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/128351
f you had to ld former AMA National Motocro ss and Supercross Champion Jeff Ward that he would be adding another AMA National title to his resume at 43 years of age, his response, would have been, "You're crazy." And if you had to ld KTM World Racing manager Kurt Nicoll that he would be earning his first career AMA National Champi onship two days before his 40th birthday, the Brit's response most likely would have been , "Y u're totally offyour rocker." o Yet the move that Ward put on race-long leader Jurgen Kunzel to win the Supermoto final at the second annual AMA Red Bull Supermoto A-Go-Go at Bally's Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was coo l and calculated , and the only thing that "went off" in the Unlimited Final was Kunzel's rear tire, forcing the German to hand the title to Nicoll. In a stunning conclusion to a fantastic weekend of racing, both men - ironically enough, the two were teammates in their factory Kawasaki motocross days - emerged with championship titles at the AMA Supermoto I 16 NOVEMBER 24, 2004 • Championship finale, lending credence to the now in vogue sayingthat 40 is the new 3D , And it isn't like either man was able to make lightwork of their respective title battles, This year's star-studded Supermoto and Unlimited fields included allor part of several World Supermoto contenders, reigning World Supermoto Champion Eddy Seel and reigning AMA Supermoto Champion and X Games Supermoto Champion Ben Bostrom. After struggling w ith knee and ankle injuries for most of the season, Ward appeared to be fit as a fiddle and faster than ever as he chased Red Bull KTM-backed Kunzel for 16 of the 18 laps in the Supe rmoto final. He then stuffed his Troy Lee Designs Ho nda past the German in the left-handed tum that led to the over/under tableto p jump in the off-road section to take the lead. A mistake by Kunzel, who thought that the white nag was the checkered nag, compounded his pro blems, and Ward went on to score histhird AMA Supermoto win of the season and net an AMA National CYCLE NEWS Supermoto Championship 20 years after winning his first AMA National title - the AMA 12Scc National Motocross Champio nship - as a factory Kawasaki motocrosser in 1984. And just like in 1984, Ward never finished off the podium all season . "It's cool," Ward said. "Th is was a good , hard series with a lot of fast talent in there. It wasn't a gimme, which makes it cool for me , at my age, to be able to do this. I'm very excited and proud of how I rode today. Red Bulldid a great job with this event. Hopefully this will keep growing.' Kunzel went on to finis h second, wh ile HMC KTM's David Baffeleuf finished third, ahead of Red Bull KTM's Kurt Nicoll and Troy Lee Designs Honda 's Do ug Henry, the latter struggling with slick and tricky track layout all weekend. Re igning World Supermoto Champion Eddy Seel made his visit to Las Vegas a moderately successful one by finishing sixth, ahead of Troy Lee Designs' Chris Fillmore and current World Supermoto number two Bo ris Chambon the Frenchman also retuming to Las Vegas just for this race . Team Metzger Action Sports' Mike Metzger finished ninth, with American Supe rcamp/White Bro the rs Honda's Steve Drew completing the top 10. In the Unlimited class, the 39-year-old Nicoll, four times a runner-up in World Championship Motocross Grands Prix, realized a lifelong and seemingly distant dream when he stole the class title away fro m Kunzel by winning the 16-lap Unlimited final after Kunzel, who led it most of the way, dropped out with a nat rear t ire on lap nine. From there, Nico ll was able to cruise to t he title, courtesy of the double points that AMA Pro Racing paid at the event . "I have won National Motocross Championsh ips in England, but winning a National Championship over there is nothing like this," Nicollsaid. "For me, this islikewinning a World Championship, which I never ." did. I'm stoked beyond alllogical belief Chambon ran third until Kunzel's exit allowed him to inherit second place, with Baffeleuf matc hing his Supermoto finish by carding another th ird place. HMC KTM's