Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA/ C hevy Trucks U .S . Motocross Championship S e r ie s MOTO 2: 1. Stephane Roncada (Yam); 2. Trav is Pastrana (S uz); 3. Casey J ohns on (Yam) ; 4 . Broc k Sellards (Han); 5. Tall on Vohl and (Kaw) ; 6. Rodri g Tha in (KTM); 7. Nic k Wey (Kaw) ; 8. Dan ny Sm it h (Han); 9. Branden Jessem an (Suz); t o. Billy Payne (Kaw); 11. Ju stin Buck elew (Yam) ; 12. Steve Lamson (Ha n) ; 13 . E rn e st o F o n s e c a (Ya m) ; 14 . J a s on Mc Corm ic k ( Han ); 15 . Dav id Pingree (Suz) : 16 . Nathan Ram sey (Kaw); 17. Dav id Kra tz (Hus) ; 18. Barry Cars te n (S uz) ; 19 . T ravi s Ell iot (Han) ; 20 . T homas Traves i ni ( Hus); 21. An thony A ma ra dio (Yam); 22. Tom Welch (Suz) ; 23. Kelly Smith (KTM); 24. Joe Oehlhof (KTM); 25. Travis Preston (Suz); 26. Andy Harr ington (KTM) ; 27. Michael Bra ndes ( Han) ; 28. J acob Martin (Suz); 29. Chris Gosselaar (Han); 30 . P,.IU1 Cu rrie ( Han ); 3 1. Ry an Clark (S uz) ; 32. J eff Northrup (Kew) : 33. Robbie Skaggs (Yam); 34. Chris Wheeler (KTM); 35. Keith Johnson (KTM); 36. Greg Schnell (Yam) ; 37 . Ivan Tedesco (Hon ); 38 . Randy Valad e (Hon ) ; 39. T on y Loru sso (Suz ); 40 . Ma rk Burkhart (KTM). O/ A: 1. St ep hane Ron ce de ( Yam) ; 2 . Tra vis Pastrana (S UI); 3. Tall on Voh land (Kaw); 4. Casey John son (Yam ); 5. Brac k Sella rds (Hon); 6. Rodrig Thain (KTM); 7. Danny Sm ith (Han ); 8. Steve Lamson (Han); 9. Billy Payne (Kaw); 10. Paul Currie (Han) ; 11. Nick Wey (Kew}: 12. Erne sta Fonse ca (Yam ); 13. Travis Elliot (Han): 14. Thoma s Treversinl (Hus); 15. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 16. Justin Buck elew (Yam ); 17. Ivan Tedesco (Hon) ; 18. David Kratz (Hus) ; 19. Barry Carsten (Suz); 20 . Jason McCorm ick (Han); 21. Chris Wheeler (KTM); 22 . David Pingree (Suz); 23 . Nath an Ram sey (Kaw ); 24 . Mich ael Brandes (Hon ); 25 . Andy Harrington (KTM). AMA/CHEVY TRUCKS U.S. 125cc C'SHI P MX SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Af t er 7 of 12 round s): 1. Stephane Roncada (304/ 4 wins) ; 2. Travis Pastrana (263/1); 3. Steve Lamson (250/1 ); 4 . Tallon Vohland (226); 5. Casey Johnson ( 179); 6. Brock Sellards ( 178); 7. Nick Wey ( 158); 8. Danny Smith (147); 9. Paul Currie ( 146); 10. Rodrig Thain (127); 1 1. Nathan Ramse y ( 118 ) ; 12. Ernest o Fon sec a (113); 13. Gre Schnell (98); 14. Kelly Smith (89/1) ; g 15. Brand en Jesseman (8 0 ); 16. Ju stin Buckelew (70); 17. David Pingree (5 1); 18. Travis Preston (49 ); 19. Robbie Horton (46); 20. Casey Lytle (4 1). Upcoming Rou nds: Round s-trov. Ohio, Ju ly 23 Round s-wesnoucar, Wa shington, J uly 30 Tallon Vohland finished th ird overall, posting 2 -5 moto seores, BRIEFLY••• Extrem ely reliable so urces have con firmed th e existence of the much-rumored Honda middleweight four·stroke MX pro· ject . The bike recently arrive d in the'United States. and top riders on Honda' s factory and satellite teams have been approac hed abo ut th e possi bility of racing it in 2001 . but so far nothing includin g whether or not the bike will indeed be raced · has bee n decided for sure. Oddly enough. one potential candidate for the Honda thumper is GP ace St efan Evert s. The Belgian Husqvarna rlder . who was injured in the pre-season and has y et to contest a GP this year · has rep ortedly had a fallin g out with lo n g ti m e manager Dave Grant. and has been approac hed by Freet ime Yamaha. the mo ney - laden Europea n squad that spo ns or s Yves D e mari a. Evert s left Honda afte r last season because of a disp ute betw een that manufa ctu rer and G rant, but with Gra nt and Evert s now on the outs. a Honda/E verts