Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I Round 5 SUPERMOTO S UPE R M OT O UNLIM IT ED Afte r losing to the "boss" at the previous round in Reno , Kunze l appea red set to reclaim the top spot, but N icoll ch arged fro m the outside of t he front row to take t he lead into turn one, ahead of Kunzel, who came fro m the pole , and fellow KTM riders David Baffeleuf and Darryl Atkins . Kunzel went o n the attack, chasing N icoll for the first four laps before gett ing a run on him up the front st raightaway and making a pass for the read on lap six. N icoll t hen began to lose ground to Kunze!' "He passed me, but I was really happy with the way t hat Iwas riding again," N ico ll said. "Excep t for the bank ing and t he front straightaway, I felt really com fortable. I neve r felt comfortable on the banking and the straightaway beca use it was rea lly fast, and that's where Jurgen passed me . O n the rest of the track he wasn't faster tha n me , and I wanted to keep the pressure on him. I caught him beca use he was slow w ith the tail-e nders, and t hen he made tha t mistake in the corner." The mistake came I0 laps late r, on lap 16, when Kunzel d ropped his bike in turn se ven. "It wa s shit luck," Kunzel sa id. "I jumped over th e do ub le , and I wa s a little bit too fast, and t hen I came into t he co rne r on the fro nt brake and hit the sma ll bumps. And then... I don' t know. It was so fast. I fall do wn and t he n I can't start the e ngine. And the n I start the e ngine and can't ma ke t he shifts. It was really a bad race for me . I hop e that next week it w ill go bett e r." With Kunzel ou t, the attention tu rn ed to a fant astic battl e tha t was be ing waged for t he sec o nd spot amo ng several ride rs. Baffele uf he ld t he spot, lead ing a lo ng line 26 October 9 ,2004 ~ AMA S uper mot o Champions hip of ch allengers t hat included Mot oVoy KTM 's Ca ssidy Anderso n, All Access KTM's Micky Dymo nd, Atkins, Carlso n an d the Husqvarna-mo unted Bagnis. Both At kins and Baffeleuf would have their chances for a podium spot ruined when they suffered nat rear tires and had to drop back at about the same time that Ca rlson began his charge o n lap 18, with Bagnis following him. The n Dymo nd bega n to fade, losing My ground to Anderso n. Carl son passe d t he form e r National MX C ham pion on lap 19, w ith Bagnis do ing t he same on e lap later, wh ile C arlso n put t he move on Anders o n to take over t he sec o nd spot for the rest of t he race. "The ma in t hing was t ha t th ere was one section afte r the double where they were go ing slower thro ugh th ere tha n the y really sho uld have been," Carlso n said. "I had a good line through the re , and I saw tha t t hose guys were gett ing a bit t ired . Once I see guys ge tting tired , I just start charging right fro m then . This is my best finish for Unlimited and my bes t finish for Supermoto also , so I'm stoked," Carlson said. "We 're in the top I0 in both classes , and we're in the hunt ." Bagnis also passed Ande rso n on the last lap, snapping the big orange on o ne -two-t hree that has bee n going on all season . "It was ve ry good ," t he Arge ntinian Bagnis said. "The bike worked very good, and my team he lpe d me out a lo t. I tried to do a very smart race because my bike, in the dirt secti on , was too heavy, so I had to fight w ith that. I didn't have a very go od sta rt, so I just tried to be t here and wait fo r the mistakes of t he other ride rs. The bike was a litt le heavy in t he dirt, but o n the straightaways it was ve ry, ve ry fast . I OWN RACE 73 Steve Drew 6th Supermoto He may not be having the season he had hoped for, but American Supercamp/White Brothers Honda's Drew had reason to smile after battlingwith Benny Carlson in the Supermoto final. "The pace is fast out here, and these guys are allgreat riders," the 3 I-yearold Drew said. "It seems like every weeken d it just gets faster and faster, and you really have to be on your game. I'm really happy with sixth. I diced with Benny Carlson out there , and we had to get by Baffeleuf. We got by him, and then we ran into some lappers, and I missed a shift and lost my drive. I just could never get it back after that. I have been reallyfrustrated with my results lately, but today made me realize that when you can get sixth against these guysafter you rode your ass off, that's not too bad. I can take that. The competition is really stepping it up, but maybe I can turn this thing around and get on the podium next weekend at Del Mar." 11 C hris Fillmore 9th Crashes have been at the root of the inconsiste nt results be ing post- ed by the youngest member of the Troy Lee Designs Honda squad, and once againthey hampered what was a solid shot at the podium for Fillmore. "I got a good start , but on the first lap, going into the OOOBER 20, 2004 • CYC LE N EWS 40th Anniversary am very happy for me and for the team. We have be e n putting a lot of work be hind it, and it is starting to payoff. "I was watching everything, and just try ing to not lose t hem and start making mistakes," Bagnis continued. "They started pushing ha rd and making a lot of mista kes , and I wa s taking advantage of that. C arlson was t he o nly o ne to run th ro ugh t hat grou p and kee p go ing." Afterward , Bagnis didn't eve n go to the pod ium, t hinking that he had finished fifth dirt section, I got passed by Baffeleuf," Fillmore said. "Then, as you start going around the left-hand turn in the dirt, it got bumpy, and he came across and bumped me to the outs ide. Then I hit that double, and I hit it on the edge and cased it and then dumped it into the corner. I picked it up and tried my hardest and got ninth. There were maybe two spots where you could pass when you were racing somebody. I think the tracks need to be opened up a little bit more. Like three quarters of the stuff is one line. But they' re trying at least, and that's good." 428 Jo sh C hisu m The Joker Machine/QTM Honda-backed Californian, on the other hand, put in another one of hisconsistent rides to fi nish just behind Fillmore, thus keeping him rooted solidly in the top lOin the series points standings. "We' re just having a lot fun, riding," Chisum said. "I think that every weekend we 're getting a little bit better. Gett ing into the first two rows is reallycrucial. I got held up in the first part of the race, and I kindof got stuck in their pace. Once Iwas out of it, I really didn't pick it up. Me and Fillmorewere out there just kindof runningaround together. I had a lot of fun racingwith Chris. Mysponsors are happy. They're reallygetting into it, and it looks great for next year." 10t h

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