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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October 2, 2005 SUPERMOTO ~ AMA/NASMOTO Amateur Championships Amateurs invade Reno streets during the Red Bull Supermoto weekend By MARK WOI.IRlNK PHoTos IV TAU IoGARTI G1NG1RSNAPs (Above) Scott Hofman (43) leads Roger Hensley (47) and the rest of the Vet class on a wild ride through the streets of downtown Reno during the NA5MOTO Amateur Championships. Hensley won the race offer HoHman crashed out. (Right) Hensley (70) actually won two classes on the day, claiming the 5M2 event as well. Supermoto's Amateur A-Go-Go cing on the Red Bull Supermoto A-Go-Go Track, the AMA NASMOTO Amateur Championships gave riders rom around the country the chance to test their mettle on a professional Supermoto track. The urban cross jumps may have been changed out and the pits relocated, but the experience of riding on the streets of downtown Reno remained unchanged. The dirt section, manhole covers, casino marquees, and spectators were all still there, making rock stars out of racers. The large number of entries required last-chance qualifiers in many classes, so it R 32 was midafternoon by the time the feature races were started. The SM2 main was the first race on Sunday afternoon, and after a weekend of racing, the track was run in and getting faster with every lap. Roger Hensley took the holeshot, with Chad Cose, Scott Hoffman and Stuart Sinclair giving chase. Cose briefly stuck his nose into clean air, but he was unable to hold off Hensley as the front four left the rest of the field behind them. Cose was putting the most pressure on Hensley, while Hoffman was staying close enough to capitalize on any mistakes made by the leaders. Three laps from the end, both Hoffman and Sinclair passed Cose, but oaOBER 19,2005 • CYCLE NEWS they were unable to catch Hensley, who led most of the race. Hensley was excited about his first-ever Supermoto win. '" have always got seconds and thirds, and this happened and that happened," Hensley said. "Today has been great!" The Amateur class had the most entries in Reno, and nearly as many people were gridded in the last-chance qualifier as in the main event. Frankie Garcia took the holeshot in the day's second feature race, but from the very first turn, Chad Freeman took off and did an amazing impression of an SM I-level rider. Garcia was out of the race after only two laps, which left Freeman free to build his lead. Brian Barton, Graham Gustin and Steve Isenhower were also in the hunt early in the race. Isenhower had a great start but was unable to keep up with the leaders and slowly dropped back as Freeman continued to get away. That left Barton in second, fighting to keep ahead of Gustin. Kevin Vossen ran a few blistering laps late in the race to finish fourth. Scott Hoffman of SuperMoto Racer Magazine had a chance to ride Mickey Dymond's championship-winning bike in the Vet main, and he made good use of the equipment and took the holeshot, ahead of Hensley, Gary Dick and David Deveau. Then Hoffman went down in the