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/128612
AMA/EA Spo rts S upercro s s S e r ie s R o u n d 1 5 : R o u t e 66 Ra c eway / da hugged after the fini sh, an d Pastra n a rode up and shook t h e ne w ch amp's ha nd , "I d on 't kn o w really w hat was going through my head: said Roncada from the pod ium , whe re he was already w earing a numbe r- one Fo x jersey, "I was just hap py to be in secon d p la ce . I knew th at Brock go t a very bad start, It was j ust like, 'Stay calm, and st ay wh ere you ere ." "I t's better late th an ne ver." said Fonseca, "I rode a rea lly good race, Stephan e was rid ing rea ll y good , and I wa n t to co ng ra t ul ate h im for th e cha m p ionship ,.. " I had a .g re at year ." sai d Pas trana . "I didn 't reall y have a chance a t t he championsh ip , but 1 reall y wo u ld h ave liked to ha ve taken the w in .. .1 gave i t my all every race , I guess th at's all yo u can. do , I've got to give all the credit and pro ps to Stephane Roncada for winni ng t he ch ampi o n shi p , and B ro ck Sellard s was riding rea ll y good to push m e all the way through." " [Sell ards] had such a great ye ar," said Laf' ort e, "He tried so hard . and he 's obviously disappo lnted , but for me , win n i ng the champ i on s h i p wo u ld j ust ha ve bee n a bon us." eN (Above) Defending champion Ernesto Fonseca (1) finally got his first win of the series. Here he assumes the lead in turn one, ahead of third-place finisher Travis Pastrana 11 9 9 ). Behind Pastrana' s helmet, you can just make out Brock Sellards being pushed out and over turn one. Reute 5& Raceway Jeliet, Illinois Results: April 29. 2oDo [Ifter 8 of 8 ....nds ] (Rightj Here, Sellards remounts f o llo wing h is t u rn-o n e fall, which effectively thwarted his title b id despite a season o f very i m p ressive riding. HEAT 1 ( 6 la ps . 1 -9 t ransfe r) : I . T ra v is Pa stra na (Suz); 2 . Bra nden J es sem an (S UI): 3 . Nathan Ram sey ( Ka w) ; 4 . Paul Curri e ( Hon ) : 5 . J immy Wi lson ( Yam ) : 6. Bro ck Sell ard s (Hen } : 7. Rand y velede ( Hon) : 8 . Ty son Hadsell (Yam) ; 9 . Ryan Cla rk (Suz): 10. David Oettel (Hon): 11. Matt Shu e ( Suz); 12 . Kenny Bartram {Yam}: 13. Paul Carpenter (Hus) ; 14. Jason Fink (Yam): 15. Mich" el BRIEFLY. •• Koch ( Ya m) ; 16 . Scott Metz (Yam ): 17 . As hle y Harri er (KTM ) ; 18 . T i m Hawth orn e ( K a w }: 19 . Thomas Hofmaster (Hon ); 20 . Ty ler Evans (Suz) . Winner's Time: 7 m in.• 57.240 sec. HEAT 2 ( 6 lap s , 1 ~ 9 tra nsfer): 1. Enresto Fonseca { Yam} ; 2 . St ephene Ronceda (Yam ) ; 3. Nicholas Wey (Kaw): 4, Kelly Smith (KTM): 5, Jason Riders aren't the only ones to D NF a night after a hard cras h, as one A BC camera m a n proved in Joliet. In the second 250cc heat race, M att hieu Sm ith overshot a berm and cente r-punched the unfo rtunate videographer. sending him and his camera cras hing to the stadium floor . The cameraman (and his damaged camera) called it a night. This is the seventh SX titl e lor Jeremy McG rath, which gives him the rec o r d f or National C h ampionships (his o utdoo r titles makes eight) , Rick Johnson