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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128370
Troy Adams survived a rough ride to finish third.
front straightaway, Walker crashed in the
whoops and collected Greg Schnell. Walker
would get under way again but crash one
more time on lap three. Unable to get his
KX.2S0F restarted, he lost several laps and
ultimately pulled out of the race, climbed in
his car and left the track before the night
was over.
Langston had his own problems as well,
casing it off the first triple on lap five and
going down hard. The South African was
able to get restarted in 19th place, but he
crashed again in the whoops four laps later.
The points leader coming into the race,
Langston saw his lead evaporate and his
string of podium finishes snapped when he
finished ISth, one lap down from the winner.
Up front, Grant tried to set sail for the
first 10 laps.
"It was almost like Hangtown, where I
got the holeshot and led it for a little bit,"
Grant said. "I was just focusing on the
whoops after the triple, and that was the
only place where everyone can gain or lose.
The rest of the track was pretty easy. Iwasn't worried where the other guys were. I
was in tunnel vision."
Hansen got off to a fourth-place start.
behind SamsungiSprint Honda's Troy
Adams. The Floridian proved to be tough to
get around.
'" hadn't got the best start as it is,"
Hansen said. '" came from maybe eighth,
seventh, and when I got up to Troy, he was
a hard dude to pass for sure. He's definitely
like another laRocco. He stays strong. It
took me a long time to get around him, and
finally when I did, Grant had checked out,
and I just kept charging and charging."
Hansen actually made a pass on Grant in
the front straightaway whoops three laps
from the finish, but a lapper slowed him,
and Grant was able to jump the next triple
to retake the lead.
"Sorby was a lapper, and he was trying to
get out of the way, but he got into my line,
and I wasn't able to jump," Hansen said.
"That was a little frustrating, but whatever."
The white nag loomed, and in the tum
just after the finish line jump, Hansen made
his bid for the lead.
"It was an aggressive pass for sure, and'
thought he was going to back off, but he
didn't," Hansen said. "Like he said, he didn't
expect it, and Ididn't expect what was going
to happen either. It was definitely a big
crash. I looked up and saw 35 going over
the bars and me all stuck under my bike. I
just scrambled to get on my bike. Both our
bikes were still running, which is amazing
for a four-stroke. That could have been bad.
Alii could think of was Troy being in third. I
was trying to go. Ifelt like a goon the last lap.
It was definitely good racing."
Grant said that he wasn't expecting the
move from Hansen.
"I wasn't ready for it," Grant said. "I was
going to use my regular line and try to pull
right there. I went in and went outside and
saw this orange... We both went down, but
luckily the bikes were still running."
In a classy display, Grant jumped off his
back after the finish, walked over to Hansen
and gave him a congratulatory pat on the
back.
"I said, 'Good job,''' Grant said. '" was a
little mad, but I'm happy with second, and I
just hope to do it next weekend."
Adams, meanwhile, ran third after surviving a collision with the charging Millsaps
on lap I I. Adams got out of shape on one of
the tabletops and veered in front of
Millsaps, knocking the 16-year-old Ohioan
to the ground. Millsaps got up again and
tried to continue, but he did not finish the
race. Battered and bruised, Adams held on
to finish third, earning his first career podium finish, his previous best Supercross finish
being an eighth.
"That just shows how my life has been
going this whole year," Adams said. "It has
been real tough for me because I haven't
been able to get out of the gate, but finally,
coming from the outside where I thought I
wasn't thinking I was going to get a good
start, , was third. I moved my way up into
second on the third lap, and I just tried to
pace myself, because the track was getting
pretty beat up. I heard Hansen coming up
on me. I tried to hold him as long as possible, and then he got by me. I just put my
head down and tried to keep going. Then
the incident happened with me and
Millsaps. I was fortunate enough to keep it
on two wheels and keep going, and I just
had to fight through the throbbing in my
back."
Adams had to be attended to immediately after the race
':After the race, my back was hurting
really bad, and my leg also," Adams said. "I
just needed to lay down and have my leg
stretched right after the race just so I could
walk up to the podium. I think in the morning it's going to hit me."
Hansen's win, combined with the
DNFs by Millsaps, Grant Langston and
Walker, vaulted him into the series points
lead. Hansen now leads Langston, BO to
78, with three rounds remaining. Hansen
was qUick to credit his bike and his team
for his success
"Leaving Yamaha of Troy, that was a big
thing," Hansen said. ':All I heard was,
'Hansen, you're going to end up on your
head. Hansen, you don't have linkage.' But
right when I got on the bike, I knew that I
could win for sure. All those people that
always put down KTM, I'll tell you right
now: They say that Mitch Payton [Pro
Circuit] has the best team, but I think Larry
Brooks - we hold the title over there. We've
got our bikes working good. We've proved
it. You can't count us out. I'm fortunate to
be on such a good team."
eN
DAYTONA INTERNA110NAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
RESULTS: MARCH 11, 200S (ROUND 4 OF 7)
HEAT I (6 Iapo, 1-9 transfe,). I. D.M Millsaps (Suz); 2.
1<>'" Han.en (KTM); l. St.... BonffiKe (Hon); 4. Ryan M"
(KTM); 5. Kelly Sm