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/128335
Kev in W indham went 3 -3 fo r thi rd overall. much fo r the rest of the day. "T his t rack is kind of hard to pass on ," Carmichael said of the pass, "so I had to make somewhat of an aggressive move on him [Windham]. There's a fine line of be ing aggressive and not be ing overly aggressive . In the first moto, W indham just could n't get things going at first. as he qu ickly dropped bac k to fourth , beh ind Carmich ae l, Reed , and Honda's Emesto Fonseca, and he w as some 17 seconds behind the leader, Car michael , after just a cou ple of laps . He d id, how ever, get back by Fonseca later on , but by th at time he was way too far behind Reed to mount a charge to the front and ended up just cruising in third the rest of the way. Windham again found himself way back in third early in the seco nd rnoto , but t his time he started to make noise by slowly catching Reed . At one po int , Windham was about 15 seconds beh ind Reed but chopped that down to about five seconds with plenty of time left in the race. But Windham just could not break that five-second barrier and had to settle for another third. " He [Windham] kept me hon est the whole t ime ," Reed said. "I wanted to put as much pressure on Chad as I could," Windham said. "I saw Of Briefly... According to team manager Paul Lindsey, the MotoworidRacing,com/Suzuki team has all but firmed things up with Suzuki for the 200S season . Once again, it appears that the team will be Suzuki-mounted , but the team has not committed with any rider yet . "There are four ope n spots," Lindsey said. The team , however, has bee n talking with Chris Gosselaar and Eric Sorby, and is stillconsidering re-signing Steve Boniface. Speaking of the MotoworldRacing.com team , Lindsey added that they came d ose to signing Jeremy McGrath to race selected Supercross rounds in 2005. McGrath, who is already "employed" by the Honda factory, mainlyas a test rider, will most likely remain with them aboard a "works" Honda in selected SX races. "We offered him everything he wanted , but it looks as though he'll stay with Honda ," Lindseysaid. "But our offer is still there if he wants it." Daryl Hurley will fin ish out the AMA Nationals and then return home to Australia. Hurley signed a lucrative three-year contract with Suzuki to compete in the Australian Supercross and NationalSeries, while Jay Marmont , the current Australian Supercross Champion, willleave Australia to race in the United States. Marmont will join Nathan Ramseyand Josh Hansen on the Red Bull KTM team . Marmont also rides for KTM in Australia. Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, has, or is about to, send an invitation to James Stewart to participate in the South Africanround of the World MX GP Series in September, two wee ks after the final round of the AHA National MX Series. Apparently Stewart hasn't actually received the invite yet, but between the GP's promoter and former World and National Motocross Champion Greg Albertyn, who hails from South Africa, the invite is definitely in the works . " It' s true ," said Stewart 's agent, TonyGardea. The GP, however, is the same weekend as Kawasaki's dealer meeting, which he is currently scheduled to atte nd. caught up to him real quick, but then , wh en he gets behind me , he follows me . It's not a probl em , but it's my fault for getting a bad start." Things weren't all th at mu ch d ifferent in the second moto, although C ar mich ael did get a better start. After the first turn, Carmichae l was in the lead, and Reed was again holding down second . Just like the first moto, Ree d hung with Carmichael for a few laps but then started losing his grip on the Honda ride r. By the fourt h lap, Reed was four seconds back, then six, eight, I I, and then about 12 seconds by the halfway point. Reed just didn't qu ite have an answer fo r Carmichae l on this day. Even tho ugh the Kenwo rthy's t rack is often com pared to a supercros s trac k, Ca rm ichae l - and Reed - had different feelings abo ut that . "It really isn't [supercross ], it's st ill ou tdoors and really fast ," Carmichael said . "Y eah, it has jumps, [but] everybody knows how to jump," Reed said. ''I'm no t even on the same bike that I ride in supercross. It's completely different; the ruts are really gnarly and the speeds are high, so , other than the jum ps, it 's not 'supe rcross-ee ' that much." Kevin Windham took a somewhat quiet th ird overall on the day. Afte r getting rudely sent bac k to third place by Carmichae l just a few turns into the first moto, the Amsoi lLJChaparral/Ho nd a team rider st ayed in that posit ion pretty Pro Circuit team owner Mitch Payton confirmed that both Stephane Roneada and Grant Langston have inked deals with the Pro CirCUit/Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki team . Roncada, who will remain with the team for another two years, did not compete at Kenworthy'S. According to Payton, Roncada injured his knee at the previous round and neede d to sit out the Kenwort hy's race to get ready for next week's National at Washougal, Washington. "He'll be ready next week ," Payton said. Team Suzuki's Branden Jesse man had a frustrating weekend at Troy. Competing in the I25cc class, Jesseman suffered a mechanical-related ONF in his morning's qualifier and was forced to advance through the LCQ. In the National first moto , his RM-Z250 overheated forcing him to take another ONF. Jesseman did, however, make it through the second moto , where he finished I I th for 17th overall. The sixth annuaf "Surfercross" will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, August 3--4, at Starwest Cycle Park in Perris, California, and Trail 6 in San Onofre , California. Topshelf surfers such as Sunny Garcia and Kalani Robb willcompete with pro motocross racers including Ernesto Fonseca and Michael Continued on page 33 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • AUG UST 4,2004 31