Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

FIM THO World Supercross Grand Prix Series/AMA THO Supercross Series Iy sure if Windham had retained the lead or not, including Windham. "I was so focused on everything that 1 was doing, that I didn't know where anyone was at," Windham said. "I wasn't getting good pit board signals - the first half of the race I was - then after I got up from my crash, 1 was on the ground just really focused on getting my bike back started and back on the track, and when 1 came around, I saw a lot of people pointing at their heads telling me to think. All I could think about was, J'\m 1 in the lead?' I mean, they did a good job, I'm definitely not ragging on my crew. 1 mean, it was a tough race for the riders and mechanics [too)." It wasn't until the last lap when Windham figured out that he was about to win. "I didn't find out until 1was going through the sand whoops on the last lap and I saw the white flag in front of me and Iwas like, There's no way anyone else is on the straightaway with me,''' Windham said. "With only one lap to go, I felt confident that when I turned the [last] corner, I was going to get the checkered, and 1did. I was so happy to see the checkered." And he wasn't the only one, was in the lead, but I didn't know by how much. You couldn't afford to look. 1was so focused on the ruts and keeping things going straight, and we were getting so close to the end. Coming over a triple, I didn't come off the face quite like I wanted to, and my front wheel went into one rut and my rear wheel into another. 1 didn't really fall; I kind of ran alongside the bike awhile, stalled and got caught up in a Tuff Block. Iwent through the steps: 'Okay, move the Tuff Block, find neutral, [pull] the hot start.'" At that point in the race, with everyone crashing at least once or twice and everyone now covered in mud, no one was real- as his teammate laRocco was just as thrilled to hear that he had gotten second place. "I had pretty much no idea where I was," laRocco said. ':All I knew was that I needed to stay on two wheels and wait for the checkered flag." laRocco's strategy of playing it safe paid off. "I was pretty much just planning on staying up," laRocco said. "These guys were, in my opinion, riding crazy for the mud. 1 knew that I wasn't going to be doing that. 1 didn't want to make mistakes and fall down, so 1just kind of took the slow route and tried to stay up and not have any issues. I didn't want muddy grips and more issues than 1 had to deal with, so I just took it easy. My strategy was just to stay up. There were guys lying down, and I'd run by them, and that's how 1moved up. "I babied it everywhere," laRocco added. "I sat down most of the time and did what 1 had to do. It was just survival, there wasn't one time that I pushed my activity level, just kind of using my head and staying up." 16 JANUARY 19, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS As for Stewart, the race he had looked forward to his whole life didn't quite pan out as he would've liked it to. Even so, he said he was content with a fifth-place finish. His ride got off to a rocky start when he crashed his factory-backed Kawasaki 10<250 on the first lap and was forced to stop in the mechanics area. "1 hit neutral in the whoops, first lap, and it just pitched me over the handlebars," Stewart said. "I got up, and then 1 had a little trouble with my gloves. 1fell in the water, so it was all wet. So, 1 got a new set [and new goggles] and just kind of rode around after that. I fell like three more times, but it was good. I came out fifth, so I'm happy." For the defending champ, Reed, the 2005 Supercross season could not have gotten off to a much worse start, though he did get a good start in the main. After Carmichael went down, Reed was running second, behind Windham, at the halfway point when he fell in the mud. He qUickly got going again but crashed again, this time packing his front wheel with so much mud that it wouldn't turn anymore. Reed

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