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/128380
Briefly... Chad Reed highsided over a huge double lump and head in practice. He was a little off the rest day but still went 3-3 d overall. Robbie Reynard retumed to action aboard a Honda CRF250R. though Reynard didn't make the main program and was not too pleased with his effort. He certainly showed some signs of speed in practice and will no doubt be a threat if he can bring his speed and fitness level up to match that of the other top guys. "I'm in pretty good shape, been running a lot of motos, so we'll see," Reynard said. Showing marked improvement in supercross, Tucker Hibbert said that his riding has improved immensely now that he lives and trains with Kevin Windham. "Both of us were talking about it last year that we'd each like somebody to ride with. So I moved out there last fall and have been living and train· ing with Kevin ever since," said Hibbert, who had a couple top-10 supercross finishes this year. "He's [Windham) helped out a lot, that's for sure." No word yet on if Tucker's tried to ride his snowmobile across Wind- ham's bass pond. One of those variables is crashing. And that is what Carmichael managed to avoid all weekend, unlike many of his main rivals did. Chad Reed, Kevin Windham and James "Bubba" Stewart, among others, all had crashes Sunday that helped enable Carmichael to get away and get another strong jump on another series. Despite taking a hard fall in practice and ringing his bell pretty good, Reed managed to post a couple of third-place finishes to nab second overall, while his factory Yamaha teammate David Vuillemin, one of the few riders, like Carmichael, that managed to keep it on two wheels all day, was rewarded with a podium finish in third, going 2-4 on the day. One of the biggest turning points was the first lap of the first mota. A few turns into the race, a multirider pileup claimed, or at least hung up, most of the stars of the class, including Reed, Windham, Stewart, Yamaha's Tim Ferry and Honda's Ernesto Fonseca. Carmichael and Vuillemin managed to come away from it unscathed, though Carmichael did admit that he was the one to blame for creating all of the carnage. "I actually caused that," Carmichael, who at the time had just passed Fonseca for the lead, said. "It wasn't intentional, but you go up this hill and then slow down for a turn, and they had watered it for us. So I slowed down for that left-hander, and I think Ernie [Fonseca) came in hot and slammed on the brakes, and it was a chain reaction after that. I probably would've given myself more room if I was in second, but I didn't go out of my way to do anything. Unfortunately, somebody ran into my back tire, and the rest is history. I felt somebody hit my back wheel; I thought it might've been Chad, but I guess it was Ernie." Windham, on the Annsoil/ChaparraV Honda CRF450, probably got the worst of it. Not only did he crash, he had to stop a lap later to fix his bike. "Ernie got completely sideways on the track," Windham said. "He was trying to dart to the inside - it was a IBO pivot turn, the narrowest turn on the track. When he got sideways, I was the first one to hit him and everyone just piled into me. It was on an uphill, so we were packed in there pretty tight. I was on the bottom of the pile. The bike had some damage, broke the nub off the shifter, and I was stuck in second." Fonseca said of the crash: "I got a good holeshot. After that, Ricky got by me and, for some reason, he took the turn at the top of the hill - he kind of like braked a lot for it, and I hit his rear tire. When I hit his tire, it slowed me down a lot, and it was almost like a domino - people kept hitting me and people kept falling down. It was a weird deal." Carmichael emerged out of the ruble with a big lead, followed by Vuillemin, Honda's Travis Preston, Maestro Suzuki's Joe Oehlhof and Reed. Stewart completed the first lap in 20th, Fonseca 24th, Ferry 36th and Windham 39th. At this point, Stewart was the rider to watch. He had his KX250 two-stroke pinned and was passing riders in bunches. Right after the pileup, Stewart was back in "It's A Good Day... To Die!" Those were the words on renegade MXer/downhili moun· tain bikerlsnowboarderlskier/car racerlskateboarder Shawn Palmer's helmet at Hangtown. Palmer rode pretty well but failed to qualify for the 12Scc program. He said he intends to be at the Mt. Morris round to try again. The Honda CRF2S0Rmounted Palmer was getting some friendly pointers on the track from Suzuki's Rick Johnson. Stephane Roncada, of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team, returned to racing at Hangtown, and he rode well. Roncada qualified for the 125-<:1ass program via Sunday morning's qualifiers. In the first National moto, Roncada started off in 16th, working his way up to 13th before dropping back to 26th after the halfway point. In the second moto, he got caught up in the first· tum pileup and decided to call it a day, but he did say that he was glad to be back and enjoyed the weekend. Time for a name change? For the first time ever, there was not a single 12Scc motorcycle in the 12Scc class. Brett Metcalfe, on the Yamaha of Troy yz 125, howev· er, came close, missing the final transfer in the morning's LCQ by one position. The Dunlop Tire "Where the Snow Meets the Dirt" at Hangtown again featured some of the world's top athletes competing in a three-lap exhibition race during the intermission at Sunday's National. Taking top honors was snowboarder Ian Price, followed by BMXer Adam Cooke, with snowcross racer Steve Martin completing the podium. Other athletes participating included Worid Cup ski racers (present and past) Daron Rahlves and Steve Mahre; pro skateboarders Steve Caballero, Chad Shetler, Wade Speyer and Salman "Skaterade" Agah; pro snowboard legends Jim Rippey, Aaron "AV' Vincent, Jim Moran, the Roach Brothers (Chris and Monty) and Noah Salasnek; along with surf star Josh Sleigh. Conrinued on poge '9 CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 1,2005 17