Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

"I just got tangled up in the first comer and I just worked my way up, " Carlson said later, "I could see Micky looking over at me when he was on the speedway so that he could see where I was at, and I was hoping that he might make a few mistakes , but a ve te ra n like Micky doesn't ma ke very man y mistakes, It was a good race though." Kunzel simply backed it down on the last five laps to secure the victo ry. Dymond officially ca me across th e line 11.748 sec onds late r, with Carlson third , 17.15 2 sec on ds behind Kunze!. Then there was a mondo gap bac k to fourth-place Avard , who placed fourth , 42 .881 se co nds behind Kunze l, w ho lapped up to sixth place . "T he lappers, here it is a big probl em ," Kunze l said . "We don't have the blue flag, and it is dange ro us because yo u can no t say, 'O kay, he [the lappe r] is go ing to ride on the right side or the left side.' One time he will ride right , and th e nex t time it is left, and it is a big problem. Normally, it is easy to pass the guys , but here it was a probl em." Atkins w as fifth. fo llo wed by C ran k Works KTM ride r Cole Walsdorf, Husab e rg USA's Graham Cheney, Crank Works' Luke Terlinden , Ea st Hills Moto rs po rts' Joe l Tarquin and Ayler. eN MUSIC CITY MOTORPLEX NASHVIW, TENNESSEE RESULTS: SEPTEMBER 11, 2004 (ROUND 3) SUPERMOTO (24 laps ; 24 riders): I. I. Jeff Ward (Hon); 2. Chris Fillmore (Hon); 3. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); ... . Alexandre Thie bault (Hon ); 5. l eona rdo Bagnis (Hon) ; 6. Doug Henry (Hon ); 7. Josh Chisum (Hon): 8. Steve Drew (Han); 9. M;cky Dymond (KTM); 10. "lravis Pastrana (Su,) ; I I. Brandon Currie (Hon) ; 12. Benny Carlson (KTM); 13. chy (Han ); 15. Gceg Larry Pegram (KTM); 14. G"}' Tr.o Tachy (Han) ; 16. Brian Ca~per(KTM) ; 17. Don Han (Han); 18. Man Pursley (Yam); 19. Jason Baldw in (Hon ); 20. Mark Avard (Hus); 21. Mark Willis (Hon): 22. Cory Call (Hon); 23. Man Bunon (Yam); 24. Mark Burkhart (Y am). Time : 19 min., 03.29 sec. Margin or victory: I sec. SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED (24 laps; 24 riden): I. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); 2. Mick y Dymond (KTM); 3. Benny Carlson (KTM); ... Mark Avard (Hus); 5. Darryt Atkins (KTM); 6. Cole Walsdorl (KTM): 7. Gr.oham Cheney (Hbg); 8 .8. Monte Frank (KTM ); 9. Luke Tert iode n (KTM); 10. Joel Tarq uin (KTM); I I. Steven Ayler (KTM); 12. Paul Nafzger (KTM) 13. Justin Ross (KTM); I" . jaso n Palmer (KTM); IS. ; Cassidy Anderson (KTM); 16. Mitchel Armstrong (KTM): 17. Chris Cap linger (KTM ): 18 . Brian Lehfeldt (KTM); 19. Na thaniel Wilder (KTM); 20. Terry Meyer (KTM); 21. Brian Stephenson (KTM); 22. Leonardo Bagnis (Ver); 23. Gary Kauk (KTM) . Tim e : 19 min ., 21.9 1 sec. Margin of vict ory: 11.748 sec. AMA SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSH IP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Aft er 3 of 7 rounds): SUPERMOTO: I. Jeff Ward (73/2 Wins); 2. Jurgen Kunzel (6 1); 3. Alexandre Thlebault (58); 4. Chris Fillmore (47); 5. Dou g Henry (" " l win) : 6. Steve Drew (37); 7. josh Chisum (35); 8 . (TIE) Leonardo Bagnis (29)1David Baffeleuf (29); 10 . (TIE) M;ke Metzger (26)1Mark Burkhart (26); 12. Benny Carlson (22): 13. Brandon Cu rrie (20 ); 14. Gary Tr.ochy( 19); 15. Kurt Nicoll (18). SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED: I. Jurge n Kunze! (76/ 3 wins) : 2. M;cky Dymond (62): 3. Kurt Nicoll (~ 4); 4. (TIE) Benny Carlson (36); Cassidy Anderson (36); 6. Darryl Atkins (H); 7. (TIE) David Baffleuf {lJ)/just in Ross (33 ); 9. (TIE ) Cole Walsdorf (3 1)/ Monte Frank (3 I ); 1I . Leon ardo Bagnis (28); 12. (TIE) Tr.ov;s Marks (25)1 Paul Nafzger (25) 14. Jason Chisum (2 1); 15. joe l Tarquin ( 19). UPCOMING ROUNDS: Round 4 -South Boston/ Virainio, September 1B Round 5 . Del Mar, COIifornlo, October 17 Briefly... Co nt in ued from page 19 Maybe it was somet hing he ate : During the le ngthy dow ntime betw een the heat races and the semis and main eve nts, Jeff Ward and so me of the other Troy Lee Designs crew enjoyed a rather delectable comb ination of pasta w ith tu na and ketch up. "It's an Aussie th ing." Ward said. "O ur bus driver is Australian." - While the team may need to hire a new chef, it certainly isn't hurt ing for tuning talent, ut ilizing the services of longtime road racing crew chief Pa ncho Rangel, who has worked with several young up-and-come rs over the years , such as Matt Wait and Rich Alexander. Speaking of the Troy Lee tea m, newbie Chris Fillmore said that his experience with the team has bee n awesome so far. "Just hanging out with these guys and lear ning from t hem and being around Troy, it has been a blast." Fillmore said. "The bikes are awe some. I rea lly like the way they fee l, and I hope that we can sweep the podium here this weekend." The 17-year-old is still res iding in Michiganwhere he has just begun his senior year of high school. Tra vis