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/128393
dry track and not able to take advantage of the long dirt section as much. Kunzel was able to stay right on the heels of Fillmore the entire race, but he just couldn't find a place to make a move on Travis Pastrana (199) was one of the quickest riders on the track all week· end, but a huge crash in race one on Sunday forced the Suzuki rider to miss the second race, in addition to the DNF in the race in which he crashed. On Saturday, Pastrana was able to score 6·4 finishes. Here Ward (1) applies some pressure. the young Honda rider. "That was a little better," Kunzel said. "I had a good start and I pushed really hard in the first two corners and I came out and was in the fourth position. Anderson made a mistake and I got into third position, but to catch Fillmore, I couldn't do it in this race." If Pastrana looked fast in race one, he looked even quicker in race two. Pastrana put in his best-ever AMA Supermoto performance with a fourth-place finish after getting around Anderson on the whitenag lap. Fast in the dirt once again, Pastrana was able to minimize the damage on the asphalt and hold his own when things got fast. Anderson held on to fifth after succumbing to pressure from some world-class riders but still walked away from the day with an impressive points haul. Behind Anderson was a battle royal between Pacifico GP Husqvarna teammates Troy Herfoss and Ivan Lazzarini. "I was having a little trouble coming off the back straight," Herfoss said. "I kept going into neutral. At one stage, Igot right up behind one group and felt pretty comfortable there. But too many mistakes made me fall back at the end. Ivan [Lazzarini] was just better than me at the end, I suppose." Herfoss appeared to have a solid hold on the position, but mistakes allowed Lazzarini to reel him in and make the pass on lap IS. Lazzarini ended up sixth, with Herfoss seventh. "I did my best start in the second moto," Lazzarini said. "I push a lot at the beginning, but there were a lot of bikes and many seconds [ahead of him]. Ahead it was [Steve] Drew and another rider, and it took like five laps to get by them. Then my teammate [Herfoss] was in front of me by seven seconds, and I try to push very hard, and I did five or six very good laps. On the last lap, I passed him on the long [dirt] straight. We had a little problem with the bike - it's not really perfect here with the carburetion because of the altitude." CHM Exhaust Honda's Thiebault and Two Brothers Racing Suzuki's Steve Drew battled with Gary Trachy in a fierce battle for eighth, with Thiebault taking the spot. Drew was ninth and Trachy 10th. DAY TWO - SUPERMOTO Once again, unpredictable weather was the order of the day. Superpole was run under wet conditions for the second day in a row, with Ward turning the qUickest lap - an effort that was more than two seconds faster than Nicoll's. By the time the field lined up for rounds seven and eight of the AMA Supermoto Series, the wind had blown the track dry and set the stage for a great day of racing. The day once again belonged to Ward - the veteran putting in another perfect pair of races with two victories on the day and a perfect four-for-four on the weekend. Add to that the two pole positions and the two championship points that go with them, and you can see that Ward had a pretty nice weekend in the Rockies. Ward leaves Colorado with a commanding points lead over Kunzel, 171-144, with two rounds and four races remaining. "I didn't have that good of a line in the dirt," Ward said. "I was going outside because in qualifying it was really slippery on the inside. [fravis] Pastrana was sticking a wheel in there; it wasn't faster, but he was hoping I would make a mistake. We ran a rain front tire because the dirt was a little sloppy, and it seemed pretty good, but it was hurting us on the pavement a little bit." Briefly... other three riders do their laps. Ward's quickest lap in dry qualifying on Sunday was a 1:05.587. Supermoto racers take note: On Saturday, October 8, the Supermoto West Coast Shootout will take place at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton, California. The race will offer a $10,000 Pro purse. The event, sponsored by Modesto HarleyDavidson, Jamestown Harley-Davidson, Stockton Honda/Yannaha and Modesto Ducati, will also include dealer displays and live music. The featured classes will be Open Pro (unlimited displacement, 16 years and older), Open Vet (unlimited displacement, 40 and up), 2500c Open (pro or amateur, must be 14 years old), and Open Amateur (unlimited displacement, and 14 years old and up). There will be a promoters' practice on Friday, October 7, from noon until dark. For more information, go to www.supermotoshootout.com or con- tact Chris Ranuio at (209) 595-2200 or Darrick Lucchesi at (415) 298-4963. RACE ONE At the start of race one, Gazzarata got the holeshot after opting to not do a Superpole lap and take the inside position by default. Fillmore was second by the second corner, with Ward right on his heels. Two of the front-runners came together in turn two, with Kunzel and Herfoss going down. Kunzel was able to continue, but Herfoss had a problem with his brake lever and had to pull out of the race. "When I start from the third row, you get to the first two corners and have luck or not have luck," Kunzel said. ''The first corners go really good, and I can pass some guys on the outside line. But then in the second corner, Herfoss stopped it in the corner, and so I touch his rear wheel and we both fall. It was a little bit my mistake." Gazzarata was still in the lead at the end of lap one, but he was under serious pressure from Ward and Fillmore. The quickest man on the track, however, was Pastrana, on his Suzuki. The first couple of laps were chaotic, with positions changing back and forth. On lap two, Ward got by Gazzarata heading into the track's dirt rhythm section, with Fillmore follOWing him shortly thereafter. Pastrana made his move on Fillmore, while Ward started to stretch out a decent gap. Pastrana started applying pressure on Ward, especially in the dirt sections. At the end of lap four, things seemed to settle down, with Ward, Pastrana, Fillmore, Gazzarata, Nicoll, Thiebault, Anderson, Lazzarini, Carlson and Drew giving chase. "The race went pretty good, you know," Drew said. "We planned on going out there and just trying to get into the top 10. We took our chances and threw our slicks on, and it worked out for us. CYCLE NEWS. AUGUST 31, 2005 31