reunion wou ld be pos sible. A merican Honda is said to be courting the multi-time World Champion for a possible MX -only ride. Freetime Yamaha also recently approac hed Sebas tien Tortelli with a huge offer to return to GP raci ng in 200 1. Th ough the Frenchman' s contract with Ho nda is up at the end of this season, he turned down the offe r. sayi ng that he prefer s to race in the Stat es. Freetime Yamaha has also repo rted ly approached Win field Kawas aki rider Pit Beirer. Tort el1i is just one of many riders wh ose contracts are up at season' s end . but there has been surprisingly little team -swapp ing so far. One reason could be that everyone is awai ting the outcome of Jere my McGrath's negotiations. The SX champ is st ill said to be attempting to put together a new team with the help of No Fear. No Fear-w earer Kevi n W indham ' s name co mes up mo st often as a potential tea mmate . but W indham says that although he has heard that rumor (along with a few ot hers). his first choice is to remain wit h Team Hond a. Wh ile Ricky Carmichael and Travis Past rana still appear to be definites for the MX des Nations team . the third memb er has yet to be decided . M ike laRocco and Kevin W indham have both been approached, but Wi ndham has three wedd ings to atte nd aro und that time Cincluding his ow n). and laRocco is still unsure 'w hat his off- season plans are. Bot h Honda riders said they are honored to be considered. Tw o mo re peop le be ing pur s ue d for th e IS D E are f ormer motocro ssers Jeff Stanton and Doug Henry. "It so unds fun. but I don' t wa nt to go over the re by myself . " said Stanton. " If Mik e [LaRocco] and Doug go . and may be a good 125 rider . and if th ere are so me good off -roaders to teach us how to do it. it so unds interesting. M W ith 125cc Wo rld Cha mpion Alessio Ch iodi still recovering fro m wri st surgery back home in Italy. Fast by Ferracci/ Husqvarna was housing another Italian li ddler pilot at Unadilla - Tomas Traversini. who wa s capitalizing on a break in the 125cc G P series . "I'd like to race a fu ll season i n the States ," Traversini said in Italian. " May be not next year . but eventually. ' Traversini. who had some trouble getting used to the concrete start pad. we nt 9·20 on the day for 14th overall. Dav id Vuillemin. wh o DNF'd a moto at Southwick when he fried his clutch. was struck by tw o more fl ukish mechanical prob· lems at Un adill a. In moto one. his left radiator shroud came loose and flopped around . hampering his riding sty le considerably. and in mo to tw o . the weld on his pipe broke and co st him power . " S o me t hing weird kee ps hap peni ng al l the ti me . " lamented Vuille min. who has been practi cing on a 125 lately to try and keep thing s fun during his recent slump. W ith rain falling heavily on Saturday, many top riders opted to sit out t hat day's practice se ssion in order to co nserve their bike s and bo die s. Travis Pastr ana wa s o ne, though his reasons were different. " My ankle is still sore from when I hurt it before Budds C reek." said the Suzuki rider. " 1 don 't wa nt to risk hurt ing it in the mud. " Women' s Motocross League C hampion St efy Bau's quest to qualify for a Nat ional Motocross appeared to be wit hin reach whe n she pulled the holeshot in her Saturday pre-qualifier. Unfortunately. the Italian crashed later on the first lap. Though Team SplitFire / Pro Ci rcu it had no t ye t re-sig ned w ith Kawasa ki as of U nadilla. it was very close to doing so , according to J im Perry . The team recen tly signed California hotshot Bobby Bonds to a 200 1 con tract. KTM team manager Selvaraj