Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Indlenepolis. IN . Febl"'uer-y 1 2. :2oc::x:J AMA,lEA Sports Supe ....c ....oss Se....ies Round 6: RCA Dome grab on the parade lap, he ended up crashing instead and got even more. "I was just having fun," Pastrana said of the accident. "It took all the pressure off me. I was going to do a seat-grab and then decided not to halfway through. My whole routine was then messed up and I couldn't grab the brakes before I went into the comer and , went through the foam blocks and fell. Roger asked me not to do any tricks and then he gave me a nice look, but it really loosened me up for the start." The tall and lanky rider just brushed himself off and ripped a great start moments later. Pastrana finished the first lap in third behind Brandes and Sellards, and things looked good. On lap three, he slammed into the side of Sellards and the two hit the ground. He remounted quickly and then put a great stuff-pass on Sellards a lap later in a tight bowl turn. After losing several positions during the crash. Pastrana was now in fourth. He passed Evans a lap later for third, but on lap 1 1 of IS, he lost his front wheel over a small jump and went down again. Pastrana made his final two passes on the downed Roncada-Fonseca fiasco and took his first EA Sports Supercross checkered flag in fourth. All of this while wearing a mini cast due to a thumb injured several weeks earlier. "My goal was to go out and get a good start, but I made some rookie mistakes." Pastrana explained. "Brock actually hit me real hard in the third corner and I should have cooled down. but he made a mistake a little later and I thought I had more room than I actually did and ended up landing on him. You can't land on people. They don't have eyes In the back of their head.· Pastrana went on to say, "' just have to start riding smarter. I don't want to make any enemies out there and I want to have fun, but , want to win so bed. I have to realize that I can't win them all. I had a great time tonight. Top five was all I expected and fourth was great, but how I did it was a diSllppointment. Everyone has been real supportive, and I went up to Brock and he was cool too.· Fifth went to Splitfire/Pro Circuit-Kawasaki's Nick Wey. The Michigan native started the final in ninth and made plenty of passes on his way to the front. While holding down the fourth position on lap three, he clipped Sellards' rear wheel and went down hard. Now Wey was being re-passed by all of thing is I rode a lot and talked a lot with [team manager] Larry Brooks about pacing myself and riding a steady pace and not overdoing it. I was about the same at the end as I was in the beginning. I slowed down the last couple of laps, because there was nobody in front or behind me. It was kind of rutted, so I didn't want to take any chances.· FEBRUARY 23, 2000' cue 1 sf 8l ]25 HEAT I (20 riders, 6 laps, 1-9 transfer to main): I. Michael Brandes (Hon); 2. Nick Wey (Kaw); 3. Travis Pastrena (Suz); 4. Paul De_lnf'. TyIet' E_l45I c o ~ to tum ........ ........ .., .......... tIIIrcIln the 12l1cc ....... because of the regional confliction, Ramsey showed that he has the speed that earned him his title last year. A first, lap crash was his biggest hindnlOce as he ended the first lap in 20th. "I just clipped some guys' rear wheel while in the thick of it on that first lap: Ramsey said before heading out. "I think I was riding a little bit tight all night and not being methodic. I missed little things here and there and came through the pack decent, but sixth is a bummer. I didn't have too high of an expectation on myself, as I'm not quite 1OO-percent.