a little bit left out, and so I came up sho rt on a jump and was riding my front wheel with no feet on the pegs , and I pretty much had to hit the eject button and try to find a haybale,' Johnson said, "It' s funny, because in the semi when I crashed, the haybale actually saved my life. But when I crashed in practic e, it' s because I landed on a haybale. So if you're going to land on a haybale, let this be a lesso n to you : They help you when you're not on the bike . but they hurt you when you ore on the bike." James Stewart won his heat race stuck in third gear. "I almost jumped off the track and caught a haybale with my shifter and bent it back," Stewart said. "I was pumped that I saved it, but I didn't have a shifter. I don't think I've ever raced like that before." When asked in the press conference if he could've made the jumps in second gea r, he said, "C' mo n dude, you 're talking abo ut me . I'd jump it in first! It wou ld've been a litt le bit tough er; I would've just soaked up some of 'em [laughs}." he sto ry of the season so far o ut West was the dominance of the 25 0cc four-strokes in the I 25cc class. However, riding a KX 125, sometimes w ith o nly on e gear (see Brie fly...), James Stewart a bs olutely destroyed the 125cc Eas te rn Regio nal Supe rcross Series opener in Ho uston to score his 12th career 12Scc supercross victo ry - one short of yet another record o f 13, set by Jeremy Mc Grath in 1992. His 12th win actually ties him with Damo n Huffman, Brian Sw ink, Kevin Wind ham , Ricky Carmichael and Ernesto Fonseca for second on the list. "I just have always rode two-strokes my w hole life," Stewart said of his decisio n not to ra ce the KX250 F. " I just feel comfort able o n them and st uff, and I was kind of going back and fort h w ith the two -stroke and the four-stroke. I did n't really get as co mfortable as I wanted to o n the fou rstroke, so I just decide d to ride the twostroke. And for su re , with all the people on the Internet, I've got to keep the twostrokes go ing somehow. This is the first win of the year in the I25cc class on a twostroke, and it fee ls good. " T It wasn't only the first win , but the first Hepler on a Team Suzuki RM-Z250. He podium finish fo r a two-stroke - although was thrilled to essentially w in the "non- Pro C ircu it Kawasaki's Eric Sorby also Bubba" class . scored a po dium with a third on his "I can't ever remember beating him ," KX 125. Betwee n th e two Kawasaki mixed- said I7-ye ar-old Heple r of his amateur fuel bikes came im pre ssive rookie Broc career against Stew art . "He 's w on every- however, didn 't make too many fans in Texas when he said from the podium that "It' s very cold. It's better in Californ ia." Broc Hepler was lucky not to hurt himself in his heat race crash. "Three weeks ago , I separated my shoulder, and I haven't been riding much until last week," he said. ''And then I collided in the air with Josh Woods and fell right on it. It didn't feel very good, but I got right up and got moving again. Then I came out in the lastchance and got another good start and wo n it . So I got my confidence back up after hitting the dirt the re in the heat race ." 5teve Lamson says he has good equipment this year. "Facto ry Connection, it's pretty much the same as them," he said. "I bought a suspension kit, and they 're doing it, and Mitch [Payton from Pro Circuit} gave me the same stuff that they're runn ing. Mygoal is to do good here and carry that over into the outdoors." He finished fourth after starting way beh ind. (Above) James Stewart (259) went by Suzuki upstart Broc Hepler (60) on lap three of the 125cc main and just plain left. Hepler held on for a debut second place. (Right) Eric Sorby came through the pack for third on his two·stroke Kawi. 22 FEBRUARY 25 . 2004 • CYCLE NEWS Infamous for his passing (and blocking) techn iques , Eric Sorby says he 's over it . unless. "I don 't want any mo re tro uble," he said. "I want to be friends with everyone. I trained a lot this winter, so I'm ready, and I'm feeling pretty strong. I'm not going to do anymore block-passing , but if someone does , I'm going to do for sure ." Sorby, 40th Anniversaru