Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Though h e was no match for Stephane Roncada on this day, Travis Pastrana' s second overall was enough to bum p him up to second in the points standings. FMF /Ho nd a 's Bro c k Sella rds fin ishe d fifth with a n 11 -4 score. Even a flat tire in moto two c ou ld not stop his stro ng finis h. KTM-s ponso re d Rod rig Tha in fin ish ed six t h . His 8 -6 score was not a true indicator as to just how good he ro d e tod a y . Thai n ho le s ho t the s e co nd m ot o and le a d for nea rly s e ve n laps un til Ron c ada go t by him . S ho rtly th e re afte r , Th ain experi en ced an o bv io us b ik e pro b le m , as it b e g a n s putter ing b a d ly a ro u nd t he t ra ck . T h a in ne ve r gav e up , a nd s in c e he had e sta blished a go od lead th e first few la p s , he o n ly fa d ed t o si xth . A fa u lty igni tion wa s s uspected . Mid dl eton , Id a ho 's Dann y S m ith finish e d seven th o ve ra ll. Sm it h ha s be e n one of the most c ons istent riders on the 125cc c ircuit thus fa r, but he ho lds eig hth in th e poin ts . His 6 -8 rides we re , on c e a ga in, c o n s is te nt , a nd he is d ue for a g reat da y . "I got some goo d sta rts th is we eken d , and th at re a lly h e lps ," Smith said after the ra ces . "My Roll-Offs go t ja m med -up, but I didn 't want to take off m y goggles s o I go t a little cons e rva tive at the end." Sufferi ng a m ajo r setba ck o n the day was Works Connection/Troy Lee De s igns /DGY-s pons ore d Stev e La m - son. The Ca liforni an loo ke d to hav e third wrapped up in m oto one but was passed by Pastrana on the fina l la p. A firs t - lap c ra s h in m o t o t wo h a d "Lammy" resta rting at the back of the p a c k , a n d b y th e m oto ' s e n d , the two -t im e 125cc cha mp ion ha d made his way up to 12th . With Roncada ' s perfect score of 50 a nd Pa str an a 's 42, Lamson sl ipped to third in the stand ings , as he scored 27. La m son is now 54 p oi n ts b ehin d Ro n c ad a an d ha s his wo rk cut o ut fo r him th rough o ut the nex t few weeks. "I'll just reg roup a nd do th e best I ca n a t each ra c e, " a d is a p p o in t ed Lamson said fro m his va n a t the en d of the d a y. "Wha t e lse c a n you do? We all ha ve o ur da ys , a nd Ronc a da ke ep s h a v in g good o nes . An yt h ing ca n still ha ppe n to anyon e ." Sp lit Fi re / Pro Ci rcu it Kawasaki' s Billy Pa yn e finis he d ninth o ve rall via h is 13 - 10 r id es , w hil e Pl a n o Honda/MS R/MX Culture 's Pa ul Curri e went 5 -30 fo r 10th o ve ra ll. Curri e h ol e sh ot th e first m o t o a nd h a d a g rea t ride , as he s low ly s lipp ed to fifth . In moto two , the Flo rid ian was the rider that La ms on p lowed into on la p one, and a fte r p icking hims elf up, h e ci rc u la te d t h e t rack for se vera l more laps befo re drop p ing out of the rac e . MOTO ONE Pr iva tee r Barry Carsten had the b e s t ju m p and looked to h a ve the hol eshot , bu t Curr ie took it away from th e o utside . Danny Sm ith, Ron c ad a, Vohl and , Lamson , Plano Honda 's Iva n T e d e s c o a nd FMF/ Hon d a ' s Micha e l