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
ermany's Jurgen Kunzel and Pickerington, Ohio's Mark Burkhart had their own reasons to celebrate after the checkered flags fell at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tennessee. The Red Bull KTM-backed Kunzel, a former World Supermoto Championship runner-up, finally earned his first career AMA Supermoto win. After 18 starts and several podium finishes, Kunzel finally made it to the top rung of the ladder, beating hero, rival and reigning AMA Supermoto Champion Jeff Ward in the first of the two 19-1ap AMA Supermoto races to garner KTM its second AMA Supermoto win of the season; reigning World Supermoto Champion Thierry van den Bosch won the opening moto of the year at Road America on a KTM. G . ''I'm really happy that this is my first race win then," Kunzel said. "We [the team] have all really worked hard to make this first race [win]." Not to be outdone twice, however, a rejuvenated Ward came back strong in race two, going flag to flag to score his fifth win of the season and backfill the points that he lost to Kunzel in race one to stretch his series lead even further. "It went well," Ward said. "The first moto we ran our backup bike rather than our race bike, and the suspension wasn't as good as our factory stuff. It was just hitting everywhere and stepping out everywhere. Then we put another motor in our race bike [for the second race], and right on the parade lap I knew that I had the bike that was going to win." Ward increased his series points lead over Kunze!, 218-187, heading into the Red 30 OCTOBER 5,2005 • CYCLE NEWS Bull Supermoto A-Go-Go in Reno on October I, in which the second Supermoto race will pay double points. "I just have to keep doing what I'm doing," Ward said. "I want to go in there, be fast and practice, get a front-row start and try to lead. It's the same as last year because of that double-points deal. I need to be in the top five for sure." Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Burkhart won't have the same worries as Kunzel or Ward, as the 25-year-old Ohioan went one better than them by wrapping up the inaugural AMA Supermoto Lites Championship - and the first AMA title of his career - by going fIVe for ftve in Supermoto Lites events held this year. Burkhart's title also marked the first for the Yamaha brand in AMA Superrnoto. In Supermoto Unlimited, France's David Baffeleuf claimed his third win of the season for the HMC/Generations of Sonoma KTM team, moving past early race leader and Copper Mountain doubleheader winner Troy Herfoss of Australia to win the 19-1ap feature for the bigdisplacement machines. Nevertheless, the final round at Reno is set for a title shootout among three riders: series points leader and HMC/Generations of Sonoma KTM rider Darryl Atkins, All Access KTM's Micky Dymond and Paciifco/GP Husqvarna's Herfoss. The three riders are within six points of one another. The racing unfolded on a muchimproved Music City Motorplex layout and before a much-improved crowd. The nine-turn circuit once again utilized threequarters of the facility's 18-degree banked, paved half-mile NASCAR, with the riders ducking off the banking in between NASCAR tums three and four