Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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the popularity of the Willow Springs Horse Thief Mile racetrack spreads, more of the supermoto community ad been responding, all leading to 274 entries showing up for the eighth STTARS round. Integrated within the STTARS program was the NASMOTO Grand Prix of California, with six classes being qualifiers for the upcoming Reno finale. The SM I and Amateur Supennoto were the only stand-alone NASMOTO races in the program, with the other four classes mixed within existing STTARS classes. The stage was set for a rumble rematch in the SM I final. New Metzeler Tires rider Cameron Welsh, in brand-new Axo leathers, just inched out joker Machine's justin Ross at the stripe in the heat race. Both riders staged on fresh Metzeler rubber for the final. Oxtar Boot's Ross nailed the start and led the field of 23 into the first turn. VP Fuels' Vincent Guisande ran second, with Del Amo Motorsports' Welsh away in third, Cycle Gear's Travis Ellis fourth and Moto Pro's Chad Freeman fifth. By the second trip through the dirt section, Welsh was up to second, not wanting Ross to get away. Lap three saw Ross post a l-minute-and-22.02-second lap as the front two pulled away from the field. On the move from deep in the pack was CHM's Roger Hensley, who had his work cut out for him. But Hensley was up to the task, and by lap four, he was up to the third spot. At the front, Ross and Welsh picked up their pace, with Ross keeping a two-second gap over Welsh at the finish. Hensley came home third, with Chris Cooper quietly moving up to fourth. Remember the name Frankie Garcia. This 14-year-old has stepped up to the plate, so to speak, and was a dual winner on this day. In the 250/SM2 class, Garcia came from a first-lap crash in the heat race to pass seven riders for victory on the final lap. Metzeler/Axo's Garcia took the pole for the final, but Six Six One rider Roger Hensley wasn't going to make this easy for Garcia, as he shot into the lead. Heading into the dirt section for the first time, A 66 __ _ J~~~~~~;~~~~~~!~~I~~~5;~~~~~ Garcia put his Suomy Helmets Honda up front, and the front two started gapping Casey Currie in third and Super-Moto Racer Magazine's Scott Hoffman in fourth. Four laps in, Garcia put in a I:24.04-second lap but still only had less than a half-second gap on Hensley. At the checkered flag, Hoffman made a run at Currie, but the order remained the same for the front four. Garcia's other victory came in the Amateur Supermoto final, in which he rode a borrowed 450cc Honda for the first time to top a field of 27. Garcia aced the start and led every lap en route to the victory, putting in his fastest lap of the day at I minute, 23.14 seconds. The 450cc class has some of the top talent in motorcycle racing. Factory Husqvarna/GP Cycle's Leonardo "Pucho" Bagnis (the current number-one plate holder for STTARS) was making his first appearance since breaking his hand. Would he be up to the task? Not if TLD/CHM's Gary Trachy had anything to say about it. But don't forget Vanson Leather's justin Ross, who led the pack into turn one, followed by none other than Welsh. Trachy and Bagnis were running third and fourth. Four turns Into the first lap, Welsh took the lead, but on the first trip into the dirt, Welsh had problems oaOBER 12, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS and quickly went from first to fourth. At the completion of lap one, Ross led by 1.2 seconds over Trachy and Bagnis. Three laps in, Bagnis made a move on Trachy going down the hill to take away second. Going through the dirt section for the fourth time, Trachy made a spectacular move to go from third to first, as the front three were gapping Welsh in fourth and Bryson Hopfe in fifth. By lap five, Trachy and Bagnis had their own private war going as they picked up the pace. Bagnis was applying immense pressure to Trachy, even tagging his rear wheel at times; then, with one lap remaining, Bagnis forced his way past for the lead. Bagnis went on to win by four bikelengths over Trachy, Ross, Welsh and Hopfe. The final race of the day was the highly anticipated Open Expert/SMX final, where the heat-race winner, Mach I/Arai's Casey Yarrow, sat on pole. However, it was American Honda's Rick Pearce, on the only two-stroke machine in the field, who shot into the lead off the line. Nearly everyone in the pits lined the fence to get a view of the action as Pearce, a former supermoto champion and speedway rider, held the lead all the way to the dirt section, where Yarrow took over. Trachy was in third, with All Access/ KrM/Alpinestars' Micky Dymond in fourth. Pearce overshot the entrance to the dirt and went off the track, having to rejoin in last place. Through the dirt, Yarrow went from first to third in the blink of an eye. Trachy was the new leader, over Dymond, Yarrow, Welsh and Stunts Unlimited's jimmy Roberts. Meanwhile, Bagnis was way back in seventh but moving forward. Dymond was pressuring Trachy hard, as Trachy turned the fastest lap of the day at I minute and 19.42 seconds on lap three. By this point, Bagnis had fought his way into fourth place and was still charging. Dymond was the picture of perfection, as this former National Champion just watched and waited. With two laps remaining, Trachy left a door open, and Dymond went through. Then, half a lap later, Trachy lost the front end in the top section of the course and went down, which left the order Dymond (who posted the second-fastest lap at I minute and 19.68 seconds), Yarrow, Bagnis, Welsh, Guisande, Ross and Pearce (who had climbed back up to seventh). :TheY followed Gary fororder to the finish. "I would hold that most of the race .e was pushing really hard, so I just tucked in and waited," Dymond said on the podium. "Then I finally got him in the dirt. It's too bad he went down a little later. I want to thank Race Tech for the good suspension." "I wanted to show these 'guys I could still run with them, and in the heat race, I did," Yarrow commented. "In the main, I slipped up going into the dirt and they got by, but I just kept pushing and came home second." "Well, my hand is getting better," Bagnis noted. "Pearce had a problem [going] into the dirt that held me up a bit. This race is short, but I hope I will be better for the National coming up." Thus ended a long day of great racing all around. The next time STTARS visits the Horse Thief Mile at Willow Springs will be on October 16, as fans will enjoy the famous Toyota 200 road race and check out supermoto action, too. eN WillOW SPRINGS HORSE THIEF MILE ROSAMOND, CALIFORNIA RESULTS: SEPTEMBER 18, 200S (ROUND 8/QUALIFIER ROUND) MINI-MOTO MAX: I. Jonathan Keams (Hon); 2. Chalme, G'egg (Han); 3. Rkky Wells (Han). MINI-MOTO 65: I. Zach Warnock (KTM); 2. Justin Ducut (KTM); 3. Ryan Kearns (KTM). MINI-MOTO 85: I. Joseph Pascarella (KTM); 2. Cameron Beaubier (SUI); 3. Michael Martin (Hon). MINI-MOTO 110: I. Gregg Riess (Hon); 2. Charmer Gregg (Hon); 3. Ryan Price (Han). MINI·MOTO JR: I. Jared Slate (Suz); 2. Andre Cens (Yam); 3. John Riess (Han).