Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THO FIM World Supercross GP SeriesfTHO AMA Supercross Series, MY OWN RACE 103 Sebastien Tortelll 4th It seemed as though nothing was going right all night for Team Makita Suzuki's Tortelli, who crashed in his heat race and struggled in his semi. But after coming through to the main via the LCQ, patience and persistence paid off for the Frenchman on the last lap of the main event. Tortelli went from sixth to fourth in one tum. "It was a pretty long night," Tortelli said. "I had to go through the last chance [qualifier), but once I did that, I got a pretty good start from outside on the gate and 1got into eighth or ninth. I was stuck a long time behind laRocco. I did some mistakes and fell back. 1was a little bit faster, but I was not fast enough to pass him. Three laps from the end he made a mistake and didn't jump the triple and Emesto [Fonseca) didn't jump the triple. I did, and I almost landed on Emesto. I scared myself. They were pushing each other, and I got inside them and got fourth. I was on a good pace .this weekend." 5 bit of history in the process, referring to a time when Windham had shown similar aggression. "I guess I made an aggressive move on him," Carmichael said. '" wanted to go to the front. It's all about heart out here, and these two guys up here that finish one-two want it really bad. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I thought that it was fairly clean. I think 1997 at Las Vegas was probably really dirty, but that's the way it goes. I'm up here racing Chad and having fun with it." After Carmichael passed Windham, there were still 5.674 seconds separating him from Reed. Carmichael rang up a steady string of sub 52-second laps, while Reed could only muster one. Carmichael cut the fastest lap of the race, an incredible 51.245, on lap nine, and it was obvious that he would catch Reed. On lap 16, he did, pulling alongside Reed in the rhythm section just before the whoops - even poking a wheel ahead briefly. Reed had a better drive on the outside, however, and he managed to hold on to the lead. "When I hit my line, I think it was faster," Reed said. "His line was a little more consistent, easier." Carmichael shadowed, losing a little ground on lap 16 but catching up again on lap 18. He repassed the champion in the same flat turn where he had made his original bid for the lead. "When I closed up on him, it was the same thing," Carmichael said. "I was riding right behind him, and I didn't want to push it in on him. I was trying to pick a good place to get by him without being a jerk." Reed said that his own lack of aggression cost him the race. "I just didn't attack it [the track], and I needed to attack it," Reed said. "It was really slippery, and I think I just needed to ride a little more aggressive. I was riding a little bit too cautious and just not taking advantage of situations that were presented to me. Ricky went down and handed it to me, and I just gave it right back to him. It's tough. "This week will be a tough week for sure," Reed continued. "To lose like that is not an easy thing to swallow. I don't know why they are giving us flat turns now, but I'll take my bulldozer to the berms at my practice track at home and start practicing those. I need to be better at them." Carmichael made his pass stick this time, and he went on to win the race by a margin of 1.466 seconds. Reed finished second, with Windham third, a whopping 29.379 seconds behind Reed. Windham, who has been injured after several crashes already this season, explained his lack of pace after the race as being more mental than physical. "It's tough to not have IDO-percent confidence and run with guys that are riding at 100 percent," Windham said. ""ve had a couple get-offs, but I have been able to keep it on two wheels for the last 18 MARCH 9,2005 • CYCLE NEWS Mike LaRocco 5th Amsoil Chapparal Napster Honda's laRocco admitted to having "one of them tough nights. The track was kind of difficult without the bowl turns to have a race. You got stuck following too much. So, not getting the greatest start didn't allow me to have the kind of evening that I needed to. It was slippery for Atlanta dirt anyway. It was just one of those nights where if you get out of the start and get the groove going with the guys up front, it's fine. But if you're in the other group, it's hard to make time." Even so, LaRocco appeared to have fourth covered until a last-lap bobble ruined it for him. "I spun out and had to roll the triple," laRocco said. "I was passing Ernie [Fonseca), and I bumped him. He fell on me, and his bike got stuck in my rear wheel. Tortelli got by us both. Igave away fourth, but stiliI'm not racing for the lead, and if you're not doing that, what are you doing?" 12 David Vuillemin 8th Team Yamaha's flying Frenchman said that he was never on pace during the main event, having been hampered by a bad start. "It was not very good," Vuillemin said. "I got a really bad start and was ISth on the first lap. I worked my way up to seventh, and I felt like I rode okay, but when you don't get the pace right away, it is kind of tough. I was strong, but then I crashed with two laps to go in the whoops and got eighth. That's not the result I am looking for. I think I had the pace to do top fIVe or better, but I just have to keep working. It's not about the bike. It's more about the rider. Overall, I felt good. I just need a better start. When you get a bad start, if you are Ricky Carmichael, you get a top three, but the way I am right now I can maybe get top fIVe at the best. I'm going to work harder." 2 Jeremy McGrath 9th The seven-time AMA Supercross Champion did not get the same kind of start that he enjoyed at San Diego. He rounded the first tum in about 10th place, and he pretty much stayed there for most of the race, battling his American Honda teammate Andrew Short along the way. "It was all right, but Ithink I'm still lingering from my injuries because I just don't feel loose when I am riding," McGrath said. "It was decent, kind of uneventful. My position is, what am I getting? Ninth, 10th. I need to have a little more time on the bike and heal up a bit so that I can push it to get where I was a few weeks ago. Anaheim III set me back pretty good." Uke many of his fellow racers, McGrath said that he was having a tough time with the flat comers, especially the one right after the whoops. "But that comes from not riding in the last few weeks," McGrath said. "We have been getting punished with rain in Southern California There are c1efinitely some things Icould work on, but overall I'm safe and having fun. Andrew and I were having a good little moto out there." 23 Kyle Lewis 14th Kyle Lewis was back aboard his Moto XXX Honda after missing the San Diego round due to an injury suffered at the Inely Supercross, and he got off to a great start. Lewis was third off the start and slipped to fifth as the fleld rounded the first tum. 'J>.nd then the whoops nailed me," Lewis said. "I'm still a little sore from Incly. The bike was good, but I was just riding a little tight. That's it." Earlier, Lewis had a good battle with Jeremy McGrath in their semi together. "That was fun," Lewis said. "jeremy was nice to me. It's fun racing with him. He's a clean rider. The crowd was into it. Everyone loves jeremy." 51 Andrew Short 18th In his 2SOcc c1ebut for American Honda, Short appeared to be a factor all night, as he battled near the front in his heat race before crashing. He transferred to the main event via a semi, but another crash c1erailed him in the main event. "I got really good starts all night, but I didn't stay up there," Short said. "I crashed in my heat race when I was running third, so that wasn't too good. Then I had a good semi. Then in the main Iwas running 10th when I crashed in the whoops, and I dropped way back." Short was dicing with jeremy McGrath before crashing in main even~ "It was good riding with him," Short said. "It reminded me of riding at the Honda test track. I'm healthy, so that's good, and next week I should be a lot stronger with more time on the bike, one race under my belt. My bike is awesome. I got good starts all night. That thing is a mean machine."

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