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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After earn ing the AMASupermoto Cham pionship that eluded him last year, Jeff Ward said that he has every inten tion of defending that title In 2005. "I'm de finitely going to de fend it," Ward said. "We' re going to do some races in Europe. Bercy [France) has a race that I was supposed to do last year, but I hurt my wrist just before it. There are a bunch of other one-off races that I'lldo for fun, but then for sure I'llde fend the title next year. I hope we have even m ore races, and I know there are some other venues that we could go to . A IO-race series would be perfect, and some of the bigger AMA races are places where we need to be . I would love to see one in D aytona, then keep it condensed through the summertime and then have the final he re like they did this year." When it came to defending his Unlimited title, Kurt Nicoll was a bit more guarded . "Right now I'm so stoked that I'll say that I w ill be racing in 2005, but I rea llywill just have to see what the sched ule is like," Nicoll said. "I like my day job, and I don't want to lose that . Ifthey have an eightround series that is mostly in the fall, then yes, I'll be back, but if it's a 12·round ser ies spread out over the whole year, then prob ably not . But if I'm going to do it , I'm going to do it all for sure - not just half." Either way, Kurt Nicoll said that he re fuses to take the racing too seriously. "The thing is that when I raced professionally, I was so stre ssed out - going to bed early, eat ing the right food, no dr inking - and I didn't make my goals. Now my lifestyle is not like that compared to the other guys, but I am completely relaxed. There's no pressure. I am riding away from Boris Chambon, and I am riding on the back wheel of jurge n Kunze!. I feel so re laxed, but if I wen t back and tried to be all serious now, thinking that I could do better, it would go all wrong. I'm just Benny Carlson was fourth , followed by Pacific Husqvamao backed World Supermoto contender Ge rald Delepine . SUPERMOTO A talent-rich field was o n hand to do ba ttle in the Supermoto (45 0cc) class on the 17-turn Bally's co urse , which featured a very long, fast fro nt straightaway, the usual complement of urban jumps and the added bonus of some of the mos t aggressive supercross style jumps ever found on an AMA Supermoto course. The unique layou t also featu red a supercross-styie over/un der section that saw the racers pass through the tunn el and then make a 270-degree lefthand turn to the face of the "over" ta bleto p. This sectio n w o uld playa big part in the outco me of the Supe rmo to final. Superpole winner Kunzel had a w heellength advantage on Ward off the start and was able to sec ure the lead by pinching having so much fun.,. World Champ ion Eddy Seel has been rumored to be making the switch from the big-bore 5 I class in the World Super moto Championship to the 4S0cc 52 class, a m ove that could provide extra incentive to make more dates in America in 2005, as the AMASupe rmoto Champions hip places greate r emphasis on the 4S0s. "We are talking about it," Seel said. "It is possible, but at this moment, it is not 100 percent." Seel said that even if he did spend more time competing stateside, it would probably not be fulltime. "We willcheck t he schedules, and if the schedules are okay between the World Championship in the U.S. Championship, then for sure I will come a few times to the U.S. I enjoy it for sure , because I get very good support from larry Ferracci and Pacifico Husqvarna. I am very happy with Ferracci, and he wants that I do the U.S. Championship. But we will wait until when the team and the bike are comp letely okay, and then we will come to make good Continued on page 19 CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 24, 2004 17