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/128403
Williamson the Winner at Morrison OMA justin Williamson showed poise and confidence at The Race, round 10 of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motor- Justin Williamson took a big cycle and ATV Nationals, win at the Morrison OMA race presented by Pirelli, in in Illinois. Fenton, Illinois, on October 30. Williamson, aboard the Williamsonracing.com Yamaha YZ2S0, ran in front for most of the 70-mile event, but he couldn't shake jimmy jarrett, on the Andrews Cycles/Kenda/Moose Suzuki RM2S0. jarrett, the defending champ, thought he had it won when he passed Williamson a few miles from the finish. Williamson, however, found a faster line around a log section and repassed jarrett. As they entered the motocross track for the final few hundred yards, Jarrett lost his bearings in the dark peat dust, overjumped a small jump, and cartWheeled off the track, tweaking his wrist and sealing his runner-up finish. Shane Watts came from behind to finish third. He was unable to mount a serious charge for much of the last half of the race after hitting something, which almost tore the pipe from his KTMHutt.com/Fun Mart Cycles/Moose 200 EXC. A split radiator hose The inaugural Red Bull Last Man Standing off-road race is just around the corner, and preparations are well under way in Bulcher, Texas, for the one-of-a-kind event that will be held on November 12. Here, a rider makes a test run through one of the lighted night sections. The race covers 160 miles, and two of the four 40-mile loops will be held in daylight and the other two at night. Through a series of eliminations, the 200 invited riders who will start the race will be reduced to just 2S for the start of the fourth and final loop. The winner will take the lion's share of the $1 B,OOO purse. Some of the country's top off-road racers are expected to compete, including AMA National Enduro Champion Mike lafferty and AMA Trials Champion Geoff Aaron. For more information, visit Williamson's win leaves him still a few points short of Jarrett with one round remaining, and the unofficial results have him tied for sec- www.redbuillastmanstanding.com. ond with Watts. also left him precariously Iowan coolant. After running as high as third, Brian Garrahan claimed fourth on his Rentoneonline.com/NorCaI Motorsports/Moose Suzuki RM250, while Kawasaki rider Alan Westerfield finished fifth in the Pro class and sixth overall. Open A winner Matt Fish, on a KTM 2S0, was fifth overall. Mark Kariya The World Beats Team USA Team USA had its four-year win streak in the annual USA vs. The World Speedway Championships broken on Friday night, October 28, as former World Speedway Champion jason Crump led Team World to its first-ever victory in the series held at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, California. USA vs. The World is the traditional finale of the AMA Speedway season at Fast Fridays. and the event drew an enthusiastic crowd despite chilly weather and a fore- cast of rain. The program was completed just ahead of a band of rain showers. Australia's Crump led the determined six-rider Team World to a 60-SS point lead after 18 heat races that led up to pivotal A and B main events. The championship was still up for grabs at that juncture. since points paid in the main events made a 21-point turnaround in team scoring possible. But the Team World pairing of Italian Captain Armando Castagna and American john Cook (representing Team World as a former Swedish National Champion) shut the door on Team USA with a one-two finish in the B main event that swelled the World's lead to an unbeatable 70-51. Crump's victory in the A main event then finished off the 86-59 decision in favor of Team World. This was Crump's first-ever appearance at Fast Fridays Speedway, but the 2004 World Champion and current World number two looked very much at home. He was challenged on several occasions by Team USA riders, but in the end he swept all six of his heat races as well as the featured A main event. Under the unique USA vs. The World team format, both six-rider teams were divided into three pairs of riders, and each race featured one pair from each team. Crump was partnered with English star Joe Screen, and that duo was by far the most dominant on the night, as Crump and Screen scored a match-high 28 points of a possible 30. The Team World pairing of Castagna and Cook put a solid 22 points on the board, while the best Team USA combinations (Faria with Bryan Yarrow, and Charlie Venegas with Bobby Schwartz and reserve rider Buck Blair) posted 17 points each. In individual heat-race scoring, Crump led the way with an 18-point maximum, followed by Castagna and Venegas with 14 each and Faria with 1I. "The meeting was a lot closer than the final score suggests," said Fast Fridays promoter Dave Joiner. "In fact, the score was tied seven times, but down the stretch, the seasoned pros from Team World prevailed." In Support-class action, teenager Ricky Wells of Yorba Linda, California, captured the Youth main event, ahead of Krystal Cramer of Chino, California. Both are 14 years old. 10 NOVEMBER 9,2005 • CYCLE NEWS Tedesco First Nominee for Athlete of the Year AMA 12S West Supercross and 12Scc National Motocross Champion Ivan Tedesco is the first of several nominees for the AMA Pro Racing Speed Channel Athlete of the Year, an award to be handed out during the AMA Pro Racing awards banquet in Las Vegas on November 20. In addition to earning his two titles this year, Tedesco was also a member of the triumphant Team USA Motocross of Nations squad. Long considered a supercross specialist, Tedesco, a New Mexico native who now resides in Southern California, furthered that belief by winning his second AMA 125 West Supercross Series in April. The 24-year-old earned six straight podium finishes in the 12S West class, including wins at Anaheim II and III in Angel Stadium. That consistency earned him the championship, wrapping up the series with a round remaining. While it was no surprise that Tedesco scored another supercross title, his big breakthrough came during the grueling AMA Motocross Championship, where he proved that he could be a motocross champion. Tedesco went I-I at Thunder Valley Motocross Park in lakewood, Colorado, in july to score his first national victory. That win catapulted him into the series lead, a position he would never relinquish. He followed his Thunder Valley National victory with a win at Washougal to build a large points lead, which he held to the end of the season. Tedesco was named to join Ricky Carmichael and Kevin Windham to represent the United States in the prestigious Motocross of Nations, and the trio brought back the trophy to America for the first time in five years. "It feels good to be recognized with my first Athlete of the Year nomination," Tedesco said. "This season will be one I'll never forget. To win the West Supercross title, the outdoor Nationals and then the Motocross of Nations was really more than I could have hoped for. The only bad thing about it is that it's going to be hard to top this season." Emerging as motocross champion in his sixth year of pro racing was the highlight of the year for Tedesco. "I worked really hard to improve my motocross skills, and it paid off," Tedesco explained. "I knew I'd put in the work, but there were a lot of talented riders in the class, and to be able to come out on top was a great personal accomplishment." Tedesco plans on moving up and contesting the AMA Supercross and Motocross Championships next year. He'll do so as a member of the Team Makita Suzuki squad.