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/128398
SUPERMOTO after blowing past Nicoll down the back straight on the opening lap, and the young Australian appeared to be matching Ward's pace early, Herfoss appeared to be faster than Ward from about halfway down the back straightaway and through the infield until they reached the dirt. But Ward was faster in the dirt, through the Urbancross section and on the first half of the high-bank section. Ward soon began to stretch his lead. It would swell to 7.189 seconds by the finish. "I just ran hard the whole time," Ward said. "I knew that Troy [Herfoss) was a little tired, and I just kept pushing and pushing. He caught me, and then I gapped him. I felt really strong and relaxed the whole time. I was able to ease up and flow into the corners. I rode twice as easy that moto and pulled away, compared to the moto before." just as Ward got away from Herfoss, Herfoss got away from Nicoll, who was battling with Kunzel for the third spot. "I feel like I had the consistency to stay with jeff [Ward), but the backmarkers played a big part," Herfoss said. "One of them ran me wide, and I made a mistake. He [Ward] is definitely a champion, that guy." Kunzel attempted to set up his boss for a pass several times, and the conflict came to head when he attempted an impatient move underneath Nicoll as the two got on the brakes in turn five, the right-hander that leads into the dirt section. Old age and treachery won out over youth and enthusiasm as Kunzel lost the front end and crashed. "The big problem was the start," Kunzel said. "My starter device [fork lock) broke. I had it only for one meter and then it popped up. I was eighth after the first lap, but I charged through, and then in that section when I went to pass Kurt [Nicoll) I was really late on the brakes. I think I hit the white line, and I fell. It was a small mistake then. It's okay. I won't make any more." Kunzel lost one position before remounting and repassing Baffeleuf to secure fourth place. Nicoll, meanwhile, finished third again, by far his most consistent run of the year. '~nd consistently good, not consistently I I th," Nicoll said. "It was awesome. I had a really good practice, and I really got on good with this track. I haven't ridden a motorcycle but maybe twice since Copper Mountain because I've been so damned busy, but I feel really good and really happy to be racing. I haven't looked at the points, but I must be getting pretty close to Fillmore in the points now. I'll get past him for third in the championship. I'm pretty confident about that." Speaking of Fillmore, he once again finished sixth, followed by Two Brothers Racing Suzuki's Steve Drew and CHM Exhaust Honda's Gary Trachy, with 32 OCTOBER 5, 2005 • Rounds 9-10 September 24, 2005 ~ AMA Supermoto Championship Series Chisum and Thiebault rounding out the top 10. Despite crashing twice during practice and banging himself up a little bit, the hard-charging Fillmore was smoother during the race, and it gave him a consistent weekend, which left him satisfied. "Overall, I'm superhappy," Fillmore said. "I had so much trouble in qualifying and practice. I fell every time I went out, but in the race, I was just thinking about how hard I've worked all year, and to throw it away now would be ridiculous." But when told of what Nicoll said, Fillmore replied, "No, Kurt is not going to beat me [for third in the points)." SUPERMOTO LITES Burkhart had the pole position for the 19lap main event, but he got off the line fourth, slotting in behind Mach I Motorsports Yamaha rider Casey Yarrow, Team CurriefTroy Lee Kawasaki's Brandon Currie and HMC/Generations of Sonoma KTM's john Lewis. Yarrow led the race for a lap and a half before Burkhart steamed past on his factory-backed Yamaha YZ250F, taking the lead for good. "Those guys were running tighter gearing than I was," Burkhart said. "We kept running out on the back straightaway all day, so we kept putting taller and taller gearing on the thing. They were able to accelerate off the corner, but I had more straightaway speed." Burkhart steadily pulled away, leaVing Currie and Yarrow to duke it out for second place. 8urkhart's margin of victory was 12.278 seconds at the finish. The championship marked Burkhart's first career AMA National title. "It feels really good to win it," Burkhart said. "I can finally relax a little bit. I just want to thank Yamaha, Thor, Scott and Dunlop. This is great for Yamaha, and I hope that it will help me out in the long run." Currie came out on the better end of a clash with Yarrow on lap seven in the banked left-hander that took the riders off the big, paved half-mile stock car track and transitioned them onto the paved, infield quarter-mile track. The two riders got extremely close, with Currie completing the pass to finish second. Afterward, Currie didn't appear to be terribly disappointed that his championship hopes were over. "I just went out there and rode my best," Currie said. "Burkhart has been riding good all year long and making no mistakes. I made a few mistakes this year, and he ripped it up out there. I just need to be more consistent." Yarrow finished third, landing his first career AMA Supermoto podium finish. "I had a great time," Yarrow, a former Supermoto USA Champion, said. "To lead the race was awesome. When Brandon [Currie) passed me, he just ran it in there CYCLE NEWS and shut the door on me. I almost highsided over his back tire. After that, I just told myself to relax and try to go catch him. But for as long as I've been doing Supermoto, for me to finally land on the box is awesome." SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED France's Baffeleuf earned his third AMA Supermoto Unlimited win of the year, piloting his HMC/Generations of Sonoma KTM to victory in the 19-1ap final. Baffeleuf passed polesitter Herfoss down the back straightaway on lap seven to take control of the race and capture his third win of the season. "It was a good race," Baffeleuf said. "I start in second place, and I'm very fast on the banking. To my surprise, I passed Troy and made a very big advance. It was very easy to finish the race. I will go to Reno now with nothing to lose because I cannot win the championship." Baffeleuf did come under pressure from All Access KTM's Dymond after Dymond passed Herfoss for second place down the back straightway on lap 17. Dymond was able to negotiate lapped traffic a little more effectively than Baffeleuf, but he came up about one lap short of making a bid for the lead, Baffeleuf winning by 1.11 I seconds. Still, it was a wonder that Dymond rode at all, as he severely jacked his left ankle in practice and could barely even shift gears during the race. "I've really been training a lot harder than I have for many years, and if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't even have rode today," Dymond said afterward, his ankle bundled in ice. '~t certain times it wasn't looking too good, but I'm really pleased with my finish, knOWing how bad it looked this afternoon. I tucked in behind David [Baffeleuf], and ohce I realized that neither of them was going to get away, I just applied pressure. When David did get by Herfoss, I probably should have tried harder to stay with David, but he's not the guy I'm racing for the points - that's between me, Darryl Atkins and Herfoss. With six laps to go, I got a little more motivated to push a pass. The bike worked really awesome." Herfoss finished third. "I was very disappointed, and I was kicking myself after that one," Herfoss said. "I'm in contention for the championship in this class, and I went out and hurt myself on the 450, and I really wasn't a hundred percent for this one. I suppose that I should be happy to be on the podium, but I didn't help myself in the championship, and I'll have to hope for some luck in Reno next weekend." HMC/Generations of Sonoma KTM's Atkins finished fourth in the race and now leads Dymond by a single point in the Supermoto Unlimited title chase, 98-97. Herfoss is another five points behind Dymond, with 92 points. Pacifico GP Husqvarna's Leonardo Bagnis completed the top five. eN MUSIC CITY MOTORPLEX NASHVIW, TENNESSEE RESULTS: SEPTEMBER 24, 2005 (ROUNDS 9-10 OF 12) SUPERMOTO RACE 1 (19 laps): I. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); 2. Jeff Wml (Hon); 3. Kurt N;coll (KTM); 4. Massimo Gazzarata (Han); 5. Chris Fillmore (Hon); 6. Alexandre Thiebault (Hon); 7. David Baffeteuf (KTM); 8. Cassidy Anderson (Hon); 9. Josh Chisum (Hon); 10. Aaron