Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

· _. _. - -"l ~_. MOTOCR.~~~ _.. __ Round 2 I iiiii E Canadian National MX Championship Series STORY AND PHOTO BY STACY SMITH th all of the Americans moving up to C an ad a for the National Series, it was inevitably go ing to happen: a face -off between Champion Jean-Sebastian Roy and the visitingAmericans. And round two of the Canadian National MX Series in Mission, British Columb ia, was a tr ue battle between American john Dowd and threetime Canadian National Champion Roy . In the first moto the battle didn't begin until Roy was able to catch up to Dowd . Dowd grabbed the holeshot , while Roy was buried in midpack. Dowd quickly proceeded to open up a lead on secondplace Craig Decker, but more importa ntly he put a lot of ground between himself and the hard-charging Roy who, after the , first few laps, was now in third place. "I've been working hard, and I'm in good shape; the sand track here is a bit of an advantage for me," Roy said. "My per- W sonal track is a sand trac k as well." Roy's charge put him past Decker quickly and left only one target in front of him - Dowd . Charging thro ugh the deep whoops, Roy methodically set up a pass and made his move past Dowd and into the lead. Norm ally that would mean Roy would pull away and win by a huge margin. However, Dowd was hanging tough and refused to let the Canadian out of his sights and, at one point, closed the gap to within a few feet . Roy hung tough, though, and Dowd had to sett led for second position, w ith Decker following in third, Keith johnson fourth and Damon Huffman in fifth. "Not bad - jSR [Roy] is riding really good ... no o ne else was even close ," said Dowd of Roy's inspired ride to the front . While winning was becoming a habit for Roy, grabbing a holeshot has proven to be his wea kness so far this season, and Roy still couldn't quite get it in the second rnoto . While it looked like he had the holeshot, the official call went to Pacific Yamaha's Brad Hagseth . Then , after the first turn, Roy moved into the lead and was gone . Chuck Mesley, always a consistent rider. circulated the course in second place, while Dowd followed in third and waited for Mesley to fade. It didn't take long for Dow d to move into the second position, but catching Roy proved to be impossible, and Roy cruised the rest of the moto for the win. "I'll try again in Calgary," Dowd said of his final 2-2 tally. Third place overall belonged to Decke r with his 3-3 moto scores , while Huffman finished fourth, with Johnson in fifth. With his I-I , Roy still holds his perfect 100 points in the race for the championship. Decker moved into second in points with 80, just six points ahead of Dowd . The serie s moves to Calgary next weekend before a three-week break in ww cyclenews.corr. July And the expected return of Darcy . Lange in Regina, Saskatchewan , on July 18 should make the race for the champieN onship even more interest ing. MISSION RACEWAY MISSION, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA RESULTS: JUNE 20, 2004 (ROUND 2 OF 8) 250 MOTO I : I . Jean Sebastian Roy (Hon); 2. John Dowd (5U 3. Craig Decker (Suz); 4. Damon Huffman 2); (Hon); S. Keith John son (Hon ); 6. Chu ck Mesley (KTM); 7. Doug De Haan (Yam): 8. Ryan Loc khart (Yam); 9. Simon Homans (Yam); 10. Marco Dube (Hon); 11. Mike Trea dwe ll (Hon ); 12. Brad Hagse th (Yam); 13. Blair Morgan (Yam); 14. leighton Ullie (Hon); 15. Howie Spencer (Suz). 250 MOTO 2: I . Jean Sebastian Roy (Hon): 1. John Dowd (502); 3. Craig Decker (502); 4. Keith Johnson (Hon); 5. Damon Huffman (Hon); 6. Doug De Haan (Yam); 7. Mike Treadwell (Hoo ); 8. Blair Mo rgan (Yam); 9 . Bra d Hagseth (Yam); 10. Simon Ho man s (yam) ; I I . leighton Lillie (Hon); 12. Ryan Lockhart (Yam); 13. Julian Cerny (Yam); 14, Marco Dube (Hon); 15. Nick Fo iste r (Yam). 250 O/k I. Jean Sebast ian Roy (Ho n); 2. John Dowd (Suz); 3. Craig Decker (Sur) ; 4. Keith Joh nson (Hon ); S. Damon Huffman (He n): 6. Doug De Haan (Yam); 7. Mike Treadwell (Hen): 8. Simone Ho man s (Yam); 9 . Ryan l ockhart (Yam); 10. Blair Morgan (Yam); II . Brad Hagseth (Yam); 12. Marco Dube (Hen) ; 13. Leighton Ullie (Hon) ; 14. Chuck Mes ley (KTM); 15. Nick Fo ister (Yam). CYCLE NEWS • JULY 14,2004 55

• Cover