Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

steady and, like I said, my right arm was tight. I didn't need to take no chances. To catch him I would have had to hang it out. That's not what I wanted to do." The top two didn't change for the duration, but third did. At the start it was Suzuki's Greg Albertyn, the South African holding on for six laps before getting moved back to fourth by Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Larry Ward. On the move was Vuillemin, the Frenchman trying to atone for a midpack start that effectively ended his chances of winning his third consecutive race. "The first five laps were pretty difficult, because I was maybe seventh, but then after when I pass everybody to third place, it was much better," Vuillemin, who won the 125cc race here in 1998, said. "I had a free track. It takes time, it takes me time to do that, which is why 1 could not deal with Ricky." Vuillemin said that by the time he made his way into third, with a jump pass inside of Ward on the 11th of 20 laps, the leade!s had split. "I tried to catch them. I caught Ricky a little bit in the beginning, but after the race was almost over, there was too much gap, so I stayed back." Vuillemin said with five laps to go he settled into third. By then he was well clear of fourth, where Suzuki's Albertyn had returned after dropping to fifth at midrace. To take the spot, Albertyn passed Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Larry Ward through the jumps on the west side of the stadium. "I think I'm getting better every single week, and that's what I've been working towards," Albertyn said. "I was really frustrated in the beginning. I'd been working harder than I've worked and just nothing was coming together. I feel like I'm putting in some solid finishes now. It was a good ride. I had a good start and hung in there. Kind of spread out a little bit and then Larry (Ward) got me and eventually I got him back. Pretty uneventful." going down on the fourth lap in a tight left, when he hit the front wheel of the Mazda/Chaparral Yamaha of Tim Ferry. "I was around sixth and Tim Ferry ended up getting inside of me and his back end came around and took my front wheel out, and I ended up dropping back," LaRocco, who was riding with a sore shoulder, said. "I dropped back to 10th and after that I kind of set a little rage, and I started riding a little more like I should be riding. I ended up catching back up to fifth, which salvaged the night compared to what it was going to be. All in all, it could have been a lot worse, but, like I said, I definitely felt off my game tonight. Last week, I hurt my shoulder and just didn't feel good." Ward would drop one more spot with Amsoil/Factory Connection/ Jack in the Box/Honda's Mike LaRocco passing him as they crossed over the start chute on the final lap laRocco had an up and down day, !J[J®r!l!l fJDD@Jj [f/®fJ fJDD@[J@ ~@@@@ @Wfi]D!JfJlJO[JiJ@ The heat races didn't provide any surprises. The two riders who've dominated the series so far dominated their respective heat races, with Yamaha's David VuilJemin taking the first heat and Mazda/Chaparral Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath taking the second - and faster heat. Of the two heat wins McGrath's was the harder earned. Instead of his usual holeshot, Larry Ward (1 01 leads the second 250cc heat McGrath found himself in the mid- race. die of the group going into the hard - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - left at the end of the start straight, emerging in fourth, but quickly up to third. From there he picked off the riders one at a time, getting Suzuki's Greg Albertyn before the end of the first lap, then getting Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ricky ~armichael and Honda's Kevin Windham on the first full lap. From lap two on, McGrath led, but he didn't pull away, and Carmichael was about 3.4 seconds back at the end. Windham was third, then Albertyn. "After last week [when he was passed a lap and a half from the end by Vuillemin] I trained really hard, and this week I want to make sure I'm ready," McGrath said. "I want to be out front and 20 hard laps will do that for me." Vuillemin's path was clearer. From the middle of the starting gate he jetted to the front and left the rest to fight over second, showing no ill effects of the left wrist he'd injured two weeks earlier. "I got a good start, but J made some mistakes and after that I rode smooth to the main," the Frenchman said. The three-way fight for second was between Honda's Sebastien Tortelli, Factory Connection/Jack in the Box/Honda's Mike laRocco, and FMF Honda's Brock Sellards. Tortelli held the spot until the fourth lap, when Sellards briefly passed him. Tortelli got the spot back a lap later and his second was safe. laRocco dogged Sellards until the seventh of eight laps, when he passed Sellards for third. Sellards took third, his first direct transfer to a supercross main. What made his ride more impressive was that Sellards caught a vinyl hay-bale cover on his left footpeg halfway into the race, and it threatened to jam into his chain and sprocket. Instead, it just trailed like Superman's cape to the end. Suzuki's Damon Huffman won the first semi with a steady ride, consistently Rulling away from Moto XXX's Kyle Lewis, who finished about five seconds back. Then came the still-recovering John Dowd on the factory-backed Kawasaki. The second semi was the best of the elimination races. Privateer Heath Voss shot to the front on his Great Lakes Aviation Honda with a passel of factory bikes in pursuit. Voss held on for a lap, with Mazda/Chaparral Yamaha's Tim Ferry taking the lead on lap two. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Larry Ward worked up to second a lap later. Ferry pulled away from Ward with Voss ending up third, Austin Squires fourth and Ty Kady fifth. KTM's Shayne King, the 1996 500cc World Champion, made his way into the final with a gritty ride in the LCQ. Early on King cased it hard on a double jump, coming to a near complete stop. But he recovered and held on until Texan Grayson Goodman put his Plano Honda out front. On the last lap, however, everything changed. Goodman led King and Lineman Cycles' Jason Thomas over the finish jump and out of the ensuing hairpin left. Then King made his move, passing Goodman on the short straight before the hairpin right, with Thomas getting Goodman a jump or two later. Goodman made a run at Thomas for the fmal transfer, but tipped over in a berm halfway into the final lap. That put the KTM four-stroke into the final with the Floridian Thomas following on his Yamaha. Ricky Cannlchael appears to be poised to win his first 250cc Supercross. In the last three races, Cannlchael posted 4-3·2 finishes. cycl. n • _ S • FEBRUARY 16. 2000 7

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