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/128378
THQ AMA Supercross Series Dave Coombs Sr. 125cc East/West Shootout Briefly..• MY OwN RACE: 125cc 51 Andrew Short 4th Team Honda's Andrew Short rode well but admitted he just didn't have it for the main. "The day just started off slow for me," Short said. "I was behind from the get-go in practice. The main... actually I had to go through the LCQ because I crashed in my heat race, then the main went all right. It was just mayhem on the first lap. Everyone was out of control crashing, and fortunately I stayed up. I tried to put just some consistent laps together, but I just didn't have the speed. Those East Coast guys put it to us this week. I hope it's not things to come for the outdoors, because they were definitely faster than us tonight." 18 Brae Sellards Frustration could best sum up Boost Mobile/Yannaha of Troy's Broc Sellards' night. "I got the holeshot from the right side," Sellards said, "but then when we came together, I was in second, and Millsaps tripled the first section - he was the only one - and he got by me. So I was in third. I was battling with Marmont, I passed him for second, and he got me back. I was realy struggling in the whoops. I ended up endoing in the whoops, and I saved it, but whatever I did, it ripped the choke out. It actually snapped the whole thing off and pulled all the way out, and you couldn't really see it. I had to come in towards the end of the race, and they had to check it - with four laps to go. We couldn't figure out why my bike wouldn't run. Then, finally, someone noticed it was the choke, and we went back out. So it totally ruined me. Basically, to sum it up, if I had the right setup for suspension, I could have been right up there pretty easily." (Above) Grant Langston took runner-up honors. (Below) Josh Grant made it an East sweep. 25 Nathan Ramsey 6th Team Red Bull KfM's Nathan Ramsey was disappointed to finish yet another race off the podium. "I just kind of got a bad jump off the gate and kind of got caught up, but I missed the big crash, so that was good," Ramsey said. "Then I would have a good lap, then a bad lap, then a good lap and then a bad lap. I just wasn't quite consistent enough. It was a really weird race. The red-cross flags were out at least half the time. It's been a good year. I hate to end it like this, because I didn't do well last weekend either. Oh well. I guess just move on to Nationals and try to kind of pick up there and have a good season there. I've got to take my hate off for the East Coast guys: They took it home. They went one-cwo. Oh no, one-cwo-three, huh? So, I guess they showed us." Honda's Andrew Short and Grant, who stalked Marmont for third place for about a lap before making the move just as the trio got to the red flag area, which had still not been cleared on lap seven. Grant made the pass on Marmont and then spent the rest of the race fending off Short, who also passed the KTM rider for fourth place. Grant was successful, earning only his second podium finish of the year. "I'm actually glad I got up here tonight," Grant said. "I wasn't expecting it, and it's a big surprise for me. 1 stuck my head down and put in the best ride I could." Grant said he was able to deal with the pressure that Short was putting on him without too much trouble. "It wasn't too bad," Grant said. '1\ndrew was right on me, but actually I didn't even know it was him. I just stuck my head down. I knew I was in third, and I just kept looking at the pit board. It means a lot to get up here, and I just want to work as hard as I can 20 to get up here." Short wound up fourth, about two seconds behind Grant. Then came Hepler, who managed to keep in front of a charging Nathan Ramsey for the fifth spot. Marmont faded to seventh, while Amsoil/Chapparal/Honda's Billy Laninovich ended up eighth after being caught up in the Rodrigues crash at the start of the race. Samsung Wireless/Sprint Honda's Joshua Summey and Monster Energy DrinklPro Circuit Kawasaki's Paul Carpenter rounded out the top 10. eN SAM BOYD STADIUM LAs VEGAS, NEVADA RESULTS: MAy 7, 2005 HEAT I (6 laps; 1-9 transfer): I. Ivan Tedesco (Kaw) 2. Nathan Ramsey (KTM); J. Paul Carpenter (Kaw); 4. Billy laninovich (Hon): 5. Broc Hepler (KTM); 6. Joshua Summey (Hon); 7. Jay Marmont (KTM); 8. Turbo Reif (Hen); 9. Ryan Morais (Suz); 10. Jesse Casillas (Hen); II. Brett Metcalfe (Yam); 12. Sean Collier (Hon); 13. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); I". Logan Darien (Yam); IS. Andrew Short (Hen); 16. Richie Owens (Suz); I7. Joshua Woods (Suz); 18. Ryan Abrigo (Hen); 19. Christopher Gosselaar (Suz); 20. Brian Edwards (Suz). Time: 6 min., 46.750 sec. MAY 18,2005 • CYCLE NEWS HEAT 2 (6 laps; 1·9 transfer): I. Grant Langston (Kaw); 2. Davi Millsaps (Suz); 3. Josh Hansen (KTM); 4. