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/128355
comfortab le, relaxed a nd co nfident do ing it on his new race bike. And wit h three weeks st ill left to prepare for Anahei m I, it appea rs that Carmichae l w ill be as ready as he can be when the gate drops . Iy filled B.C. Place Stadi um in Vanco uver, Carmichael was hard ly challe nged in the 20- lap main event o n wh at was described by many as a tricky trac k, th at was also quite sandy and loose , not to mention rocky, fo r your ty pical and once in a whoop section. "I felt great, but I had some mistakes ton ight in the main event that I wasn' t too happy about," Carmichael said. By far his closest call came in the rhythm section, near the halfway poi nt, where he was consistently performing a risky move that prompted some people to wonder just why he kept doing the dicey maneuver every lap wh en he probably didn't need to , since he had such a big lead . " It got really rocky and cobbley, and I didn't make the jump before it perfectly, but I still had to go ," Carmichael said. "Y u have to do those things, be cause if o I didn't do tha t and two ot her guys were out there , the n that's lost time. W hen you're really clos e in lap times, you can't afford that. So t hat 's why I did it, even though I wasn 't I00 percen t. You know what? Call it luck if you want, but I saved it, and to me that's nice . I was scared, but I held on , but I know there's going to have to be some chances being take n through this ra ce as we come to Anahe im. I know I'm taking some, [and) they [the o the r riders) better be w ill ing to ta ke so me , because that's w hat' s going to take . I did ton ight and I got lucky, so maybe it's a sign. I know how to ride ,that edge, and I know that' s wh at 's going to take ." As far as his nea r crash in the whoops near the end o f the race: " I made one mistake in the whoops," he said. " I just hit a ro ck in the whoops and kind of se nt me sideways. I tr ied to ta ke a different line. I've been trying to be cre at ive on the track, just trying to get ready and gearing up. If I had to make a change [on the tra ck) instead of taking the same 01' " I felt great, bu t I h ad s 0 m e m i s t a k e s t o n igh t I n t h e m a m event that I w a s n ' t too ha p p y a bo u t ." . RICKY CARMIC HAE L Team ECC's Damon Huffman got on the podium with an impress ive th ird -pleee ride. "I feel really good , I think my bike is good, I feel my spee d is goo d and I'm charging," Carm ichael said. "l'rn going to get bet te r the next three wee ks, so I'm ready to go and I'm look ing for wa rd to the challenge." But at the large and seem ingly sparse- Supe rcross track. After ea sily w inning his hea t race, Carmichael got swarmed ove r in the first turn but got on the brakes earl y, hugged the inside and came out in goo d shape. By the se cond lap, Carmichael was out in front and pulling awa y. He would eve ntually cross the finish line w ith a 27.344- second gap over second -place finishe r Nick Wey, but he had a couple of scary moments along the way: once when he got out of shape through a rhyth m section , w here he landed on top of a foam Tough Blox, line, I can do it." So you might say that Carmic hael is prep aring for just abo ut e very situa tion tha t he 'll no doubt have to face in the upco ming AMA Series . Finishing second in Vancouve r was N ick Wey o n the all-w hite MDK Motorsports Hond a CR250R. For W ey it was another promising ride since also finishing second at the U.S. O pe n in Las Vegas in October and fourth last week in Toronto. Wey posted top lap tim es all we e kend and cam e out swinging in the CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 5,2005 19