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/128339
. .. ' / > White Brothers World Four-Stroke MX Championship Serie s Final Round : Albany Motorsports Park Consistency Pays Off for Cavanaugh By CLAY LIGHT ALBANY, OR, JULY 24 C alifo rnian Josh Cavanaugh always seems to step up his performances at the bigger Northwest races, and this day was a big-league performance by the Honda ride r. At the final round of the four-round White Brothers Wor ld Four-Stroke MX Champ ionship Series, held at Albany Motorsports Par k, Cavanaugh used consistent 2-2 placings to net an overall win . W h ile C avanaug h, who a lso w on t he previous round at Washougal , did post strong performances during th e latt e r ha lf of th e ser ies, it was Washington's Jason McCormick who won the se r ies overall. McCormic k finished ahead of Cava naugh in the fin a l tabulations by a mere single point , earning the four-stro ke spe cialist from Vancouver his first major trtle in several years . Cavanaugh had som e tough competition in the two motes. as Ca lifornia's Shane Be ss and Washington's Ryan Abrigo we re also on hand . Bess and Abrigo sta yed in close quarters for muc h of the first moto before Abrigo pulled away. Abrigo en joyed a large advant age over Bess, although a spill on Abrigo 's part ended wh at would have bee n a superb moto finish for the Honda ride r. Th is allowed Bess to take the lead late in the moto, and he mainta ined it to the finish. Cavanaugh overcame a poor start in PHOTOS BY CLAY U GHT lapped up to fifth place, but then I stalled it and could n't get it started right away and Onished 13th." " I just showed up to have som e fun and get in some riding, " Bess said. " I haven't ri dden for five weeks afte r getting hurt, but I ended up winning [the moto), so that's a good thing." Bess took the lead in moto two, but Abrigo qu ickly worked his way past. Abrigo had Bess to deal with for seve ral laps, but Bess ' C RF began to blubber, allOWing Abrigo to slip away. Cavanaugh started near the tall end of the field in moto two bu t moved forward until he settled into second, but by then the Everen Powe rs ports/Fly-backed Abrigo had checked out. Abrigo 's advantage at the fin ish was around 20 seco nds , but the ove rall - and the accompanying $2000 payoff - went to Cavana ugh (2-2). "I just rode around a fe w guys and kept charging ," the Joh n Bur r Cycles/Troy leesponsored Cavanaugh said . "I'm used t o th is [103 -degrees) hea t , so I was actu ally gaining ground late in the race ." Bess nursed his Honda to third , and his 1-3 tally was good for second overall. McCormick (4· 4) completed the rostrum positions . "Yeah, I'm fee ling pretty goo d right now," McCormick said. " I had t hre e good ove rall finishe s and will get to run the number-one plate next year, so I'm jazzed," eN moto one to finish second. ahead of Oregon's Rory Sullivan, who forged through traffic to t ra il Cavanaugh at more 's end but to le ad McCormick, Washingto n's Travis Murphy, Mark Bun ke r, N ick Fo ist er, M ontana 's Cameron We ave r, Don Bisceglia an d J.R. Vielle, wh o com pleted the top 10. "I really felt goo d o ut the re ," a disappo inted Abr igo said. - I had chec ked out; I knew that Shane was getting tir ed or som ething, and o ut the re on his 1946 Harley-Davi dson WR (definitely the crowd 's favorite) . RESULTS O P EN SGL AM: I. Broc k Schwarz enbacher; 2. Richard Wasc hek; 3. Adam Zwaschka; 4. Tim Ronnen be rg; S. Dustin Feuerhammer. 