Naya rana co nfirmed that South African Grant Langston . who curre ntly leads the 125cc GP circuit on a KTM . will be racing full-time in the St ate s in 2001 . Nayarana also said that if s possible Joel Smets may ride a lateseaso n round or two in the States this year if he clinches the 500cc W orld title early . Ameri can Mike Brown had been rumored .. to be retu rning home from the G Ps to ride for KTM in the St ates Mik e laRocco has also been approac hed about the poss ibility oi next year . but Nayarana said that pro bably won 't happen . rid in g o n th e U .S . te am at th e Internationa l Six Days Enduro in Spain . The Indiana resident says that he ' s interested . A ccord ing to Ho nda adv isor Jeff Sta nto n. Ezra Lusk's injured but undeci ded . This means that laRocco has an oppo rtunity to be wrist is not healing as quickly as expec ted. but if s hoped that one of the few riders who have ridden the des Nation s and the he'll make his return soon . "We're hoping for W ashougal [on J uly IS DE in th e same ye ar. Rog er DeC o st er pulled off th e feat in 301." Stant on said. "Troy [on J uly 23J has too many jumps. Lusk 1965. is the only Honda rider wi th a co ntract for 2001. 0 " 28 JULY 26,2000 " C U C I e n e _ s\, -, A couple of apparel manufacturers showed up at Unadilla in hope s of gelling some ad and catalog phot os of their new 2001 lines in actio n. an undertaking that proved challeng ing due to the muddy conditions. Ricky C armichael was spo rt ing the new Fox gear, and J ason M cC ormick , Isaiah J ohnson and J eremy Israel we re all spotted in '0 1 Answer duds . The Cannondale tea m was not on hand at Unadilla. KTM 's S hayne King pulled out of mota one wi th a flat rear tire. Wh ile riding the parade lap before mota one. Heath Vo ss hit a roc k in a rut and bent his front brake rotor badly enoug h that his w heel wo uld barely turn. Tuner S hawn Ward had to make a quick repair befo re the gate fell. D avid V uillemin was rece nt ly quoted in th e Frenc h magazine • M X " as making a derogatory statement ab out J eremy M cG rath being driven primarily by money - and some feathers are sa id to hav e been ruffled in the Ya maha camp . A t Un adill a. Vu illemin admitte d making the com ment. but said it was done in an informal setting at a meal. and that his words were taken out of co ntext . AMA MX M anager D uke Finc h says that a change is being considered that would limit the number of entries acce pted for Nationa ls. It is currently common for ove r 200 riders to sign up, necessitating Sat urday pre-qualifiers to narrow the field to 70 for Sunday' s qualifiers (40 riders race in the poin ts -paying mo tes). The new plan would set the initial entry limit at 70 . The guidelines that would de termine wh ich 70 riders get entries have not yet been determined. The THQ ' Holeshot Awards were presented at Unadi lla and th e honors in th e two 125 cc rrio to s t his wee k we nt to Plano Honda' s Paul Currie and KTM ' s Rod rig Thain. In the 250cc class . Ve rtucci Performa ~c e/MSR ' s pami en Plotts and Ch evy Truck s/ Kawasa ki's Rick{Carmichael grabbed the awards . The 125cc riders receive $500 fo r eac h holeshot. while the 250cc riders poc ket $1000. B ro mley Su zuki /MSR ' s Barry C arst en. Bu mp st ick s/O 'Neals Tom Welch. Vertuc ci Perf ormance' s Damien Plotts and M ot a XXX's Kyle Lewis earned this week 's U.S. Tobacco' s Top Privatee r Aw ards at Unadilla. The top privateers in eac h class 'receive $1000 from U .S . Tobacco . w hile th e runne r-up in each class takes home $5 00 for his hard wo rk .

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