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
- --- OFF-ROAD , iiiIiiiI i Round 5 Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV National Series R Motorcity 's Nathan Kanney, aboard a Yamaha, edged out Hon da-mounted Scott Summers to win roun d five of the O MA National O ff-Ro ad Series at the Spr ing reek GP. sponsored by Smith Goggles. In extremely muddy conditions, Kanney held off Summers by just six seconds after more than two hours of racing. Rounding out the top five were Yamaha riders Jimmy Jarrett and Justin Williamson, and KTM's Shane Watts. Kanney, a 21-year-old from Highfalls, New York, said: "For the whole last lap, I knew Scott was there. When he stopped for gas, I just tried to put as much time on him as I possibly could. He was faste r in the woods, but I had the advantage on the motocross tracks, so I rod e as hard as I co uld, trying to put as much time on him as possible." The Spring Creek GP course utilized three motocross tracks , featuring the Spring Creek Nationa l MX track and its famo us sand-whoo ps section, along with seven miles of technical single- and two- track tra ils. Summers said: "We pr obably made a mistake estimating my fuel usage. We were set up to go two hours without stopping. At that point, I was right on Kanney's tail, and the unsched uled pit stop gave Kanney the advantage. I couldn't catch him on the motocross tracks but I could catch him in the woods, so I just went to work and tried to set him up for a pass in the last woods section. When it was time to make my move, I was just a little out of position and never had another chance." "Summers was right beh ind me [on the last lap)," Kanney said, "so I knew I had my wo rk cut out for me . When he stopped for gas, I just went for it. I knew it was hard to pass in the woods, so I rode as fast and hard as I could. Scott's the last person you want pushing you in the technical stull. As it turned out, I held on , and when we left the last woods section I just pinned it." After the race , Kanney, who rode a YZ250, said from the pod ium, " ! c c ~' . :, now if I was the fastest guy here today or not ; I just ended up in the right place at the right time ." Kanney got 011 to a midpack start, entering the first comer in sixth place, behind leader Jarrett, Tony Joiner, Co le Calkins, Watts and Kyle Nelson. Before entering the woods, Kanney was able to move into third, behind Jarrett and Joine r. Kanney said: "Right from the start, my suspe nsion just wasn't right. In practice the day before, we went with [stiller) settings that would work better on the motocross tracks , but overnight it rained and the settings we went with weren't right for the mud and the ruts ." Kanney held his third-place position for the entire first lap until he let Calkins by. "Co le was definitely on his game today," Kanney said. "Fo r the whole first lap, he was right there, pushing me . So I just let him by. From what I could see, he was the fastest rider in the woods." Calkins, who rode a KX2S0F, said: "For the first couple of laps, it was all about freight-train ing. It seemed like everybody was just tak ing their time . It was almost impossible to make a pass in the woods, so I just rode along. The only place you could pass was on the moto trac ks, but early on that was almost impossible to do due to the mud . But after each lap, it ~ Squeaks IT OUT JL-.--- NATHAN KANNEY HOLDS SCOTT SUMMERS AT BAY TO TAKE THE SPRING CREEK GP WIN Nathan Kanney rode a great race and was rewarded for his efforts with a first-place finish . 32 SEPTEMBER 8,2004 • CYCLE NEWS