Br ande s foll owed . Ca sey Johnson wa s in seventh , while Pastrana was in 10th . "I' ve h o lesh ot a Na t ional before , b u t I wa s never cred ited with the award, " Curr ie later admitted . Roncada m o ved by Currie o n an awkwa rd uph ill jum p halfwa y th rou gh the first lap a nd bega n his route. Currie s ettled into seco nd , wh ile S mi th, Vo h la nd a n d La m s o n sc ra pped fo r positions . On the fourt h of 14 la ps, Roncada had esta blishe d a 10-second lead over Currie a nd was gai n ing nearly th ree seconds per lap on ev e ry othe r rider. Vohland a nd Lamson had both made the ir way past Sm ith , and Pas trana was movi ng forwa rd and wo rk ing on Tedesco. Voh land clo se d in o n th e det er m ined Cu rrie throug hout th e next few la ps , and he m ad e his way into sec o nd on lap seven. Te desco fe ll in the mecha nics ar ea lat er that lap a nd let Pastran a, S ellards a nd Cas ey J ohn s on by him . By th e 10 t h lap , Ron c ada had a 25 -s econd c us h io n o ve r Voh land , Lamson wa s pr e ssu ring Currie , and P astr a n a was u p t o fifth b ehind Da nny Smith a nd s ta rting to fee l re a l c o mfo rt a b le o n the mu lti-lin ed course. Pastra na ju m pe d by S m ith on the new ly added do wnhill jump a la p later and Lam s on g o t by C urr ie in t h e n otor io us G ra vit y Cavity s ho rt ly th er e after for th ird . Wit h the two -lap board out, Pas t ra na was o n a roll, a nd he motor ed by Cur rie for fourt h a nd s et his s igh ts on Lamson. "I sta rte d o ut slow , a nd it too k m e a wh ile to get into m y groove with a ll those rocks and ruts and stuff," Pas trana sa id, "but o nce I saw tho s e guy s , sa id t o m yself, 'Wo w, they 'r e rig ht here ,' a nd I jus t went for it. " Roncada was now 35-plus s e cond s ahea d of Voh la nd and s ti ll p u llin g , a nd, on the fina l la p, Pastrana made a gutsy m ov e by Lamson fo r th ird a nd was looking to c atch Voh la nd . Ron ca d a to ok th e c hecke rs s o me 40-plus s ec ond s ahe ad a nd was a lrea dy being in t e rv ie we d b efo r e th e n e xt r ide r ro lled in . Vo h land barl ey h e ld o ff a ha rd -ch arg in g Pa stran a for second , while La mso n c ro ssed for fou rth with Currie , Sm ith a nd Joh ns on c ros s ing n e xt. T h ai n , Hu s q v a r n a - m o u n t e d T h o mas T r av er s in i a n d Pla no Honda 's Travis Elliot rounded out the top 10 . "The trac k is gr ea t, and I like d it a lot, " winner Ron c ad a said . "T he re a re 2000 d ifferent line s o ut the re ." '" knew th at I wo uldn 't c a tc h Ro nc a d a be ca us e he is ridin g re all y well rig ht now," Voh la nd s ai d. "I di dn 't want to rid e ov e r m y he ad to tr y to ca tc h him when I kne w I wouldn't. " c u e I e M O T OTW O Tha in grabb ed a gr eat sta rt a nd the $50 0 T HQ Ho le sh o t Awa rd . Be h in d him were C as ey Jo hns o n , Se llards, Pa s t ran a , Pa y n e, Currie , Lamson a nd Ro ncada . Voh land was ba ck in 11 tho Ha lfw a y th ro ug h th e first lap , Cu rrie an d La m s on piled up togeth e r o ve r a d ifficu lt uph ill jum p. Cu rrie sa id , "Pa yne c ros s e d over in the a ir a nd it