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/128347
- SUPERMOTO I Round 6 October 17,2004 i~ AMA Supermot o Championship a ving won the last two events on the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship calendar, Troy Lee Designs Ho nda 's Do ug Henry came to round six of the series at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on an emotional high, and he left even higher after card ing his th ird consecutive victory in the Supermoto class. Henry led the 18-lap Supermoto final from start to finish, holding off his still injured but very determined teammate, Jeff Ward, to post the win. Re d Bull KTM 's Kurt Nicoll finished th ird, his best finish yet in the Supe rmoto class for the 450cc machines. He nry's margin of victory in t he 18-lap final was 1. 164 seconds. though he held a larger gap than that for much of the race on the twisty, 14-turn • .73-mile track. The course was highly acclaimed by the racers , and the Clear Channel Motor Sports event drew several tho usand spectators, who lined the urba n motocross-style layout. "T his is great," He nry said. "Troy Lee Designs has put together a great program for us. and I'm just having a blast. It was great out the re, having the fans so close to that track. I just hope that we put on a good show for them. I just got the start that I needed and just tried to keep Jeff behin d me . not le t him by. It was tough, you know. He was there the whole race . Hopefullyit wasn't boring for the fans, but there wasn't much passing between Jeff and me. I just tried to keep it on two wheels. It was still rea l slippery out there. but it was fun." Afte r crash ing his way out of contention for the w in in the Supermoto class , Red Bull KTM 's Jurgen Kunze l rebounded to win the 18-lap Supermoto Unlimited Final, picking up his first victory in three ro unds. Th e Ge r man rider passed HMC KTM's Benny Carlson early in the race and then checked out, building a lead of 14.427 secon ds befo re tak ing the checkered flag. Nicoll also passed Carlson to land second place. Carlson held on for third place after narrowly defendi ng a late-race attack by rejuvenated All Access KTM rider Micky Dymond. H SUPERMOTO Doug Henry (ce nter) mode it three wins in a row in the Supermoto class when he beat teammate Jeff Ward (left) to win the Del Mar Supermoto. Henry and Ward were never separated by more than a few bikelenghts for most of the race. 22 oaOBER 27, 2004 • C YCLE N EWS 40th A nniversary Prior to the main event, American Supercamp/Wh ite Brothers Honda's Steve Drew was the first to go out for Superpole, and the Californ ian set a benchmark lap of one-minute, 5.630 seconds that neither CHM Exhaust Honda's Alexandre Thiebault, HMC KTM's David Baffeleuf nor Carlson could top. Nicoll did, however, cutting a lap of 1:05.079 that lasted until his teammate, Kunzel, came out right behind him and ripped off an incre dible I:04.774 that would stand as the best time . Henry and Ward closed out Superpole o n I:05.308 and 1:05.387 respectively to join Kunzel and Nicoll on the front row for the final. Henry got the holeshot and led the 24-