and Jell W ard each have seven, He didn't ge t the title, but David Vu illemin co uld be a h a l f· m illio n dollars r icher next wee k il things go his w ay, That' s because V uillemin has a very realistic chance 01 wi nning the Van s Triple Cr ow n 01 Supercro ss, whose final round is at the Las Vegas S upercro ss. II he doesn' t win in V egas, V uille min (w ho won the li rst two Triple Crown ro und s J anuary 22 in San D iego and M arch 25 in M inneapolis), co uld still take home $25 ,000 w orth 01 Va ns money , This wee k' s R acer X G as Card prize we nt to Nintendo-sponsored J ell Hedden, the best rider not to q ualify l or the 250c c main eve nt. • Team KTM boss Selva raj N arayana was missing at Joliet after having so me health pro blem s earlier in the wee k, Ju st befo re a busi ness tri p to Austria, Narayana began feeling poorly, He made the flight anyway, but when the probl em got w or se, he had some tests do ne and ret urned to the U ,S , early , A ccor ding to Yamaha Team Manager Keith McCarty, .Ji m my Button is progressing we ll. The four-stroke rider, injured at the San D iego Supercross in January, moved out of the A rizona rehabilitation facility in which he w as staying and is living with his aunt. He perform ed a flex te st in the week bel ore J oliet, and it was determ ined that he had no ligament damage , so he traded in his halo lor a plastic brace, Butt on is regaining mor e leeling, and has bee n w oriking out on a tre admi ll and in a swi mming po ol. Butt on was scheduled to undergo another flex test as we wen t to press o n Monday , May 1. After yea rs in the tiddler class, wi ll St ephane Roncada a d va n ce to the 2 5 05 now that he finally got his title? - Myself, I wou ld realIy like to move on to the 250 s next yea r, - he said, ' 1wan t to be in that class with those guy s ou t there, and be riding 250s, I' m 2 1 now , and I've be en riding 125 s l or a long time now , but 01 co urse I think the team w ants me to del end my title, I under stand that, and It wo uld be a good thing to del end number one, but I really wa nt to move up , so I don ' t know , " A nybody looki ng l or a new truck at a used price? A long with all the money he w on w ith his cham pions hip, Je remy M cG rath also picked up a new T oyota t ruck for his efforts (Toyota is the series' presenting spo nso r), McG rat h is spo nso red by M azda, Speaking 01 the champ, within minutes 01 the race 's finish, he was weari ng a T· shirt wit h the wo rds " Mc G rath - and - seve n" on it. along with a cartoon 01 himself rolling a seve n w ith a pair 01dice (pic ture) , 10 M AY 1 0 . 2 000 ' cue I e n e _ s lap and fell. That allowed by Roncad a and T eam SplitFire/Mazda/Pro Circuit Kawas ak i's Nick Wey (a lso with an ex tre me out side sho t at th e t itle) , and left Pastrana b ack in fourt h. He was qu ickly back by Wey for third , however. but af te r his seco nd c r ash of t h e ma in ( a fall i n a turn on lap sev en) , the Suzuki rider w as about 20 seconds behind the lead ing du o. Se llards , meanwhi l e , c o nt in ue d passing riders like they were stand ing still , go ing from 13th , to J Oth, to nin th, to sevent h , to fifth in the first f ive laps. He wou l d ad v an c e o n e m o re p o si t ion , and c ha llenge Pastrana fo r thi rd. bu t b y t h en i t wa s clear that the Yamaha of Troy riders were l o n g gone . and m u c h of t he wi nd left Sell ards' sails, Fonseca pulled a bit from a conservative Roncada to take the wi n , with Pastrana notching third and Sell ards and Wey following in fourth and fifth . Nathan Ramsey followed h i s teamma te Wey in sixth , and the top 10 were rounded out by Demarini 's Ryan Clark , Fast by Ferraci Husqvarna 's Paul Carpenter. Plano Honda 's Paul Currie and A .M , Leonard's Joseph Oehlhof. Fonseca and an emotional Ronca - Thomas (Yam); 6, Robbie Skaggs (Hus): 7, Mark Burkhart (KTM): 8, James Evans (Yam): 9, Barry Carsten (Suz): 10, Joseph Oehlhof (KTM): I I. Josh Whitmire (Yam); 12. Bria n Sto ne (Kaw) ; 13 . Chri s Wheeler (KTM); 14. Aaron Dieter (Sua): 15. Charlie D agn er (Y am ): 16 . Mark wundrec k (Yam ) : 17 . Mich ael Ivers (Yam) ; 18. Ky le Williams ( Ka.....); 19. Nick Walsh (Suz); 20 . Dennis Owens (Kaw). Winner's lime: 7 min .. 5 1.140 sec. LCQ (4 laps, 1-4 transfer): I. Tyler Evans (Suz): 2. Joseph Oehlhor (KTM); 3. Paul Carpen ter (Hus): 4. Kenny Bartr am (Yam ): 5 . Chr is Wheeler (KTM) ; 6. Kyle Williams ( Kaw); 7 . Josh Whitmi re (Yam ) ; 8 . Scott Metz (Yam); 9 , Thomas Hofmaster (Hon) : 10. Michael Koch (Yam): 11. Ashley Harrier (KTM): 12, Aa ron Dieter (Sue) : 13. Mark Wundrack ( Yam) ; 14. Michael Ivers (Yam); 15. Tim Hawthorne (Kaw): 16. Cha rlie Dagner ( Yam ); 17 . Matt Shue (SUL); 18 . David Oertel ( Hen) : 19. Ja50n Fink (Yam) ; 20 . Brian Stone (Ka ..... ) : 21. Nick Walsh (S Ul); 22 . Dennis Owens (Kaw}. Winner ' s Time: 5 min.. 28 ,320 sec. MAIN ( 15 laps ) ; I . Ernesto Fonseca (Yam ): 2 . Stephene Roncada {Yam) : 3. Travis Pastrana (Suz) : 4. Brock Sellards (Hen ]: 5. Nicholas Wey (Kaw): 6. Nathan Ramsey (Kaw) ; 7 Ryan Clark (Suz): 8. Paul Carpenter (Hus) ; 9 . Paul Currie (Hon) ; 10. Joseph Oehlhof (KTM ): II. Tyler Evans (SLlZ): 12. Branden J essem an (SUI ) : 13 . Kenny Bartram ( Yam); 14. Robbie Skagg s (Hus}; 15. Ty son Hadsel l ( Yam): 16. Barry Ca rste n {SOl}; 17 . Raney Valad e (Han) ; 18 . Mark Burkhart (KTM): 19, Kelly Smith (KTM); 20, Jim m y Wilson (Yam) ; 2 1. .Jernes Evans (Yam); 22 . J ason Thomas (Y" m) . Winner's Ti m e: 18 mi n.• 50 .440 sec. Winner's Avera ge Lap: I m in.. 15.362 sec. Margin of Victory: 4 .00 1 sec. AMA 125« EASTERN REGIONAL CHAMP IONSHIP SERIES FINAL POINTS STANDINGS: I. Stephane Ronc ede (1 72 /4 wins) ; 2. Broc k Sellar ds (1 68): 3. Travis Peetrane ( 164/2 wins): 4 . Nich olas Wey ( 144): 5. Ernesto Fonseca (13 1/ 1 win) ; 6. Branden.Jeseemen (98); 7, Tyler Evans (95); 8, Michael Brandes (74/1 win): 9, (TIE) Kelly Smith/ Paul Currie (73): II , Ryan Clark (70): 12, Nathan Ramsey (56) ; 13, Joseph OehJ hof (48) ; 14, Barry Carsten (46 ); 15. Matt Shue (45); 16, (TIE) Robbie Skaggs/ Pa Carpenter (391: ul 18, Tyson Hadsell (32) : 19, Jelf Gibson (28); 20, Doug DeHaan(17), Upcoming Round EasVWest Challenge - Las Vegas, Nevada, May6