Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THQ World Suprcross GP/ THOIAMA Supercross S eries How They Got There 2 5[]r:r: Dualifying The best starters of the night were, no doub t. Damon Huffman and Craig Anderson, as both riders took full advantage of the short start chute. Anderson, on a Honda CR250R two stroke. led the pack into the first turn at the start of the first heat race and the first semi. while Huffman, on the CRF450R four-stroke, took the holeshot in the second heat and in the main eve nt. Both riders tran sferred in their respective semis. The undisputed highlight of the qualifiers was in the first heat . which that produced a classic batt le between two locals. Nick Wey and Mike laRocco . In the end, laRocco would hold off Wey's persiste nt and calculating atta ck, with both riders easily making it to the main, finishing sec- ond and third. respectively. laRocco 's teammate Kevin Windham cruised to victo ry. wh ile Heath Voss got a ticket to the main w ith a fourth-place finish. In the oth er heat race . Chad Reed's do minant performance foreshadowed what was to be an unsto ppable night for the YZ250 pilot. Team mate David Vuillemin made up for a not-so-great start by making quick work of Michae l Byrne. Ezra Lusk and Huffman to move into second . Nathan Ramsey had some problem s in the heats when he got corralled by a horse shoe -shaped conglomerate of Tuff Bloc ks, forc ing him to ride the semis. Reed. Vuillemin, Byrne and Huffman all transferred. As if Tyler Evans hadn't provided enough highlights with his spectacular o pe ning cere mon ies get-off. the Suzuki rider put on a te xtbook displayof power and finesse to take the win after passing leader Anderson in the whoops. Anderson held on to sec ond. while privateers Ryan Clark and Jason Thomas would round out the top four. with Suzuki factory rider Sean Hamblin over com ing some tough luck to finish fifth and earn a trip to the main event. The second sem i belonged to Huffman. who pulled another holeshot and dom inated the race . The best action came in a battle for second place between Joe O ehlhof and Andrew Short, which led to a spectacular get-off for Short . After passing O e hlhof in the whoops, Short clipped a TuffBlock. lost control of his bike and go t launched ove r a berm and high into the air. He came crashing back down on the concrete floor. Short . conscious and waving to the crowd . was carted off by Dr. Bod nar and the Aste risk Mobile Medical Unit. The initial prog nosis: a dislocated wrist and a sever ely bruise hee l. Meanwhile. Ramsey showed that he had good speed. easily finishing second behind Huffman. Ramsey was followed by a cons istent-r iding Isaiah Johnson and O e hlhof. Back from be ing injured at Atlanta, Keith Johnson managed to make the fifth and final transfer spot. Michigan Jimmy Wilson took the holeshot in the last-chance qualifier and led the 's whole way for the w in. Arenacross star Tommy Hoffmaster finished second . taking the last transfer o f the even ing. HEA I (8 laps, 1·4 transfer): I. K T evin Windham (Hon); 2. Mike L.aR.occo (Hon); 3. Nick Wey (Suz); 4. Heath yler E vans (Suz); 6. Eri k Vallejo (Yam); 7. Crai Anderson (Hon): 8. Ryan Clark (Y c g am); 9. Thomas Voss (Yam); S. T Hofmaster(Yam): 10. Jim Wils (Hon); II . Jas Thomas (Hon); 12. J my on on acob Martin (KTM); 13. Kyle l ewi s (Hon); 14. Sean Hamblin (Suz); IS. ClarkStiles (Hon); 16. Derek Leis t (Hon); 17. TedCampbell(Hon); 18. Steve Andrich (KTM); owning (Yam). 19. Tim Hawthorne (Hon); 20. William Br Race Time : 7 min., 2.69 sec . HEAT 1 (8 laps, 1--4 transfer): I. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. David Vuitlemin (Yam); 3. Michael Byrne (Kaw 4. Ezra ); Lusk (Yam); 5. Andrew Short(Suz); 6. Damon Huff man (Hon);7. IsaiahJohn!>on (Yam); B. JosephOehlhof (Hon); 9. Keith cero Reyes(KT 12. Dennis Ewing (Suz); 13. Bryan 'vVhite (Yam); M); R.Johnson (Yam); 10. Scott Men (Hon); I I . ReneTer 14. Timothy Hollenbeck (Yam); IS. Nathan Ramsey (Hon); 16. Barry Carsten (Suz); 17. Ricky Jurado (Yam); lB. David Ginolfi (Hon); 19. David Hill (Yam); 20. Brad ley Ripple (Suz). Race nme: 6 min., -19.05 sec. SEMI I (6 laps. 1-5 tra nsfer) : I. Tyter Evans(Suz); 2. CraigAnderson (Hon); 3. Ryan Clark (Y am); -1. Jason Thomas (Hon); 5. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 6. Jacob Martin (KT M); 7. Clark Stiles (Hon); 8. Derek L eist (Hon); 9. Steve Andrich (KTM); 10. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam); II. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 12. Erick Vallejo (Y am); 13. Jimmy Wilson (Hon); 14. Ted Campbell (Hon) ; IS. Tim Hawthorne (Hon ); 16. William Browning (Y am). Race TIme: 5 min., 27.04 sec. SEMI 2 (6 laps , 1·5 ' "," " e,), I. Damon Huffman (Hon ); 2. Nathan Ram.ey (Hon ); 3. Isaah J ohnson (Y ; 4. am) Jmeph Oehlhof (Hon); 5. Keith R. J ohnson (Yam) ; 6. Scott Mea (Hon); 7. Timoth Hollenbec k (Y ); 8. B ten (Suz); 10. Ted Campbell (Hon ); II. B

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