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/128615
A super -smooth and patient Windham waltzed past Carmichael when the Kawasak i rider nearly crashed on a downhill section of the track. From th ere Win dham ope ned up a co mfort abl e lead and cruised to victory . Meanwhile, Carm ichael ph ys ically ran out of gas and couldn't hold ba ck a battling Tortell i and Vuillem in any lo nger. He fad ed to a distant fourth , wh ile Tortelli and Vuillernin diced for th e overall w in . Vuillemin cam e out ahead of that bat tl e, wh ich resulted in hi m ta k ing the Hangtown title, despite Windham win ning the m oto. "I wasn't thinking about the overall: said Vuillemin . "A ll I wanted to do was pass Ricky [CarmichaelJ and Sebasti en [To rtelli]. But I'm happy I won and I'm feeling really good." For Windham , wh o has been crit i cized somewhat this seaso n for being unable to hand le late-race pressure, his second -moto win co uldn 't have come at a better time. '" think it' s good for these guys to see and know that I'm going to be strong in the second moto, regardless if it 's 100 [deg ree sJ or 80 ," Windha m said after going 4 -1 for runn er-up honors. "I didn't let the pressure get to m e; havi ng someone beh ind m e. I'm try ing to m ak e a stateme nt here early in the year that I'm going to be a threat in the second moto." A s for Carmi c hael , he w asn't too pleased with hi s second-moto perf or mance . '" rode like a baby, " he said. "It was hot. I made too many mistakes that's the bottom line, and it cost me. I would've hung in there if I wouldn't have made so man y m istak es, but that's the way it goes - 1 got beat. Next week we go back east, and everything will be good ," Carmi chael 's 1-4 sti ll put him on th e podium in third pla ce. A pa ir of th ird -p la ce fin ishes gave Tortell i fourth, but h e w asn 't happ y with that. . "I ' m n ot ve ry sa t is f ied w ith m y self, " T ortell i sai d . " I never felt co m fo rt able o n th e trac k , wh ich is the track I ride the wo rst [on the ci rcui t]." Mike laRocco , on the Amsoil /Compet ition Accessories /Jac k in the Box/Factory Connection Honda, said he was glad to come awa y with fifth overall after go ing 5 -6 . "I hu rt m y ankle last wee k at Glen Helen , and it was reall y bothering m e toda y ," he said . Sixth overa ll wi t h a 7 -5 tally wa s th e defending cha m p Greg A lb ertyn . T he Tea m Su zu k i rider was bo g ged down in the fi rst moto after tweaking his knee while ru nni ng sixth. "My le g [t he o ne he bro ke a few months ago J is great, but my knee is giving m e a littl e bi t of pro blems . I hu rt it in D ec ember before th e firs t Supercr os s - I hyp er -ext ended it , and th at ' s w ha t hap p e n ed i n t he first m oto. I came in and my front whee l washed a little b it , and I st uck it [h is leg ] out. It h u rt so bad I had to go slow fo r about a half lap." (Above) At Hangtown, Carmichael picked up where he left off - winning. He topped the first moto but couldn't find his groove in the second mete, (Above right) Kevin Windham (14) scored an impressive second·moto w in, putting an end to Ricky Carmichael's three moto win streak. He ended up seventh in the moto a n d onl y improved on that by two pos it io n s in the second moto, after getting off to an eighth -place start. "Not a good day for m e," Albertyn sa id . " I just fel t like I couldn't get goi ng th e whole day." Albert y n ' s Suzu k i teamm ate Ro b bie Re ynar d , w h o co u l d n o t get a good start, fin ished ou t th e day in sev enth overall , going 6 -7, while Honda's Ezra Lusk to ok ei g hth ov era ll with a pair of eighth -pl ace fin ishes. Round ing o ut th e t o p 10 ove ra ll were Te am Ch evy T ruck s K aw asa k i ri d e r s John D owd ( 9 - 9) a n d L a rr y Ward ( 11- 10) . Suzuki's Damon Huffman fi nis hed II th with 10 -12 moto fin ishes. M OTO ON E Carmichael shot his Chad Watts tuned Kawasa ki into the lead at the start of the first 250cc moto, and all of the seri es supersta rs were right beh ind h im : Vui llem in , Windham , Torte lli, Lus k , LaRocco and A lbertyn . Not gating qui te so well we re Dowd , Ward and Huffman . Vui llem in d id eve rythi ng he could to ge t around Carmichael righ t away but j us t could n't m a k e a ny pass attem pt stick. Inst ead, he began los ing gro u nd t o t he Kaw asak i rid er , w h ile Wi n d ha m a n d T ort e ll i bega n m ixin g it up behind h im . Ca rm ich ae l was on hi s game , as he stret ch ed o ut about a five -second lea d over Vuillemi n an d ke pt it there the whole race. T he th ree -time 125cc National MX C h a m p i o n regularly l o oked back over h is shoulder to monitor the Yamaha rid er. He eventu ally took th e win with approximately fou r seco nds to spare. "Everyt hing went good: Carmichael said of his first-moto w in . " But it got a little hot there towards the end , and D avid was rig ht there o n my ta il , so I co uld n' t rel ax." " I didn 't charge too hard , because I di dn' t fee l so good in th e first m oto ," Vu ille m in sai d. " So Ricky wo n easy an d I got an easy second." To rt elli and Win dh am mi xed it up for much of th e race, as they battled fo r third p lace. Tortelli held down tha t position for mu ch o f t h e ra ce , an d th en near the 20 -minute mark , Windham finall y got h im . Bu t W in dham would make a couple of m ista ke s late in the race that would hand Tortell i third , w ith Windham se t t l ing f o r fourth . "I c ame together with a lapper w ith abo ut fo u r la ps left, th en I wen t into a rut, and m y rea r whe el came out of it and spun around on me," W in dh am s a i d at th e e n d of the day . " I f I wo ul d've sta y ed up , I wo u ld've h ad eno ug h to get it [th e overall] ." After pas sin g Lu sk ea rly in th e ra ce , LaRocco hung out in fifth place Team Suzuki's Travis Pastrana re-broke his thumb when he crashed in the second moto at th e ser ies opening Glen Helen National the previous week, but that didn't pr ev ent him from ra cing at Hangtown. Instead, Pastrana had a special "mini" cast made, which he wore on his right hand. Pastrana was running near the front of the pack in the fir st 125cc moto when he crashed hard in a rocker section. Then he crashed again deep in the field while trying to make a comebac k. Af t er th e secon d crash, Pastrana decid ed that enough was enough and retreated to the Suzuki pits, and many thought that he was done for the day. But that wasn't the case. (We should 'v e known.) The enthusiastic teenager was back out on the track for mota two, where he finished a remarkable second. He ended up 10th overall for the day. "I landed pretty hard on my head twice in that first moto, but I figured that I had come all this way, so I might as well keep riding," Pastrana said. Travis Pastrana. a gloveless, casted throttle hand couldn't even stop him. Dave Derin ger eye I .. n e _ s • MAV31 ,2000 13