· Seventh and eighth were YoT teammates Roncada and Fonseca. The two riders each had their share of problems leading up to their combined problem. Roncada started in fourth but dropped 250 HEAT 1 (8 laps, 1-4 transfer to main): 1. Devld Vuillemin (Yem); 2. Mike laRocco (Han): 3. Seboslien Tortelli 9Hon): 4. Greg Albertyn (Su,): 5. Heeth Voss (Hon); 6. Damon Huffmen (Suz); 7. Jean-Sebastien Roy )Hon); 8. Grayson Goodman (Hon): 9. Shayne Kin9 (KTM»: 10. Marco Dube _ ..... F*-y 12, z.- ( Ind~......lls, Ind~... Results: Feb.-Sly 12, 2080 (lleund I of llJ n it took some time to get it out. "I just had the worst luck out there," Roncada pointed out. "Nothing but bad luck." Bill's Pipes/Motorious.com/AXO's Branden Jesseman finished a quiet ninth, followed by KTM/Thor/HJC-backed Kelly Smith. AM Leonard/KTM's Mark Burkhart was] lth. with Suzuki riders Matt Shue, Tony Lorusso and Barry Carsten in tow. Plano Honda's Paul Currie rounded out the top 15. 11:II led RCA lIome I e back to 10th due to the Sellards/Pastrana incident. Fonseca started in eighth and blazed to the front early on, holding second place for nearly nine laps. Roncada came back through the pack and actually caught up to Fonseca, and while making the pass, Fonseca tipped over and' fell into Roncada. Fonseca's leg was jammed in Roncada's rear wheel, and aD-. As the field spread out over the course of the race, Albertyn settled into eighth on what he said was a frustrating night. The 250cc National Champion fell three times, always with another rider or into a hay bale. The race seemed interminable, and Albertyn tensed up. Though he never gave up, Albertyn said, "Pretty much the whole night I didn't feel great.· Ninth was Tortelli. Like McGrath, Tortelli came into the race weakened by the flu, and he was further hampered when he tangled with Huffman. As he tried to pick his Honda up, the Frenchman said he, "just felt like all my power went away." Moto XXX's Kyle Lewis took IOth.CN Mazda/Chaparral Yamaha's Tim Ferry. Ferry had been part of the group contesting fifth, along with Suzuki's Greg Albertyn, and Honda's Windham and Sebastien Tortelli, and was riding consistently throughout the main. "The last couple of weeks, I rode really fast in the beginning of the races, and at the end of the races, that really was my weak point," Ferry admitted. "I was getting passed. Last week, I went from 15th to sixth and back to 10th. This week, my main 10 his competitors, and then while trying to pick up his bike, the throttle was stuck wide open and the bike went out of control off the track. Wey was now in 14th place. but he had plenty of time left. He put his head down and made nine passes throughout the next 11 laps and salvaged a decent finish. "I was moving up good but tried to make a Iitlle too aggressive pass on Brock and hit his wheel: Wey said after the event. "Then the bike launched across the track, and I just got going and got back up to fifth," Wey's Splitfire-teammate athan Ramsey followed in sixth. The 1999 Western Regional Champion also had an interesting night while wearing a brace on his wrist. Sporting the number 24 ... S Cu",e (Hon): 5. Jim Povolny (Hon): 6. Mau Walker (Hon); 7. Branden Jesseman (SUlI: 8. Jeff Gibson (Yam): 9. BrUIn Mason (Ka,.,): 10. Todd DeHoop (Vam); II Ronnie Renner (Vem): 12. Kelly Sm,th (KTM); 13. Kurt Jennison (Vem); 14. Jim Neese (Vam): 15. Hans Neel (Hon): 16. Jemes Elckel (Vam): 17 Doug DeHaen (Hon); 18. Carey West (Vem): 19. Brian Stone (Hon). rome: 5 min.. 39.370 sec. Margin of Victory: 4.430 sec. 125 HEAT 2 (20 riders, 6 laps, 1·9 transfer to main): I Stephane Ronc da (Vam): 2. Brock Sellards (Hon): 3 Tyler Evans (Su,): 4 Emesto Fonseca (Vam): 5 Ryan Clark (SUl): 6. Nathan Ramsey (Ka,.,); 7. Joseph Oehlhof (KTM); 8. Jason Thomes (Vam); 9 BatTy Carsten (Suz); 10. Robboe Skaggs (Hus); II. "Iau Shue (Suz): 12. Tony Lorusso (SUl): 13 Marl< Buri

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