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hon); 5. Troy Adams (Hon); 6. Josh Grant (Hon); 7. Kelly Smith (Yam): 8. Brock Sellards (Yam); 9. Steve Boniface (Hon); 10. Tucker Hibbert (Hon); II. Ryan Mills (KTM); 12. Matt Walker (Kaw); 13. Bradley Ripple (Suz); 14. Kevin Johnson (Yam); IS. Donnie McGeurty (Hen); 16. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 17. Chad Johnson (Yam); 18. Dennis Ewing (Hon); 19. Ricky Jurado (Hon); 20. Ty Morrow (Hon); 21. Greg Schnell (Hen). Time: 6 min., 51.460 sec. LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER (4 laps; I ~ transfer): I. Andrew Short (Hen); 2. Joshua Woods (Suz); 3. Matt Walker (Kaw); -4. Bradley Ripple (Suz); 5. Ryan Mills (KTM); 6. Jesse Casillas (Hen); 7. Sean Collier (Hon); 8. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 9. Donnie McGourty (Hon); 10. Chad Johnson (Yam); II. Dennis Ewing (Hon); 12. Ty Morrew (Hen); 13. Logan Darien (Yam); I". Ricky Jurado (Hon); IS. Richie Owens (Suz); 16. Ryan Abrigo (Hen); 17. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 18. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 19. Tucker Hibbert (Hon); 20. Brett Metcalfe (Yam); 21. Christopher Gosselaar (Suz); 22. Brian Edwards (Suz); 23. Greg Schnell (Hen). Time: -4 min., 38.570 sec. MAIN (IS laps): t. Davi Millsaps (Suz); 2. Grant Lmgnon (Kaw); 3. Josh Grant (Hon): 4. Andrew Short (Hen): 5. Broc Hepler (Suz); 6. Nathan Ramsey (KTM); 7. Jay Marment (KTM); 8. Billy Lminovich (Hon): 9. Joshua Summey (Hon); 10. Paul Carpenter (Kaw); I I. Bradley Ripple (Suz); 12. Ryan Morals (Suz); 13. Turbo Reif (Hen); 1-4. Troy Adams (Hon); IS. Josh Hansen (KTM); 16. Man Walker (Kaw); 17. Kelly Smith (Yam); lB. Brock Sellards (Yam); 19. Joshua Woods (Suz); 20. Ivan Tedesco (Kaw); 21. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hen); 22. Steve Boniface (Hon). Time: 17 min., 35.660 sec. Margin of victory: 8.6-49 sec. Con,inued from poge J 7 the lane was shut down. I didn't want to shut the whole lane down, just shut it down where it needed to be shut down. I was trying to be as fairto everybody as I could." For all its violence, Joaquim Rodrigues' firstlap crash in the 12Scc main event did not leave him with serious injuries. Rodrigues was knocked unconscious in the incident, and when he came to, he reportedly began speaking in Portuguese, which made it difficult for the Asterisk medical personnel to assess his condition. Rodrigues was carefully placed on a backboard before being removed from the track area, hence the long delay in extricating him. After becoming more lucid, he was later released from the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center. Besides a concussion, Rodrigues may have sustained an injury to one of his ankles. Although he was incredibly fast for most of the 12Scc main, Davi Millsaps admitted that he did have his fair share of difficulties on the track. "Most of the jumps out of the corners, it was slick, and I'm a big guy," Millsaps said. "I had to seat-bounce it, mostly when you made that turn where Joaquim was down. Hitting that triple, I was having a lot of trouble there just because it was right out of the corner, and getting my fat butt over some stuff is kind of hard." In light of the fact that he is "big boy," Millsaps was open to speculation that he could be riding in the 250cc class as early as next Supercross season. "That's really not for sure yet," Millsaps said. "I don't know if I'm going to ride one [a 2S0] on the West Coast or what I'm going to do. Supposedly they want me to ride one coast on a 250 and one coast on a 2S0F, so we'll see. I guess it will be a surprise." During the postrace press conference, Davi Millsaps took the opportunity to thank a former sponsor for his role in Millsaps' victory at Las Vegas. "When I first started, I rode a PWSO, and then one of my buddies came out with the Cobra," Millsaps said. "His name is Bud Maimone, and he is in Ohio. He just sold the company, and I just want to thank him a lot, because he is the one who got me the bikes, and he was pretty much my first sponsor. He helped me get up here, so I just wanted to thank him." Being the final round, Vegas has always been about cool-looking gear. There were several riders with custom one-off gear. Uke many riders, Jannes Stewart was sporting a custom helmet made specifically for Vegas. He also ., • had gold goggles to match. Team MDK has a new sponsor. The team had just acquired Unbound Energy drink as a title sponsor. The team's rig was outfitted with new graphics, as were the team's bikes.