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/128623
A MA/C hevy Truck s U .S . M o t o c r o s s Championsh ip S e ri e s R o und 7 : U n a d illa Va lley Spor"ts C e n t e r B y CH RIS J ONNU M P HOT OS BY S T EVE BR UH N NEW BERLIN, NY, JULY 16 -,:- o r a ll t he effort that wa s T ex p ended o n the mudd y Un ad illa trac k ove r th is we t wee k end, you 'd certain ly thi nk somethi ng m or e wo u ld ha v e b e en acco m p lish ed. As it wa s , title con te nde rs Sebast ien Tort ell i a n d Ric k y Ca rmi cha e l left t he le ge nda ry fa c ility in th e exact s a me s itua t io n they had be en in wh e n t he y go t t he re - wit h th e former rider four points ah ead of the latter. Unadilla has achieved legendary status over the years (what other track is featured on the sides of U-Haul trucks?), and its first National of the new millennium went a long way towards maintaining (or perhaps even elevating) that status. True , the event was plagu ed by rain - often a sentence of disaster for a major motocross, but a couple of things averted any major problems. Most notable was the addition of Unadilla Too, an entirely new circuit just east of the original track. Designed with help from former National Champion Doug Henry, the 1.1-mile track was utilized for Friday and Saturday's amate ur racing in order to save wear and tea r on the National track. · U2" tumed into a muddy quagmire on Saturday, with the amateur racing resembling an end uro as rider s push ed the ir bikes up the ascents, but the pro track was left in epic condition. A layer of green grass covered the rolling, naturalterrain track before Saturday's first 125cc practice, and on Sunday a new sec tion was unveiled. The new portion consisted of a broad, towering hillside, which riders rode up and then launched down, and it - like nearly all of the track - could be see n by just about any spectating vantage point. Riders and fans alike had nothing but praise for Ward Robinson's historic track - and his new one looks to be great when not underwater. 24 JULY 26 , 2000' II: U II: I e n eVIl' s Hond a ' s T ort elli a n d Ch evy Tru cks /K aw a sak i's Carm ichael traded mota wins at Unadilla, with the Frenchman topping th e first outing and the Floridian taking the second. That gave Carmichael (la st ye ar's Unadilla 125cc winner) his fourth win of the se ries , but left Tortelli - who has only won a single e ve nt thus fa r - with the sli m points lea d. · We c a m e he re, and n o t h in g c ha nge d, bu t as long as I'm in front that's good," Tortelli sa id. "I ca me here with a four -poi nt gap, and he re it is with not m uch d iffe rence," Ca rmichael said. O ver th e past few rounds , To rtelli and Ca rmic hae l ha ve e s ta b lis h e d themselve s a s th e cla ss elite , a nd their points adva nta ge over the rest of the field is be g inn ing to m irror th e la rge gaps they regu la rly stretch out while on th e tra c k (t he ir lead over th ird pla c e reach ed a full minute in Unadilla's second mota) . Hen ce , the ir attention has tu rned to th eir own private tug-of-war over thos e fou r poi nts - a di ffe re nce tha t doesn' t so und like mu ch until yo u co ns ider the calibe r and pa rity of thes e ride rs. Carmichael knows that becau se Carmichael won moto two and the overall on a muddy Unadilla track, but he retained the same four-point deficit to moto-one winner Sebastien Tortelli. his riva l was injured at Unad illa last yea r , h e la cks fa m ilia ri t y with t he rema ining trac ks, but he re alizes he 's still got his work cut out for him . " [T o rt e lli' s lack of track time ] doesn't matter," Ca rm icha e l s a id . "At our lev e l, you seem to a dapt to th e tracks pretty good." MOTOONE There was some debate over who got t h e first 2 5 0cc ho leshot of th e day, but this reporter had it goi ng to VPE/M ontg om ery v ill e C y cl e r ider Damien Plotts . At any ra te, th er e was no doubtin g T ort e lli ' s lead as t he p a c k h it turn t wo , wi t h d efendin g c ha m p Gr e g Albe rty n p re ss in g him from second . Chevy Tru c ks / Kawa sa ki ride r La rry Wa rd began what wou ld b e a s tron g day fo r h im fro m t he fourth -p lac e s pot, with Honda 's Kevin Windh am si tting in fifth . As fo r Carm ichael , he h ad s uffere d fro m a poor ge taway , b u t h e q u ickly se t