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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Continued from page 13 the newly crowned l25cc National MX Champion. Mike Alessi had planned on making his de but on the Red BullKTM at the Glen Helen National, but the 16-year- old bro ke a bo ne in his shoulder w hen he clipped a tree while riding near his home in the desert. Th e injury is not considered serious and he shou ld be riding again in a few weeks. In other Alessi news, Mike has not officially inked a dea l with any clothing sponsor since the Alessi's and Alloywent thei r separate ways . Form e r sponsor O'Neal is givingAlessi temporary support until the Alessi's ink a solid, long-term contract, but it probably won't be with O'Neal. Also, both Mike and his brother Jeff are now scheduled to compete in the Berry Supe rcross in France , November 12 to 14. The Alessi's stillplan on competing in a cou ple of GPs next year. RickyCarmichael had "$32S" sewn o n to the back of his pants of the first mo to and, on the very last lap of the second 250cc moto, RC was given the pit board the read "Mr. $325," So what did that all mean? Evidently, everyone on the Honda team - technicians, mechanics , truck drivers, etc. --receives a $325 bonus when one of its riders wins a National. "Wh en Ricky wins, we win," said Honda's Chuck Miller. "Th at's how we compensate our team, because it is a team effort . Everybody ge ts a little bonus," No wonder the Honda pit was such a happy place all throughout the National Series. It turns out now that Mike Gosselaar, Ricky Carmichael 's tun er, will travel with Carmichael to Suzuki. Gosselaar made the final decision this week. For Gosselaar there will be a lot of yellow in his futu re , as he 'll now tune fo r RC at Suzuki, his son Chris Gosse laar will switch to the MotoworlRacing.com/Suzuki team and his youngest son a1reatlyrides a Suzuki. Both Gos selaar and Carmichael willstart weari ng ye llow officially next week. Before the first 250cc moto Sunday morning, RickyCarmichael called the entire Honda team together to officially say goodbye. "He got everyone together and basicallywanted to tell us goodbye and to say some words," team manager Erik Kehoe said. "It was real professional and a lot of class, and it was pretty emotiona l, too," Evidendy, a few tears were shed , including a few from Carmichael. "It was real neat," Chuck Miller said. "It was kind of emotional... this might be the end the grou p as it is, but at the same time , we're all pro fessional c and we respect Ri ky and he respects us. It 's just been great," It was a bittersweet afternoon for Team Ho nda , sewi ng up its second pe rfect season but knowing that its losing it's ace that gave the red team five championships in just three years. "It was so emotional at the end, " Chuck Miller said. "It's hard to lose Ricky but it' s great testimony to , of course, himself and this team. The team is what wins championships. The rider certainly playsa huge part of it, but the machine plays a part , but everybody e lse fro m the technicians, to the engineers inJapan, the truck drive rs, the senior management that's been beh ind us for three years and giving us all the resources to be successful. No bod y can understand how deep it is until you go through this. Th is is an end of a chapter he re at Honda, but it's a beginning of another, and that's what we're made of - starti ng o ver, regrouping and try to make another champion. And we'll find one, and we'llmake one, and we stillhave very talented riders on the team next year, and we're going to get behind them and do every thing we can to make the m successful. We wish Rickyand his familyand eve rybo tly the best of luck as they mo ve o n to the next part of their lives, too." The country of Estonia was re presented at the Glen Hele n National w ith 19-year-old rider Juss ~500. Laansoo , who was riding out of the Motosports O utlet pit, has been staying in Chatsworth, California, and has been working and training with fo rmer factory Yamaha ride r Jim Holley. Holley was introd uced to Laansoo by former GP racer Pe kka Vehkonen, who holds the young rider in high regards, as does Holley. "He is good," Holley said. And he wasn'tlying. In his very first National, Laansoo finished 10th overall with 13-9 mo to finishes. When Matt Walker crashed and dislocated his hip in the second 12Scc moto, th ings could 've been a lot worse had it not been for an alert fla gger . Seconds after Walker crashed and was layingon the blind side of a whoop section the young llagger immediately ran onto the track, in traffic, and prevented what cou ld've been a very serious situation. Often llaggers are criticized for poor wo rk but are rarely recognized for do ing the ir jobs courageously. The w eather for the Glen Helen National was, as expected, hot. But not expected was the humid ity,which made things downright steamy all day. So ho w did the mechanics prepare for the difficultconditions? "We made some minor jetting changes ," Yamaha of Troy's team manager Jeff Mon tgome ry said. "With the ambient temperatures this hot, jetting is more finicky," Honda team manager Erik Kehoe said, "We use some protective material to keep heat down with the gas." Despite the heat, the Glen Hele n track maintenance crew did an admirable job keeping the track well prepped and watered all day. In spite of the conditions, the track remained remarkably dust free . Overall, the weather took its tollon many of the riders. "Definitely the heat is always a factor," Team Honda's Nathan Ramsey said. "Yo u've got guys that are really tough and train really hard . It shows when it gets hot and the track gets really ro ugh. It helps sometimes when you've got a little more, you 're a little smarter and you've been around a litt le bit lon ge r, you know how to handle the situation ," Since James Stewart had wrapped up the l25 cc National tide a few weeks prior to G len Helen , he dec ided to ride the KX250F fou rstroke for the final roun d, and he did so with the same success as he has had aboard his l2Scc . That success seemed to come easier than the previous rounds , but Stewart said that riding the 125 this year helped him prepare for next year's jump to the 250cc class. "Honestly, I think the 125 he lped me a lot for next year," Stewart said. "Because , I mean if I had ridde n like I did today [smoo th and effortlessly] all year lo ng, I know for sure I would be loo king like RonRon [Stephane Roncada] out the re , It helped me for next year to make me pass people and make me work for it." As far as how Continued on page '7 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • SEP TEMBER 22, 2004 lS