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/128323
Woods Tops Colorado WORCS M o nt clair Y amaha/ Zip-Ty Racing's Nathan Woods posted his th ird win of the Rocky Mounta in A1V-MXJWorld OffRoad C hamp ionsh ip Series in Ignacio , Colorado , on May 2. Woods got into the lead not too long afte r the start, and he and teammate Ty Davis would run togethe r for the rest of the race. Woods, however, neve r relinqu ished th e lead and went on to Lawson Wins, Rainey Runs Out Of Gas Eddie Lawson won the battle of 500cc Wor ld Champions when Wayne Rainey ran out of fuel a few laps from the end of the World SuperKart race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 2. Rainey was leading the race when he was forced out two laps from the end of the 30minute final. Lawson went on to drive his Sandy Rainey-tuned Yamaha TZ250-powered kart to an I 1.6 I6-second margin of V ictory. "My breather hose didn't have a check valve so fuel could just run out the breather," Rainey said of his Brian Turfree-tuned Yamaha TZ2S0 -powered kart . "Eddie [Lawson] was beh ind me . He could see it. He had fuel all over him. I led it for 16 of the 18 laps, then it ran out of gas," Ironically, Lawson was leading a race at Laguna Seca last October when his kart ran out of fue l, but for a different reason: His fuel line had come off. Despite not making it to the finish, Rainey take his second win in a ro w. Davis e nde d up seco nd, follow ed by Kawasaki Team Gree n's Destry Abbott. Fourth overall went to Russell Pearso n, who almost made it a on e -two-t hr ee finish for th e Mo ntclair Y amaha sq uad. Rounding ou t the top fove was Kawasaki Team Gr e en rider David Pearso n. Two -tim e WORCS winner Bobby Bonds had to play catchup all day afte r tang ling with ano ther ride r in th e first tum. Bonds ende d up sixth. Stacy Sm it h Goodwin May Go Free According to a report in the Orange County Register, former supercross promoter Mike Goodwin's defense team has filed a motion claiming that he has been illegally jailed for two years on double murder charges and sho uld be released from custody. The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled on April 23 that Orange County (Califo rnia) did not have jurisdiction to charge the 59-yearold Goodwin with the March, 1988, killings of auto-racing legend and former Goodwin partner Mickey Thompson and his wife, Trudy, and ordered the case dismissed. "What I am saying is that the court has determined that my client has already been Nathan Waods scored his second WORCS w in in a raw in Colorado. was credited with eighth place. Lawson averaged 87 .294 mph in winning the 18-lap race. By comparison, PierFrancesco Chiliaveraged 92.838 mph in winning race one of last July's World Superbike meeting. Rainey said part of the difference was the heat. Unseasonably warm temperatures hit all of California on Sunday with track temperatures in Monterey soaring to ISOdegrees. Lawson had qualified at 1:24.9, under the 1:2S.219that Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin turned to take last year's Superpole for the World Superbike race . In October, when the temperatures were cooler, Lawson qualified at 1:23.8. "Eddie goes through Rainey Curve nat out in sixth when the tires are new: ' Rainey said of the sweeping downhill left that bears his name. Superbikes take the corner off throttle in third gear. H e n ny Roy Abrams illegally detained for 28 months," Goodwin's lawye r, Jeffrey H. Friedman, told the Register. "Wh y should he be detained any longer?" In a report the follo wing day in the Register, April 28, Goodwi n's attomey's stated that he should be released from custody without bail wh ile Orange County prosecutors ponder their next step . The ruling on Goodwin's situation likelywon't come until June. Orange County Deputy District Attorney David Brent charged Goodwin with he Los Angeles County slayings in December, 200 I, contending that Goodwin orchestrated the killings from his Laguna Beach home. The appellate court has suggested that the proper jurisdiction for the Thompson murders is in Los Angeles County where the murders took place , but so far Los Angeles County has decl ined to file charges against Goodwin . Jorgensen Wins German MX GP Dane Bria n Jorgensen w o n the Ge rman Gra nd Prix in his return fra m in jury. On the hard and fast Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal, Germany, on May 2, Denmark 's Brian Jorgensen took the MXI class win in dominating fashion. The Martin Honda rider wen t I-I to lead home series leader L&M Yamaha's Stefan Eve rts , who posted 3-2 resu lts. Third place wen t to Yamaha's Ced ric Melott e, w ho went 2-5 o n the day. "I am rea lly excited abou t today," said Jorgensen, who was forced to skip the previous round with an injury. "I felt good all year, but I've had injuries, and now I'm feelinga little better. This is just the start, I can do this again." In the series points standings. Eve rts still leads with 218 po ints, followed by Me lolle with 188 points and KTM's Steve Ramon with 162 . Joel 5mets, on the Suzuki 4S0, ended up fourth overall with a 5-3. "I am happy today," 5mets said. "I rode well and was not making many mistakes. I am fighting fo r the podium. and I also know that if I can be up in this position then I am also capab le of going for the win. This is where I belong , and in my circumstances, with all these young guys like [Kevin] Strijbos, Ramon and Melo tt e also pushing hard . it has no t been "I said ea rly in the year I wa nted to w in," Sword said. "I am very happy to do that he re . It's been a fun day for me - to get a win and the overall, that's great, and the championship points :' Mota one w inner, KT M's easy. Today was my first race with the Suzuki on a hard track . and it was a new experience with the suspension, shoc ks and tires, so fo urth is pretty good: ' In the MX2 class, Kawasaki's Stephen Swo rd not only captured his first-ever Grand 14 MAY 12, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS Prix overall victo ry, but he also moved into the MX2 Champ io nship points lead. Sword went 3-1. topping his teammate Mickael Maschio, who finished second with 2-2, and Yamaha's Claudio Federici, w ho finished third with a 4-3. 40th An niversary Ben Townley was leading the second MX2 mota until he crashed and DN F'd, causing him to lose the points lead . " I don't know what happened," Townley said. "I was riding so well and making no mistakes at all. I wasn't even on the limit, so I am disappointed. My body aches allover, but I guess tha t is part of the job : ' Geoff Meyer