Pastrana had all of one day of te sting on his factory Suzuki supe rmo to machine pr ior to the Nashville round ; the fre estyle and matcross icon just now healed up after his jarring crash during the freestyle competitio n at the X Games in Los Angeles. "The wrist, ankles and the head are all healed up," the 20-year-old Pastrana said. "I just started riding supercross again. and now we 're out here, and it' s pretty good . I hope to do the rest of the supermoto races this year, but I'm just playing it by ea r. The main focus is supercross [in 'OS], 100 percent." Forme r Australian Supermoto Cham pion Mark Ava rd had to concern himself with the contin ued develo pment of a brand new squad of Husqva rnas at Nashville. "We got these bikes at Co pper, and that was the first time that we 'd ridden them, " Avard said. "We' re just develop ing them these first few races, getti ng them dialed in. Maybe by the final tonight we 'll be a little better, and next week we'll have a real shot at it." Avard finished fifth in his Supermoto heat , just missing the direct transfer to the main event. A sixth-place finish in his Unlimited heat got him into the final. Mike Hale con tested the Nashville event , though he failed to make the main event and thu s improve on his 20th:place finish in the Supermoto class at the first Copper Mountain, Colorado rou nd. "We're still getting used to how to ride these bikes, but we 're aiready feeling be tter than we did in Colorado," Hale said. In light of the recent announcement that his Aprilia Superbike team will not happe n in 2004, Hale is just trying to keep himself busy. As for the future, he really didn't know. "Those guys are st ill trying to make that happen , but we've put this deal together with Rockwall Honda to go supermoto racing," Hale said, www.cycl enews .com adding that there has been some talk that Aprilia wo uld like to get its V-tw in-powered su permoto machines in competition in the U.S. If offered a spot on a team , he said, "I w ouldn't tu rn It down :' How far away is the sport of supermoto from having its own specific tire s rather the comm only used road race com pou nds and carcasses that ar e currently available? "We are developing specific tires, but right now the guys are finding that our road race tires work we ll for them," Dunlop off-road manager Broc Glover said. Dunlop is the official tire of the AMA Supermoto Series, tho ugh it is not the exclusive tire brand, Speaking of tires , the number of ha nd -cut ti res that you see in the paddock at an AMA Supermoto even t has dwindled considerably, the major ity of the riders elect ing to just run straight slicks rather than groove them. "I think that some people are cutting them, thinking that they will pick up a little more fee l on the dirt , but we haven't able to prove on a stopwatch that that feel trans lates into faster times thro ugh the dirt sect ions," Broc Glover said. "It also seems like whatever amou nt of feel you do get, you will lose three times that much [grip] on the asphalt, and the tires wear much more quickly. I have yet to see a supe rmoto track where there has been a significant amoun t of passing in the dirt ." Supermoto regular Gary Trachy agreed w ith Glover's assessment , adding: "Most of the dirt sections turn into a th ree-foot , blue groove situation. Most of the passes that come in the dirt are the resu lt of somebody making a mistake." Trachy added that "ifyou can make up time on the asp halt by not cutting a tire, that's the best choice ." Which begs the que stion: Should there be more d irt? "I like the AMA ruleboo k, which says BO percent asphalt, 20 percent dirt," Gary Trachy said. "The pro btem is that they aren 't able to do that because of the cost s of bri nging in d irt at some of the venues we run. As the sport grows, I definitely think that we need to be sticking to the rulebook, which says one tabletop , and one flattrack tum, an so on ." American Supercamp/Wh ite Brothers Honda ride r Steve Drew was "takln' care of business" in Nashville, at least as far as his eye wa re went. The Californian was sporting a pair of Elvis Presley shades in the paddo ck, an obvious homage to the king of rock 'n' roll who lived just a few hours away, in Memphis. Before the race, Drew pondered the idea of passing on the tight Nashville circuit. "It' s pretty one-line , and with every body going quick, I think it's going to be the guy who makes the fewest mistakes out there that is going to be the w inner." Drew said. "You'll probably see most of the passe s com ing into the first turn and on that banking (the stock car track tum four that led to the stripe ). If you go high and cut down low, you might be able to out- dr ive dow n the straightaway. Other than that, it's going to be to ugh." Sure enough , most of the passing took place on the brake s into turn one. CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 22, 2004 21

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