Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

arou nd in fourth on the first lap," Drew said. "It was just a mean battle out there. Me and Nicoll went bac k and forth a little bit, and the n I th ink I was in sixth. But it was a long battle, because my ankle was re ally bothering me, but after yesterday, finishing 13th , we just need some points. So I just ro de a good race , got a good lead from the sixth-place guy, got home, got some good points, and we're ready to go on to Nashville." Just when it looked like He nry was going to run away .and crush the field for the seco nd day in a row, he suddenly stood it up and pulled off the track in tu rn two on lap 13 - his clutch completely toasted. ''At abou t halfway thro ugh, for a couple of laps, I sta rted fee ling it ," Henry said. "Then finally it just w ent - I mean it wou ldn't eve n go anymore, it just wo uldn't go." With Henry out, Ward decided he had to make his push for the lead after strug gling to pass Thiebault for much of the race . He quickly passed the French CH M rider over the tabletop jump and locked himself into the number-one position for the rest of the race. Thie bault wasn't abou t to give up a podium pos ition, and he held off the charging Kunzel, who had quietly worked his way into third . "My start was not so bad, but in the first corner I think I lost one place ," Kunzel said. "But then I ran off the tra ck a little bit, and I think that I was in eighth position or something. Then I did my best , so to come to the podium was really good . It was good for me when I saw Henry go out, and to get third position was rea lly good ." The top three stayed locked into their res pective positions from lap I3 to the finish of the 22-lap race . But th ings we re still interesting in the battles further back. Nicoll ran an exce llent race, easily kee ping the three leade rs in Sight the e ntire time while pulling away from Drew by a huge margin as the laps wound down. "I rod e the best I've ridden all day," My 11 OWN RACE Nicoll said. " I didn't get a very good start - I th ink I was like seve nth - and then a couple of guys got together on the first or sec ond lap, and then I got into fifth. I rode pretty good and passed Steve Drew, but the n Jurge n passed me , and then I hung in the re. I was on the pace of the front guys, and it was the best I'd ridden all day." Fillmore was runn ing strong in sixth position befo re crashing twice. This handed the position to another French rider Baffeleuf, o n his HMC KTM. Seventh and eighth positions e nded up going to the two hard est-charging ride rs of the race Burkhart and Ben Carlson . Bot h riders had charged through from the back of the grid to get into the to p 10. "I got a pretty good jump, and everyone just followed each oth er for the first few turn s," Burkhart said. "I just went on the outside in the first turn , and I think that Igot aro und a few guys. I th ink o n the first lap I was in, like, ISth or 16th; then I just started picking people off one by one up at the big jump and then out braking guys. I worked my way up to seventh, whic h I think is pretty good . I think they said I 'was running like the th ird- or fourt h-fastest lap times the entire race, so I'm happy w ith that, conside ring that I started in almost dead -last position." Rounding out the top 10 were Trachy, in ninth - with an exce llent ride after his massive get-o ff the day before - and Metzger in 10th. - SUNDAY Ch ris Fillmore/Supermoto 12th Gary Trachy/Supermoto 9th "After yesterday, I was definitely hurting today," Trachysaid. "I just tried as hard as Icould, but I had problems breathing today. By the end of the race Iwas sort of tired, but I caught my second wind, got my head down and just tried to finish inthe top 10. I couldn't shiftbecause my toe is purple and swollen, and every time Ido, it's painful. I did the best Icould." 45 Ben Carlso n/Su permoto T hieb ault sits o n 40 in third . In the Un limite d Supermoto class, it is all Kunzel, with 52 points to teammate Nicoll's 44 and Dymond's 40. eN C OPPER MOUNTAIN , C O LO RADO RESUL TS: AUGUST 28-29, 200 4 ROUND ONE SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED RACE TWO T he re weren't too many people who would have bet against Kunzel winning the Unlimited race on Sunday after his comp lete dom inat ion on Saturday. Unless, of cou rse , you we re Kurt Nicoll. The results may have been the same in the end , but Nico ll didn't make it easy for Kunzel this time around . "It was re ally good - I got the holeshot and just went my spe ed, " Kunze l said. "The e ntire time , Kurt was beh ind me he was so fast on this day. I did my best, After running at the front for the fi rst halfof the race, Fillmore crashed twice, eventually finishing 12th. "I went down twice," Fillmore said. "I went down in the dirt section right after the nat-track section. I just lost the rear end and crashed, and then I just got frustrated. Then I was trying to push it, and then I got past Metzg and Trachy again, and then I er lost it at the top at the hill." 357 but the problem was the traf fic jam with all of the other guys [lapped traffic]. I had good luck in this race, no crash, and then I was able to win ." Nicoll ma naged to hang with Kunzel all the way to the finish, traili ng the Ger man across the line by a slim .982 of a second. "I fee l like I rode rea lly , rea lly well to day," Nicoll said. "That was one of the best races I've ever do ne. I mea n, Jurge n Kunze l is one of the best riders, w ithout question, so to close on him and put pressure on him made me re ally happy. I e xpected to get beat by Jurgen, I should get bea ten by Jurgen - I have no problem being that close ." In th ird place for the second day in a row was former I25cc 8th "I started off dead last and got offthe line dead last," Carlson said. "Everybody got cramped on the inside, so I just went on the outside on the first corner and I actually got up to where Metzger was. I passed a couple of guys, but I just kind of hung out. Icouldn't go much faster, so it was good. I'm having a better day today." Na tio nal Motocross C ham pio n Micky Dymo nd. He lost touch with the leaders early and had his hands full with Darryl Atkins, who applied pressure throughout t he race . "Today was goo d; I was a litt le bit dow n on horsepower due to the altitu de, I think," Atkins said . "I struggled a little bit. I felt good, but I rea lly would have liked to get on the pod ium. Y este rday my car bure tor popped off when I was trying to pass Nico ll, so I was trying to get some po ints. It's a long series , but ho pefully I can devel op my bike a little bit better." Ande rson ran a stro ng fifth until tw o laps from the end before making a mistake and finishing seve nth . Fifth was take n by Carlson, who neve r rea lly got going, and sixth went to Baffele uf. With tw o rounds in the bag, Ward has a seven -point lead over Kunzel in the premie r 5u permoto class , 48 -41 , w hile www.cyclenews.com SUPERMOTO: I . Doug Henry (Hon); 2. Jeff Ward (Hon ); l . Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); 4. Alexandre Thie bault (Hon); 5. Chris Fillmore (Ho n); 6. Mike Metzger (Hon): 7. David Baffeleuf (KTM); 8. Leonardo Bagnis (Hon); 9. Mark Burkhart (Y ; 10 . Josh Chisum (Hon ); , I. Massimillano am) Gazzarata (Hon); 12. Mark Willis (Hon); 13. Steve Drew (Hon) ; 14. Don Biava (Hon) ; 15. Co ry Call (Hon); 16. Matt Burton (Y am); 17. Brandon Curry (Hon); 18. Curtis Cooksey (Y ; 19. Gary Trachy (Ha n); 20. Mike Hale am) (Hon). S UP ERMOTO U NLIMI T ED : I. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); 2. Kurt N icoll (KTM); 3. Micky Dymond ( KTM); ~ . David Ba ffeleut (KTM); 5. Cassidy Ande rson (KTM); 6. Leonardo Bagnis (Ver); 7. Justin Ross (KTM); 8. Travis Marks (KTM); 9. Jason Chisum (KTM); 10. Paul Nafziger (KTM); I I. Craig Mason (KTM); 12. Cole WaJ

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