Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

FIM THO World Supercross Grand Prix Series/AMA THO Supercross Series "Finishing 16th is not the way to start a season, but I'm on the podium now, and it feels a lot better. We'll just try and better it each week... each race at a time, take it like that. I know my points lead at the end of last year and things like that... It's a long season, and I've just got to race the tracks every weekend and do the best I can." Apparently Carmichael's factory RM250 is no slouch in the horsepower department. He ripped the holeshot for the second weekend in a row, leading the 20-rider pack through turn one, with Windham, reigning THQ World Supercross Champion Heath Voss, American Honda's Ernesto Fonseca and Reed giving chase. Team Makita Suzuki's Sebastien Tortelli, Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin and Amsoil/Chaparral/Napster Honda's Mike LaRocco were all in the hunt as well, but a stalled bike just before the first triple dropped Tortelli to the rear of the field, and then laRocco and Vuillemin came together in the short jump section just before the mechanics' area, with both riders crashing. Carmichael and Windham quickly gapped the field, while Reed passed Fonseca for fourth in the right-hander after the first whoop section on lap four. The champ would struggle behind Voss for another lap before finally passing him in the same corner. By then, Carmichael and Windham were almost seven seconds ahead of him. Reed would pull to within about four seconds of Windham, but then his drive seem to flatten out. "I was right on them at the start, but then [Heath] Voss just jacked me," Reed said. "This track is really fast, and you've got to go with the front guys. I just couldn't make the gap... I was trying to race the track, put laps together and watch my pit board. All three of us were pretty much the same, just putting the laps down." Windham had continued to dog Carmichael at every turn aboard his booming four-stroke. Carmichael said that he could hear Windham and was bracing himself for a pass attempt, but then Carmichael seemed to kick it up a notch. He cut his fastest lap of the race, 51.216 seconds, on lap five. By lap seven, Carmichael was clearly getting away from Windham. "I definitely was wondering [if Windham would attack]," Carmichael said. "But I like my bike and feel in tune with it. If you like your bike and you're in tune with it, and feel comfortable and have confidence, you can ride good. I'm happy. You know, it's a long time until Vegas [series finale], and I think that's all of our goal, to be the last man standing there. I think we're just out here trying to be consistent, and if anybody is going to get antsy, it's going to be toward the end of the season." Carmichael stayed the course, continuing to rip off mid 5 I-second laps. Late in the race, he found even more of MY OWN RACE 13 Heath Voss 5th Heath Voss has said that he knows his THQ World Supercross GP tide may not be viewed the same as the AHA Supercross title, but that didn't stop the Texan, who continues to pit out of the Team Yamaha rig, from riding like a champion at Phoenix. Voss aetually hit tum one second, behind Ricky Cannichael, to start the main event. He quickly yielded that spot to Kevin Windham on the first run through the whoops, but then he held off Emesto Fonseca and Chad Reed for severallaps before both eventually got by, dropping him to fifth. "I came out of the gate good, and I tried to double the double by the mechanics' area and just about died," Voss said. "I ran third for like eight laps, and then Reed got me. Fonseca got me a couple laps later, but I rode his butt right to the finish line. It was fun. There was no real battling, but it was a fun race." 103 Sebastien Tortelli 9th Seven-time former Champion McGrath continued to impress at Phoenix, showing that while there may be faster riders on the track nowadays, he has lost little, if any, of his own legendary speed. The American Honda-backed McGrath ran as high as sixth early in the main, balding with Tom Ferry in the early laps before pulling dear of him, only to get passed by Emesto Fonseca, Sebastien Tortelli, Nick Weyand David Vuillemin as he tired in the main event. Even so, McGrath 18 JANUARY 26, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS it was over. considered it a good race for him. "I need about six more laps out of me," McGrath said. "My speed was good. I should have been right with Emesto. He passed me, and I was with those guys for awhile, but I got sloppy at the end. It has been two years, pretty good for a first time back. I got a little tight toward the middle of the race. I think the more time on the bike, the easier it'll be, and I'll stop thinking about the guys around me and just continue to ride the whole duration of the race. I think that my speed that I have always had is there, but it's not fast enough now, so I have to leam, too, if I want to get closer to the front. Overall, this was a great weekend, great experience, and I'm proud of all the Honda guys and my crew." 28 Sean Hamblin 16th Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's lone 250cc gunman summed up his main event which went bad after he lost his rear brake while running 10th - like this: "I rode well, but I had back brake problems. I'm really mad. I'll be back next week with a vengeance." 6th After slogging his way to fourth place in what will probably be the slowest supercross this season, Anaheim I, Team Makita Suzuki's Tortelli backed that finish up with a sixth place at Phoenix, which could tum out to be the fastest track the racers will experience this season. Tortelli stalled his RM-Z4S0 on the opening lap of the race, but he steadily fought his way back into contention from 16th place. "The race was great for me," Tortelli said. "I was okay on the start, not in front, but right in the middle, which was okay. [Mike] LaRocco just hit me, and it took my hand off the handlebars, and I stalled the bike. I started dead last, basically. When you start dead last, you have to haul ass. I rode well. The race was too short for me. I'm coming along great with the 450. Iwas really shooting for a podium place, and I feel like I am capable of doing that. I don't know where I am in the standings, but I am going to keep working." 2 Jeremy McGrath After Phoenix, Jeremy McGrath said he needed "six more laps" of highintensity riding out of himself if he wants to have a shot at the podium. McGrath was strang early in the main event, but he faded to ninth before 20 Damon Huffman 10th Team ECC.com Honda's Damon Huffman admitted that 10th place was a rough way to make a living, especially the way he did it, by having to ride his heat, semi and LCQ just to make the main. But once he got there, Huffman rode well, battling with Sebastien Tortelli as the two punched their way through the field from the back. Like Tortelli, Huffman got caught up in the David Vuillemin/Mike laRocco incident at the start of the main event. "I was right behind them where they came together and had to roll that whole section, and I got passed by a lot of guys," Huffman said. "I rode strong, though. The bike worked great, and I'm happy with that. Considering the qualifying mishaps I went through, overall it was positive. I felt strong the whole main. I just need to work on my starts." 199 Travis Pastrana 20th It seems as though the Red BulVCemic'slAmerican Suzuki-backed Pastrana can't recover from one injury without receiving another one in short order. That's what happened at Phoenix, as he collided with Tyler Evans just two laps into the main event and crashed, making an early exit from the race. Pastrana was favoring his left ankle and also may have re-injured his left wrist. "It's just really disappointing," Pastrana said. "I didn't have a great start, and I was just cruising when I got cleaned out. We're not in the chance for a championship right now, so we'll just have to see what our game plan is." Pastrana's participation at Anaheim II is questionable. "The two sets of whoops this week weren't very good for the wrist, so we'll have to play it by ear and see what we come up with," Pastrana said. '" was being pretty conservative in my heat race, but I felt like I had a lot more under the hood for the main event."

• Cover