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/128353
Conlinued from pa g e ' 3 The Husqvarna team. made up of third-placefinisher MikaAhola and fifth-placefinisher Anders Eriksson, competed on borrowed '04 machines. Aholarode a 250WRtwo-stroke, while Eriksson rode a 450 four-stroke that was fittedwith an aftermarket automatic dutch. Thiswas Eriksson's firstindoor off-road race of his career. Hughes made no more mistakes, though, and went on to take the popular win with the fans. "I thought I had an advantage coming in here:' Hughes said, "but when I got here and saw the tra ck for the first time, I was like , 'Whoa, whoa.' I was a little taken back; it was definitely a to ugh, tough, tough co urse . I mean, even the best riders were falling all ove r the place . It was very technical; I know it was only eight laps, but , man, it was like, hang on, have patience, go fast, almost crash. I mea n, there was a lot to it. "There were so me sections Iwas reallyfast, but in other sections, I was struggling a little bit, like in the rocks , so I stood back and watched everybody. And that's one thing I think I had an advantage, that I never really saw anybody really looking aro und the track, trying to find different lines and tricky little places, and I tried to do that all night long to find somewhere where I could be a little better, little smoother or little easier, and it paid off. Another main thing was to get the holeshot and get a couple of good laps in with no lappers and get a little bit of a cushion." Knight ended up finishing a close second. "Igot a decent start and kept good speed with him:' Knight said. "I wasn't too worried about winning it, just try to get in the first two." Ahola graduallyworked his way up through the field to finish third, making it two happy Europeans o n the pod ium. "The race was harder than I thought," Ahola said. "I thought it was going to be a litt le bit mo re easy than Barcelona, but it was harder beca use we did more laps. The race was lo ng, really long for this kind of stuff. I have to say that I was really tired and had arm pump. Mystart wasn't so good; I knew it was going to be really hard , so I tried to ride as relaxed as possible and be smooth, but everyone was pushing hard and battling all the time . Then I got tired and wasn't so smooth anymore." Fo urth place went to David Pearson. who finished just ahead of Eriksson and was the top-finishing full-time American off-road rider. "It was really stiff competition ou t there. You got friggin' National champions and World cham pions everywhere you look. It was a good race ; I started offabout sixth. Iworked my way into third, and me and Ahola were battling for a while, and he ended up getting around me like th ree or fo ur laps be fore the finish, and I couldn't get back around him." By placing fifth, Eriksson made it tw o Husqvamas in the top fIVe, something that American motorcycle fans haven't see n in a while. "l'rn happy, really happy, and to be best four-stro ke here is really nice:' Eriksson said. "This is a new experience for me , so it was a really nice experience. Everybody was riding like they were on fi re. fighting fo r their positions. My hat's off to 'Ryno ' and David Knight; they rode really real. The highlight for me was to win the sem i, because in the beginning I felt horri ble." Davis, who rode well but bobbled a couple of times in the boulders, ended up sixth, ahead of Edmondson, Kanney, Brian Garrahan and Diaz, respectively. CN 0auANs MNA lAs VEGAS, NEVADA REsulJli: NovtMlllR 27 , 2004 MAIN (8 bfHr. I. Ryon Hughes (Han) ; 2. l>.Md Kn;ght (KTM); J. MokaAhola (Hus); 4 . David Pearson (Kaw); S. Anders Erikuon (Hus); 6 . Ty Davis (yam); 7. Paul Edmondson (Han); 8. Nathan Kanney(Han); 9. BrianGan'ahan (KTM); 10. Homero Diu (KTM). www.cyclenews.com The EnduroCross track was built by the same people that build the major Supercross tracks: Dirt Wurx. "It [buildingthe track] was totallydiff rent, e absolutelynothinglike Supercrossobviously ," track builderRichWinkler said. ''Other than a video tape of the Barcelonaevent, none of us had ever really seen this before. The biggest challeng was physically moving the big e rocks and the pool. They were the most difficult buildingwise, but the real challenge was the same as any track:To try to make there be choices [for the riders], where there are different things to do. The rocks and logs just were n't haphazardly lying on the ground; there was a lot of thinking about like how to lay them and how to leave a line through. You would think in Las Vegas that finding big boulders would be no problem, but it was so difficult that we had to hire a big landscape outfit, and that's their business, so they brought them in. They had a machinethat handledthem, as well, because they [the rocks]are ungodly heavy. The poolwas a plastic liner with a linerof Gunite, a cement spray to make it where it willstand up with bikeshitting it. Overall, it has been one of the funnestevents that we've done in a long, longtime. It was fun to 00 somethingdifferent." The track also had numerous potted plants and trees scattered about the track floor to gNe it that off-roadlook. For Finland's Mika Ahola, the trip to Las Vegas was a new experience. "To be in Las Vegas for me isawesome," Aholasaid. "I've never seen anything likethis. I've been around the hotels and the casinos, and it's justamazing." ~ far as the race, Aholawas impressed with Ryan Hughes. "I was surprised by Ryan; he was riding really good . Idon't know how much enduro he's done before, but he was ridingrealgood. For the speed he has, he must make ." mistakesall the time, but he didn't make any Sioceit's hard not to consider Ryan Hughesa Supercrosslmotocross rider; does hiswin at the EnduroCrossmean that any Supercross rider couldcome in and beat the off-roadguysat their own game at any time? '" don't thinkso," said Hughes,who has a couple GNCC and WORCSraces under hisbelt. "I mean, Bobby Bonds, he was a realgood at motocross and Supercross, and you saw that he struggleda little bit, and Idon't thinkan off-road rider could come in here and master it. I thinkguyslike Jeremy McGrath and some people that are very technical, patient, could 00 it, but the people that don't have much throttle control or patiencewould have a tough time." Speakin of Supercross guys, Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin g came to watch the EnduroCross, as did road racers Ben and Eric Bostrom. Vuilleminsaidhe was very impressed with the whole concept and even expressed wantingto do it himselfone day. And what was RyanHughes' takeon the wholeEnduroCross concept?"lt's great," he said. "It was quitea race; the wholething was fun. I've neverseen so much passing inmylife - inany sport - and I think the fans kM!d it.JUst because you're ~ng [in Supercross] and goinghigh doesn't meanthat'sexciting. because once yousee it, yousee itall the time. Butthis - I saw 10passes a lapsometimes! It wasgreat," Riders were allowed to ride any kindor sizemotorcycle, and there was quite a variety. lY Davis chose to ridea 2005 WR2S0for its . lighterweight and electricstarting whileothers chose 450cc fourstrokes and 250cctwo-strokes. Bike setup, however, was confusing for the Americans. "What 00 you cIo? We've never ridden one of these before." Davis said. The one thingthat most of the riders had in common was settingup their suspensions as soft as possible, many choosingto go backto stock suspension components. CYCLE NEWS • DECEMBER B, 2004 15