Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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ing," as Windham put it. By thr ee-quarters of the way through the first mot o, he had built up a lead of more tha n 50 seconds, wh ich only got bigger from there. As Carmichael crossed the finish line, the eel- breat hing down his neck . Alessi was desperately trying to stay in fro nt of Windham, but he just could not hold off the veteran, who easily made the pass on Alessi and started pulling away. Aless i did, however, re main in fourth ... it's hard to put some things together...you can see Ricky a couple of straightaways ahead and you want to be there but you're not. It just sucks:' . Kevin Windham tum pileup. "I came back and charged harder. Someone said that I came back from 32nd. That last lap, I was pushing as hard as I could to get around Kyle Lewis [for fifth]." Holding down third in the first moto was Yamaha rider David Vuille min. Late ly, Vuillemin has, at times, faded back after getting good starts, but this wou ldn't be the case at Steel City. He hung tough, stayed in th ird, and was extreme ly pleased with his performan ce . He was hoping for another good showing in the second rnoto, but his bike bro ke while he was runn ing in the top 10 near the midway point. After passing Lewis, AmsoiVFactory Connection Honda rider Kevin Windham held down second for most of the race. "He [Carmichael] was really hauling it out there," Windham said. Indeed , Carmichael was truly "haul- ebrating began , as he and his Honda team clinched their third (Carmichae l's fifth) straight 250cc outdoor title. Windham finished second, followed by Vuillemin in third. "I'm happy with second," Windham said. "I'm just trying to do good for the remainder of the series . [But] it' s kind of frustrating, because it's hard to put some things together and get where you want to get w hen you can see Ricky a couple of straightaways ahead and you want to be there but you 're not . It just sucks." The celebration quickly en ded, and it was back to work for Carmichael again in the second moto, He grabbed the holeshot and was followed closely by a hard -charging Reed, who was determined to snap Carmichael's win streak. It didn't take long, though, befo re Carmichael and Reed had chec ked out and left everyone else to fight for third. "The second moto was good ," Reed said. "I just wanted to get out the re and run strong and run as close as I could to Ricky ." Meanwhile, Alessi was holding his own in third, but he so on had W indham www.cyclenews.com for the rest of the moto for another impressive finish. In the end , though, Carmichael had opened up a comfortable yet cautio us lead over Reed to take his 22nd consecutive moto win, while Windham finished third and Alessi wwas fourt h, his best finish of his young career. "The seco nd moto went good," Alessi said. "I got a goo d start and just went. That second mot o, I was looking back a lot, beca use I was tallying it up in my head and see ing if I could get third overall. I saw Sebastian [T ortell i] coming. The only way tha t I would get third overall was if he didn't pass Nick Wey [for fifth] ." Carmichael's lead over Reed in the second moto was considerably smaller than the lead he had on Windham in the first moto, "Th is is probably the easiest track we've had all year," Carm ichael said . "With the exception of the first moto, with me winning by such a long ways, Bubba didn't win by very far, and neither did I in the second moto. There 's just nowhere , really, to make up any time . It's not really a roug h track." eN CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 15.2004 23