Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Honda 's Mike LaRoc co , despite having h is head run over in a m ot o -tw o crash , and the top 10 was filled out b y Team Hond a 's Kev in Windham , Chaparra l/M a zda Yamaha 's Tim F er r y , Ch ev y T ru cks /Kawasaki 's Larry Ward and S u zu k i' s Damon Huffman. MOTOONE To rtelli a ppeared on his way to rectifying the previous we e k 's po ints damage when h e s liced und er Carm icha el and took th e lead into turn two. Unfo rtunat e ly for him, that's where he left it. "I was feeling good: Tortelli said. "I ha d th e holeshot , a nd the corner, down a t the bottom , they wa te red th e t ra c k . I just went for th e ban k , an d s lid , and I los t the front end." Ca rmic hae l in herited the lea d a t th at po int , but he , too , handed it aw ay to wa rds the e nd of the first lap , los ing h is front end on ano the r wet spot and goi ng do wn . That left Vuillemi n at the po int , a nd th e Yam a ha rider seemed mu ch m or e attached to th e pos ition , setting a to rrid p a c e as he led from Ch e v y T r u c k s / Ka w a s a k i' s J o hn Dowd , Wind ha m and Re yn ard . Ha mm er in g t hro ug h t he who o ps that end ea ch lap was the aggressive (Above) Too little, too l at e : David Vuillemln fi nally had some good luck , but he's going to ne e d a m iracle to catch series le a d er C a nnic hael. Vuillemin w e nt 1- 2 f o r second o ve rall. (Le ft) Ro b b i e Reynard i s getting ba c k up to speed again. The Suzu k i rid e r found the podium at Was h o u ga l. b reathing down his neck fo r sever al laps b e fo re going for th e p a s s in th e s a me sect io n w he re h e ha d crashe d ( a s m e n t io n e d , h e 's n ot co nse rva tiv e) . T h a t put Carm ic h a e l in seco n d, and w it h Vui llem in setting sail ab out 1 0 sec o nd s o u t front , that's wh er e he wou ld sta y . Vui ll e mi n t o o k th e mot o wi n ov e r Ca rm ich a e l, with Wind h am holdi ng o n for third , La Ro c c o imp rov ing from a p o or start to ta ke fourth , and Albert yn sec u ring a ste a d y fifth . T orte lli passed Re y n a rd with o n e lap left t o ta ke s ixt h pl a ce , and eigh th wen t to Do wd . Fe rr y a n d W a rd were ninth a n d 10th , respe c t ive ly . MOTOTWO Ca rm ic hae l, a p pare ntly not h a ving subscrib e d to a m o re c on se rvati ve appro a ch following hi s fall. In fact , t he Fl o rid ian im mediatel y b e gan o ve rt a k in g riders in an attempt to mini mize t h e d amage , g ett in g a round two o n th e s econd lap , o ne o n th e th ird , t w o m ore o n t he four th ( Dow d an d Alb e rt y n in a s ing le m ov e ) , a nd a n o t h er on the fi ft h . T hat pu t hi m in th ird spot b eh in d Vu ill em in a n d W ind h am wit h the 15 -lapp e r on e -th ird c o m p le te . Re yn ard c a p ita li z e d o n some re c en t s ta rt pr a c ti ce and a tho rou gh g a t e p re p by mechan ic Tony B e rlutt i t o n a il a great laun ch, ab out wh ich h e later la ugh ed, "T h a t' s a fi rst ; I have n ' t pulled a holes hot a ll year long ." An d it d idn ' t la st long , e ith e r, as Ca rm ich a el we nt by him u p Horse p o we r Hill t o ta ke ove r a le a d he wou ld never reli nqui sh . F o r th a t m att er , t he secon d a nd th ird pos it io n s were also se t o n th e first la p , with Vuille mi n and Rey nard filling H is cras h h a v in g take n p la ce e ve n e a rl ie r t han Car mic h ae l's , Torte lli had a b ig g e r gro up to wo rk t hrough, and he was only 10th at t he five -l ap ma rk . Ne a r t he fron t , h is te a mm a t e Windh a m wa s a lso ha v in g troub les , wit h Ca rmi c hael c u e I e n e vv s A UGUST 9 . 2 0 00 15

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