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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commanders in t he SOcc (4-6) class includ ed Co nnor Mitchell, Parke r Fleming and Jared Jen nings, who accepted the top three posit ions, respectfully, for the Pee Wees, Suzuki-mounted Adam Blessing, Team Green's Eliot Jackson and Honda jockey Anthony Roth quickly took their dominating positions ahead of the pack in the 12SC Stock supercross main eve nt , Blessing's lead re mained uncontested throughout the race , while Jackson and Roth's side -by-side battle eventually earned Jackson a second-place spot on the podium and Roth rolled into a thirdplace w in. Supercross main events continued Wednesday morning . AMAsports manager Steve Carnegie was on site and readily available to answer ques tions regard ing AMA rules and regu lations. "T he supercross event has been running e xceptiona lly we ll, and we are hoping t he MX portion of the program goes as we ll," Car negie said. AMA's Tony Morris agreed , "It's been pretty goo d so far. The weathe r has bee n great." Tarah Giege r of Sebastian, Florida, took the win aboard her Yamaha in the Women's class during the supercross event . "I just want to keep getting better, " Gieger said. "I've been working with Doug Harvey during the week and doing schoo ls with the Pixleys. I want to just ride a lot and become a better rider. Ne xt year I wa nt to race more intermediate races with the guys and do good. " Adam Chatfield talked up Honda as he acce pted his first-place championship in the 2S0/S00cc A Expert Stock class for the supercross event. Josh Lichtle managed a second -place finish aboard his Suzuki, and Honda's Michael Steveson stood in third-place overall foll owing his first-place finish in his qualifying heat. Eli Tomac represented Suzuki on the top o f the podium w ith his overall championship win in the 65cc ( 10- 1I) Stock class . KTM comrades James Just ice , Brandon Mays, Justin Barcia, Bre nt Jerniga n and Aaron Siminoe ro unded ou t the top six pos itions aboard o range KTM mach inery. Jon Bor uff pulled his Suzuki ahea d in the third lap of the 25 Plus class after a co ngested sta rt, and he remained untouchable throughout t he seve n-lap moto . Honda's Earl May came out of the gate in second , but Suzuki-mounte d Jim Cheste r took advantage to make a pass in the fourth lap, where he stayed to take a seco nd- place win. Earl May managed a third -place podium finish. May, who also raced in the 30, 35 and 40 Plus classes, enjoyed the track . "T hey tamed the track down t his year," May said, "but it was still technical and demanding, and I hardly saw the am bulance move . It was definitely a be tter track this year, and safe." Supercross mains finished up Wednesday afternoon, w ith MX practice following. Six inches of rainfall overn ight left the track muddy for the delayed rounds of motocross qualifying on T hursday. N inety-eight entries were d ivided into three divisions in the 85cc (7I I) Modified class. Honda's Michael Clark, Suzuki-mounted Justin Starling and KTM capta in Jonathon Foskey led the pack into the second lap, but just as Starling started to creep up on Clark, Team Green 's Blake Bagen jumped into the lead pos ition from a fourth-place start, leaving Clark and Starling to com plete the top three positions. Bagett, who had driven wit h his family for 4 1/2 days from California, went on to claim the ove rall cham pionship the following day. Suzuki's Kyle Tobin held the lead do wn "Gato r back Falls," w ith Ryan Dungey, also aboard a Suzuki, follow ing ou t of the gate in the 125cc ( 12- 15) Modified class. Dungey remai ned on the rear fe nde r of Tobin in the qualifying race until the last lap, where Dungey jumped ahead just before the checkers for a photo finish as the checkered flag waved. Sean Hackley took the third-place position for Division One. Qualifiers for the motocross portion of the event finished up on Friday with just e nough time to complete one main event before sundown. Twe nty-o ne athletes lined up for the Women's class, where Suzuki's Leah Cantrell too k her quick, dominating lead fro m the holeshot to the finish line. After running in second for the first two laps, Honda pilot Jacqueline Ross rolled back to third, when Kawasaki's Kirsten Raemisch rallied up fro m be hind to cap ture the second-place mo to win. Ross' third -place win was enou gh to earn he r the overall se cond- place podium stand ing with her res pectable 2-3 finishes. Raemisch's 5-2 scores tallied up to a third-place overall position . Cantrell, fro m Marietta, Georgia, was crowned the first 2004 Winte r O lympics Champ ion w ith her perfect I- I moto victories. Suzuki's Cole Gress was waiting to congratulate Can tre ll when she stepped up to the podium . " I am very proud of Leah," Gress said. "She had som e bad luck in the supercross event but made a good rebound for the motocross championship ." Cantrell accepted her trophy and th anked Suzuk i Yamaha of Dalto n, Georgia, and her Dad, amo ng many oth e r spo nsors . "I am especially glad that my grandparents were able to be here to share this moment with me ," Cantrell said. Motocross mains resu med early Saturd ay mo rning, whe re Ryan Villopoto www.cy clenew s .co m Nick Ga ines rode his Cobra to a sece nd-p le ce finish in the Pee Wee class. once again to ok his Kawasaki to victory in the 125cc ( 12- 15) Stock-class main event. Villopoto was uncontested for the entire race, eventually taking t he win, ahead of Kyle Tobin and Robert Marshall. Although Marshall secured an early second position, Tobin held strong aboard his Suzuki. Marshall tried valiantly to regain his position, but his efforts were just not enough . Tobin remained in second across the finish line. Villopoto had already accepted his first-place victory when Tobin and Hackley, res pect ively, took the checkers. Overall podium positions went to Villopoto, with a score of I-I, Sean Hackley got a score of 2-3, and Tobin's score of 4-2 gave him third. Suzuki's Jon Boruff claimed the ove rall motocross champ ionship in the 25 Plus class with his flawless 1-I scores. Boruff had also topped the podium in the supe rcro ss event earl ier in the week with a perfect I- I overa ll tally. With heavy hitters coming up to bat in the 85cc ( 14- 15) Stock class, Zach Osborne, Matt hew Le moine and Kyle Cunningham ro unded the first turn ahead of 35 other riders. As the to p three moved ahead of the pack, Cunningham made a bold charge ahead of Lemoine, who bobbled a bit in the confusion but regained his composure to re mount in third . O sbo rne took his comfortable lead to the finish line, while Cunningham's valiant effo rt s earned seco nd, w ith Lemoine claiming third. Ove rall podium finishe rs were Osborne, Lemoine, Tyler Wharton and Cunningham. Team Green's Matt Boni took the championship in the 250cc B Modified class, with perfect I- I victories in the motocross competition, Boni co mpeted CYCLE NEWS • DECEMBER 15, 2004 41