ju st totall y s cr ewe d me u p." La m s on sa id , "Currie just to t a lly s wapped and went do wn , a nd I wa s rig ht beh ind him . , ha d no wh e re to go a nd jus t nail ed h im ." T h e two we re now way b a c k as the fie ld all m otored by , but Lam s on rem oun ted and go t bac k in to th e race qui c k ly . C u r r ie was n ot as e nt hus ed. T h a in le d t h e pack for th e next few laps with Pas trana in sec o nd . Ro ncada wa s o n a c h a rg e a n d was u p to fifth by the th ird la p . He wa s gun ni ng for h is rival Pastrana . T h e two h ad a good b a tt le for ab o ut a lap a fte r Ro nca da ha d c a u g h t up to Pastra na . T h a in was s t ill in c o nt ro l, a nd a ctually ga ined s o m e g round as the two battl ed. Ro ncada even tual ly go t b y a nd was easily t h e fa s t es t rid e r o n th e histor ic tra c k . He t he n b e g an clos i ng o n hi s French c o u n t e r p a rt , Tha in . Ron c a da m o ve d by T ha in fo r th e le a d a la p la te r, a nd it s e eme d as tho ugh Th a in bega n ha ving b ike prob le ms al mos t im me di ate ly , as th e bike was s p uttering a nd popp ing dow n eve ry straight. Pas t ra na wa s n e xt t o c a tc h t h e wo u n de d Th a in , as wa s J o hn so n, who tr a iled b e h in d Pa stra n a . Sell ar ds c a me n e xt , a n d he to o w a s wo u nd ed wi t h a fla t t ire , but he st a y ed o n t h e pace a n d mad e th e p ass. Ron cada pulled s ome d ista nc e on the field , bu t not ne arl y as mu ch as he d id in th e first moto. Pa stran a he ld down s e co nd as J ohnso n p ressu red him . Sellards was a lonely fourth , a nd Vohl a nd wa s the la st rider to catch a bumme d T h a in , who h a d hi s ra ce ta ken awa y from h im. S p lit F ire / Pro Ci rc u it Ka wa saki 's Nick We y , Danny Smi t h , B ill's Pipe s /Axo 's Bran de n J esse ma n a nd Pa yn e rounded o ut th e top 10 . Unadilla Valley Sports Center New Bertin , New Yor Results : July 16, 2000 MOTO I : 1. Stephane Ronca da (Yam ); 2. Tallon Vo hl and ( Kaw); 3 . T ravi s Pastra na (Suz) ; 4 . Ste ve Lam son (Han) ; 5. Paul Currie (Han); 6 . Danny Sm ith ( Ha n) ; 7 . Cas ey J o hn son ( Yam ); 8. Rod ri g T hain (KTM) ; 9 . Tho mas T raversin i (Hus): 10. Travis Elliot (Han) ; 11. Brock Sella rds (Han ); 12. Ivan Tedesco ( Han ); 13 . Bill y Payne (Kaw ) ; 14 . Ch ris Wh eele r (KTM); 15. Emesto Fonseca (Yam ); 16. Barry Carsten (Suz); 17. Davi d Kratz (Hus) : 18 . Mic hael Bra ndes ( Ha n); 19 . Ju sti n Bucke le w (Yam ) ; 2 0 . Andy Harrington (KTM); 21. Branden Je sseman (Suz); 22. David Pingree (SOl); 23. Tom Welch (SOl); 24 . Randy Valade (Han); 25. Ton y Lo russo (Suz); 26 . Nathan Ramsey (Kaw); 27. Robbie Sk aggs (Yam) ; 26. Keith J ohnson ( KTM ) ; 29 . Ry an Clark (Suz); 30 . Greg Schne ll (Yam ); 3 1. Travis Preston (Suz); 32. J oe Oehlho f (KTM ); 33 . A ntho ny A m aradi o (Yam ); 34 . Ja cob Martin (5uz); 35 . J eff Northrup (Kaw); 36. Mark Burkhart (KTM); 37. Chris Gosselaer (Hen): 38. Kelly Sm it h ( KT M ) ; 39 . N ick Wey ( Ka w) : 4 0 . Ja son McCorm ick (Han ). n e uv S • JULY 26.2000 27

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