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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128353
Staying second in the points again and
on lygetting one podium spot th is weekend
was Northrop, as he had a 7-4-4-2 in the
main events this weekend. He had a stro ng
weekend, with only one bad finish after he
went down with Sorby in the Friday 125cc
main. Overall , Northrop loo ks like he will
be the number-two guy next year if he
stays focused for the rest of the season.
" I had a few pro blems in the 125 main
on Friday," No rt hrop said. " Hagseth was
playing road bloc k, so I lost a few pos it io ns. I was able to co me back, then Sorby
took me o ut and I fell back to sev e nth in
the end. Then, in t he 250 main, I got
fourth overall. I got a be tter start and t he
race, overall , was bette r. Saturday in the
12S ma in, I had a good start. I had a few
bobbles in the whoo ps and was able to
hold on ' to fourth in the 250 main . I felt
good with a seco nd overall . I felt great
and got a good start. I had some hea t
fro m Demuth , but I wa s able to hold it
together unt il th e end."
Mak ing th e pod ium for the first t ime
in t he series wa s Sha ne Bess . He was
able to ge t the hole shot in th e 125cc
main on Friday and led mo st of the race
un til Lange go t him. Each weekend, Bess
has shown mo re improvement, but wit h
a 2- 14-7 for the wee kend in the th ree
main events that he qualified for, he missed
out on Satu rd ay's I25cc main event. Bess
looked grea t on the track, though.
" I had a go od Friday and a good heat
start all day," Bess said. " I was leading the
125 main and felt good, but I fell apart a
little. In t he 250 main, I started o n the
second row, and yo u can't really do anything when you are o n t he row. I w on my
semi in the 250 ma in on Satu rday. I got
seventh overall. In the 125 main, I cras hed
in t he heat race . Then I crashe d in the
semi and had a bad tim e total. It was a
great learn ing ex pe rience."
Afte r a so- so Friday night, new rider for
the PPG/Suzu ki/ Moto w orldrac ing.co m
team Branden Jessemen went 2-6 on
Saturday night. For the first three rounds of
the series , Jessemen was on the Tuf Racing
Honda team . This weekend, he moved over
to the PPG/Suzuki/Motoworld racing.com
and w ill be doing the rest of t he AX
serie s, t he East C oast SX a nd the
O utdoo rs wit h t he m.
As is t he case w ith all
new bikes , getting
them set up properly is a big deal, and
all t hroughout Friday
night Jesse me n st rugg led .
He basically used Friday
night as testing, as he
used the night's
racing to
prope rly
A i!JI!=
set up his new Suzukis . Th en , o n Satu rd ay
he came out sw inging, like the Jessemen
of early this se ason.
"My Friday was terri ble; I had bad
starts, I jumped the gate and my t iming
was off," Jesseme n said. "Sat urday I felt a
lot be tt er, and I got second in the 125
main and sixt h in the 250 main.
Arenacross is all abou t the start. If you get
a bad start, you really can't do t hat much.
I like the bikes, and I hope to test some
be fore the nex t race . I ho pe to do better
at t he next round."
Another ShogunlYamaha rider to po dium this weekend was C had Johnson ,
aboard a Yamaha YZ450F. During the 250
main on Friday night, Jo hnso n was able to
hold o n to th ird place with a 5-3-7. He did
not make the 250 main on Sat urday,
though, and now sits fifth in points, over
teammate Dem ut h. Jo hnso n won his only
race in Hampto n three years ago , but he
wasn't able to re peat it t his year.
The next rou nd w ill be in Rockfo rd,
Illino is. The series is almost halfway done,
and Demuth, Bess, Johnson and Jessemen
loo king bette r and better eac h weekend,
there's no telling if lange will be stoppe d
anytime soon. But there is one thing that 's
certain: No o ne is going to stop t rying.e N
HAMPTON, VIRGINIA
RESULTS: NOVEMBER
(ROUND
4
OF
19·21, 2004
10)
Frid a y
12S PRO, I. Darcy Ung' (KAW) : 2. Shane Bess
(HO N); J. J"'" Demuth (YAM 4. Eric Sort>y (SUZl : S.
);
CNd Johman (YAM): 6. Evan Laughridg. (KAW); 7. [eff
Northrop (KAW); 8. John Dowd (SUZ); 9. Jim Neese
(SUZ): 10. Kevin Joh nson (YAM): II. Shawn Cia", (KAW):
12. B...d RJppl. (HON) : I J. B...d Ha&"' th (H O N ): 14. Kody
Mol. ", (HO N ): IS. Nathan T;ea mey (SUZ ).
25 0 PRO: I. Darcy lange (KAW); 2. Josh De muth
(YAM); 3. Chad Johnson (YAM 4 . Jeff Northrop (KAW); S.
);
Brad Hagseth (HO N) ; 6. Kevin Jo hnson (YAM); 1. John
D owd (SUZ) ; 8. Evan Laughridge (KAW); 9. Jim N eese
(SUZ): 10. Bra d Modi ewski (SUZ): II. Brad Ripple (HON) :
12. Cody Gilmore (KAW); I l , Eric Sorby (SUZ); 14. Shane
Bess (HO N ); 15. Kody Molitor (H ON).
KAWASAKI KX65 MAIN: I . Jeremy Wendleken
(KAW); 2. Wesley Farmer (KAW); 3. Joe l Smaltz W indsor
(KAW); 4. Ale x Felle r (KAW) ; 5. Dustin Woody (KAW); 6.
Bran don lee Bono (KAW); 7. Austin Davidson (KAW) ; 8.
And rew Peskopos (KAW) ; 9. Zachary N orman (KAW).
DFC, I. Darry Lang. (KAW) : 2. Josh Demut h (YAM):
J. eNd johnson (YAM): 4 . j.ff Northrop (KAW) : S. Jim
N eese (SUZ): 6. Brad RJpple (HO N).
Saturday
125 PRO : I. Darcy Lange (KAW) 2. Branden
jessemam (SUZ): J. J"'" Dem uth (YAM 4. J.ff Na