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/128337
ROUND 5 RJ MOTORSPORTS PARK BARRIE, ONTARIO, CANADA JULY 30, 2004 There was a big smile on American John Dowd's face when he first saw the RJ Motorsports' track and its deep sand, similar to that of his home track at Southwick. Dowd , on the OTSFF Motorsports Suzuki RM2S0, looked great in the qualifying rounds on Saturday, handily beating Roy and looking like he might snap Roy's win streak in the Barrie sand . Unlike Dowd, Roy looked a little uncomfortable in the deep, sandy corners on Saturday, but the champ made some changes at the end of the day that would help him on Sunday. Unfortunately, on race day the highly anticipated Dowd vs. Roy shootout never materialized after Dowd suffered a big crash during practice. "The bike just quit while I was going up the face of the jump ," said a bruised and battered Dowd as he slowly walked back to his team's trailer. "We have to get the bike back to the trailer and figure out what went wrong." To everyone's surp rise, Dowd limped to the start of the first rnoto, but it was obvious that he wasn't up to peak race form . When the gate dropped for moto one, it was Canadian Marco Dube grabbing the holeshot on his CRF450R. Dowd settled in behind Dube, with Roy to his left and Huffman to his right. After the first few turns, Dowd was in front , with Roy and Huffman giving chase. Dowd, however, couldn't hold the lead for long, as Roy moved into the lead and then Huffman moved into second. The three leaders quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field, with Roy holding a commanding lead . Roy would go on to win, while Huffman took second, followed by Dowd, Klatt and Blair Morgan. Dube, once again, grabbed the howevl!r, aijyantage 0 an outside line anff movect into the lead after the first couple of turns, Richmond Kaw3¥ki riders Laughridge and Colton Facciotti settled in behind Roy, as Dowd moved past Dube and into the fourth position. While Roy continued to dominate out front, Huffman was on the move. After getting by Dowd, he set his sights on the Richmond boys and was soon in second. Dowd followed suit by getting around both Facciotti and Laughridge. "I'm really happy with my results today," winner Roy said. "Things couldn't have gone better." Barrie was the debut of the I25cc Pro East class. While the Blackfoot Honda team dominated the West, never losing a moto, it appeared that the Richmond Kawasaki team was going to have something to say about that in the East, as McGourty and Gracyk were on fire over the weekend. McGourty rode so hard in first place in moto one, however, that he destroyed his clutch and any hopes he had of an overall, limping across the line in 12th. Gracyk, who took top honors in moto one, finished third in moto two, which was enough to give him the overall and put an end to Blackfoot's 12Scc win streak. Everyone in the crowd was asking, "W ho 's number 7041" It was South Carolina's Jim Neese, who ended up finishing second overall on the Coors Light/ Blair Racing Suzuki. The top-finishing Canadian was third -place finisher Doug De Haan . McGourty and Chuck Mesley rounded out the top five. ROUND 4 REGINA REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CAlolADA JULY 21, 2004 It was pretty apparent that the highest points in Saskatchewan, Canada, were the jumps at the Regina MX track, but that was just fine for Roy, who dominated again on this supercross-style track. Roy darted to the front of the pack in both rnotos, and he went on to prove that he is nearly impossible to beat if he gets good starts. The Honda rider won both motos relatively easily. Huffman, who was still struggling a bit with sore ribs that he injured earlier in the ors. the series, "It took a while to get over the rib injury, and I'm [ust now feeling 100 percent," Huffrfian said after the first moto, where he seemed to keep pace with Roy but just a few seconds back. Dowd took third-place honors with 4-3 moto finishes. Dube and Laughridge rounded out the top five, respectively. It was a respectable finish for Laughridge, who has been filling in for the injured Darcy Lange on the Kawasaki team. The story of the weekend was the race for the 12Scc Pro Championship, which, after a short four rounds, was wrapping things up in Regina. Klatt, who was slated at the beginning of the season to ride the 250cc class but was forced back down due to injuries, was just six points ahead of American Ryan Morais going into Regina. After moto one, Klatt was only three points ahead, as Morais took advantage of a mistake by Klatt to open about a 20second gap. Klatt turned some fast laps to close the gap, but when the checkered flag came out, Klatt was five seconds short of the winner. With the title on the line, Klatt saved his best for the last, passing American Jeff No(throp right off the start and going on to win easily and take the I 25cc West title . "Congratulations are in order for both Dusty and Ryan, as they both proved that their physical and mental conditioning were there throughout the whole series," said team owner Jason Mitchell. "Both riders rode as champions every lap. I sincerely wish they both could have won." ROUND 3 BLACKfOOT PARK CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA JUNE 27,2004 After winning the first two round, Roy remained perfect in Calgary - but he had to work for it. Suzuki-mounted John Dowd put up yet another consistent weekend, finishing 3-3 for second overall. In the first moto, Klatt took the holeshot, ahead of Gracyk and Roy. Gracyk soon felt the heat by Roy, who eventually passed Gracyk for second place . There, Roy went after Klatt, while Dowd attacked Gracyk for third , e about halfway through Roy said. Klatt had plenty of room to spare over Oowd to finish up in second. Gracyk finished fourth, ahead of Laughridge. Gracyk grabbed the holeshot in moto two, while Roy was stuck back in the pack, around 10th. Roy, however, always seems to ride better when he's behind, and he quickly made his way to fifth place before the end of lap one. Up front , a battle developed between Gracyk and Dowd for the lead, while De Haan, Dube and Roy made up the top five. Laughridge, who was running well for a while, suddenly dropped back with mechanical problems. He would eventually finish 22nd . Meanwhile, the fight for the lead turned in Dowd's favor. He took the lead from Gracyk but soon had the pesky Roy breathing down his neck. Dowd tried holding off the fast Canadian but didn't have much success. Roy got by after a couple of laps and went on to take the win and the overall. Also on the move was Roy's teammate Huffman, who began his charge up from fifth place. Huffman worked his way into third and then reeled in second-placed Dowd. Huffman went to work on Dowd and eventually passed him for second place. ':All day long, I had to ride from behind," Huffman said. "I went down in moto one before the tunnel, and I felt I had a better start in moto two, but I went into the first turn way too wide. I'm hungry for a win ." Finishing fourth in the moto, behind Dowd, was fellow American Craig Decker, on the Coors Light Suzuki RM250, while Canadian Doug DeHann rounded out the top five. eN CANADIAN NATiONAL 250« MX SERIESPOINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 8 rounds): I. Jean -Sebastien Roy (276); 2. Damon Huffman (241); J. John Dowd (222); 4. Craig Decker ( 180); 5. Keith Johnson (150); 6. Marco tt Dube (149); 7. 81~, M",gan ( 148); 8. Dusty Kla ( 147); 9. Brad Hagseth (126); 10. Doug De Hun (123). CANADIAN NATIONAL 125CC MX SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 4 rounds): I. Donnie McGourt)' (84); 2. Doug De Haan (82); l. Gavin Gracyk (80); 4 . Jim Nee se (73); 5. Chuck Mes 1ey (55); 6. Ryan Lockhart (S4); 7. Mike Tr-eadwell (4-4); 8 . Shane Lusk (43); 9 . Simon Homans (4 1); 10. Justin Thompson (39). Left: Damon HuHman (2) is currently second in paints with two rounds to go. Center: The 125cc West Series finished up at round four. Right: Dusty Klatt won the 125cc West title. CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 18, 2004 41