250/400 A M: I. Brock Schwa rzen bacher; 2. A LBANY MOTORSPORTS PAR K ALBANY, O REGON R ESULTS: JU LY 24, 2004 (ROUN D 4 Of 4) 4·STRK PRE M P RO : I. Jo sh Cavanaugh (Han) ; 2. Shane Bess (Ha n); l . Jason McCormick (KTH ); 4. Travis Murphy (Hon ); S. Nick Foister (Hon); 6. RorySullivan (Hon ): 7. Ryan Abrigo (Hon ); B. Mark Bunker (Y am); 9. J.R. Vl@lle (Yam); 10. Cameron Wealler (Yam); I I. Terry Lee Hamoess (Hon) ; 12. Trev or Brooks (Yam); 13. De lfin Watson (Yam); 14. Bra nd o n Hine r (Ha n); IS. Do n Bisceglia (Ha n); 16. Jimmy laMastus (KTM); 17. Mike Hamnes s (Hon) ; 18. Kelly Hammer (Hon) . Io n St e ar ; 3 . Cod y Reifsnider ; 4 . T.J. Ze idler ; S. Michael Carlton . 50 0 AM : I. Brock Schw a rze nb ache r ; 2. Mar k Ze idler ; 3. Brad Se avers ; 4 . Rich ard wasc hek : S. Ada m Zwaschka. 505 PRO : I. Dan Mischler; 2. Brad Routheaux; l . Steve Kasten ; 4. Kyle Meiers ; 5. Eric Mischle r. VET AM: I. a iff Eckes Jr.; 2. Brad Seavers; 3. C hris Daniels ; 4. Richard Wasche k; S. Shannon Reime r. S/S R: I. Gerald Thrune; 2. Robert Kluend er; 3. CliffEckes Sr. Unad illa Amateu r Class ic Unadilla Valley Sports Center Ballard, Lang Rip Up the 655 By MATT WOZNEY NEW BERUN, NY, JULY 17 he Unadill Amateur Classic was held o nce a again t his yea r on the "Unadilla 2" track , w hich was creat ed by forme r Pro race r Doug Hen ry. The event was held under the threat of stro ng rain and thund ers torms. Friday's racing was a go despite the extre mely mudd y cond itio ns caused by the storms. T he track itse lf turned ou t to be t he nast iest Unadilla 2 track ever: The course was litte red w ith knee -high ruts an d ankle- high mud tha t st uck to any bike ou t there. Bike proble ms w e re co mmon t his weeken d a s a m ateurs figured o ut ways to get aro und the mud. Eve n T a deep down hill-and-uphill se ctio n was rop e d on due to th e inclement weather. Ride rs also had to mast er one of the to ughest par ts of t he t rac k - t he finish-li ne hill. W it h mu d dy con ditions all the way up an d de ep ru ts tha t were scattere d all ove r the hill, many riders had trouble getting up th e stee p incl ine in order to eve n finish the mot o. Neve rth eless, there were two you ng riders who kept the ir small 6Scc machi nes up o n to p of the mud and eventu ally swept the ir classes . The se 65cc riders we re KTM pilots Sean Ballard and Michae l Lang, who, just as eve ry other 65cc rider, couldn't ride on Friday d ue to the wea ther: but with the help of the Robinson family,the track Jason McCorm ick used consistent finishes th ro ugho ut th e fourround series to clinch th e cha m pio nsh ip in the Premie r Four-Stroke Pra cla ss . was groo me d and prepared for the 50cc and 65cc riders o n Saturday. Ball ard , w ho hails fr o m W hit ney Po int, Ne w Y rk, was the dom inant rider in t he 65cc o ( 7- 9 ) cl a ss a t Unad illa , a s he swe pt bo th m o t os for a I-I sco re . W ith st re ngt h and stamina, Ballard overcame the mud and stee p hills of Unadilla 2. Blaze Raible , wh o ca me all the way from Californ ia to rac e Unadilla, took a resp e ct ab le second ove ra ll w ith his 2-3 finishes . KTM rider Dylan Wo lfe rode we ll for thi rd ove rall in th e clas s w it h a 3-5 e ffo rt . KT M ride r Ryan Des pa w cam e ba c k str o ng w ith a sec ond -place finish in mot o two , and his 7-2 tally was good for fou rth o ve rall. Ro und ing ou t th e t op rive was Kawasaki jockey Aust in li ttler (8-4). As for 6Scc (10-1 I) year old class, lang took top hon ors at Unadilla, also wit h a I-I sweep . T his was one of Lang's to p rid e s in his sh ort career. Lang do mina ted in t he mud , and he stood atop the rest wh en the chec kers flew at th e e nd of his seco nd mo t o . Taking seco nd overall wa s KTM ride r Zachary l ang (3-2). Kawasaki rider Andrew Beck (2-3) too k the last step of the podium w ith th ird overall. Fourt h ove rall went t o Tyler Lo ud , w ho sc o re d www.cyclenews.cOm KTM rider Michael Long dominated the 6 Scc (10-11 ) class a t the Unadilla Amateur Classic in New Berlin, New York. CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 1, 2004 45