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/128340
Henry and Ward Rule Copper Mountain. By BlAKE CONNER P HOTOS By RAy GUNDY e 20 04 AMA Supermoto C hampionship got under way in C op per Mou ntai n, Col orado, w ith a doubleheader t hat was part of t he second annual Suzuki CycleFest, and the weekend was dominated by Troy Lee Designs Honda team mates Doug Henry and JeffWard . Henry took the spoils on Saturday, with Ward stealing the win on Sunday, the two riders in a class of the ir own on a pair of absolutely perfect, warm and sunny summer mountain days. Both riders dominated their heat races each day, and on Saturday the pair battled it out in the Superpole competition, with Ward getting the pole on Saturd ay. On Sunday, however, it was German Red Bull KTM ace Jurgen Kunzel topping t he Superpole event. Saturday's main eve nt was all Henry, the former moto cros s National Champion leading w ire to wire, but on Sunday his luck ran out, as he had a clutch fail ure. "I got a pre tty good sta rt ," Hen ry said. "War dy Ueff Ward) and I came out pretty even, but I was able to get th rough the first turn first. I just t ried to get a good pace going, tried to keep everyone be hind me , focus on w hat was in front of me. I started fee ling real ly co mfort able , and t hen abo ut halfway th ro ugh I sta rt ed hav- T 12 ing some fro nt- bra ke prob lems , and I was trying to adjust the brake - I almost we nt off of th e tra ck a couple of times ." With Henry's bad luck on Sunday, Ward got a gift in the form of a victory. The mo tocros s! supercross legend inhe rited the le ad, although unbeknownst to him, to ta ke Sunday 's Supermoto final. "It was a good race," Ward said. "[Alexandre) Thiebault was leading Doug [Henry) and I, and he was holding us up, kind of. When Doug got by, I t hought: 'I've got to go,' and I just cou ldn't get by him. I made some mistakes trying to pass him [Thiebault], and Doug just gapped us. Once I got into second... I wasn't going to catch Doug, at t he pace he runs, unless he made a mistake. Unfortu nately, his bike broke. I didn't know I was leading until half a lap after the checkered flag, w hen peop le were cheering, w hich was pretty loud for a seco nd-place guy [laughs]. I was looking for Doug and I didn't see him. It was unfortunate, because we have a strong team ." SUPERMOTO RACE ONE He nry may have won t he race , but it was- SEPTEMBER 8, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS n't easy, w ith Ward putting substantial pressure on the Connecticut native as the two former motocross stars battled throug hout the e nt ire 22. lap rac e. German Supermoto ace Kunzel was the only rider that came remotely close to hanging with the Troy Lee Designs duo on his Red Bull KTM, but he just wasn't able to match their speed as the race wore on . He finished a lon e ly th ird. Ward 's pole position did him litt le good off of the sta rt , as it put him on the outside as they approached turn one, and that's exactl y w here Henry made his move . "I had t he holeshot, but the pole pos ition tha t they had me in isn't the best pos ition ," Ward said. "If you get off [the line] even, t he n yo u are n't on the inside w hen you ge t to t he next corn er, so he got me th e re , wh ich hu rt me ." At the end of lap one, it was Hen ry; 40th Anniversary Ward; Kunzel; anothe r Troy Lee teammate, 17-year-old Chris Fillmore; Red Bull KTM's Kurt Nicoll; Thiebault, on t he CHM Ho nda; American Supercamp White Brothers Honda's Steve Drew; and Mike Metzger, on his Honda CRF450. By lap four, th e to p th ree - Henry, Ward and Kunze; - were already checking out on the field , leaving th e rest to fight for t he scraps as t hey stormed off into th e distance . The rider on th e move was Nicoll, w ho moved around Fillmore on lap six and set his Sights on Kunzel - only to cras h a few laps later. "I was running pretty good, but I crashed out on the off-ro ad part," Nicoll said. '" just rode too hard aroun d t he lefthand e r, t he dirt -t rac k co rn e r. Bot h w heels gave o ut , and I slid out sidew ays. I be nt the clutc h, it was jammed in, ; got the bike going, and then I co uldn't get the