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/128629
wi ll b e retiring a t th e e n d o f this year's ou td oo r se as on . "I felt good a nd I'm re a lly ha ving a good tim e . It' s m y la st few ra ces a nd I feel like I've got to m ak e th e most of it a nd give it everything I've got. " The third a nd final pod ium pos ition at Bin gh amt on we nt to LaR o c co. La Rocco started third in th e first moto and s p ent the m ajority o f th e m oto rid in g alo ne , m a int a in in g a s t e a d y adva nta ge ove r the c ha rg ing du o of Fe rry and Albertyn . Th e 29 -year-old f ro m S o uth Be nd, Ind iana , gated fourth in the second o uti ng, eventua lly c ha rgi ng past Vuillemin la te in the ra ce to , on c e aga in, finish th ird . "I fe lt pretty good : said LaRocco. "I still str ugg le a little bit running the pace early in th e m ot o , but I fee l rea l good a t the end . I've got a litt le work to do , bu t I got good starts to da y a nd I'm re al happy with tha t." Fourth overa ll on th e d a y went to Vu illemin . Th e yo u n g Fr e nch rider ho les hot th e first m oto and stayed with Ca rmichael fo r th e du ra tio n of th e ra ce to finish s eco nd . Vuillemin, on ce ag a in , s t a rte d up fro nt in the s eco nd moto bef ore falling in to the clutches of Albertyn - and, later in the race, LaRoc co. Vuillemin would e ven tually finish fourth in the m oto . Fi nis hi ng fifth ove ra ll wa s T e am Suzuki's Robbie Re ynard. Reynard ga ted po orly in the first go -around and s pe nt the e nt ire moto c h arg ing th ro ugh the pack , eventually finis hing seventh . Th e 23 -year -old from Norman , Oklahoma , fared better the sec o nd tim e o ut , starting inside the top 10 and c ha rgi ng to a st ro ng fourth pla ce finish . Sixth o vera ll went to Team Honda 's Ke vin Windh am , who wa s the vict im of a se co n d - mo to pile u p . Windh am would finis h out the da y with 6 -9 moto s c ores . Great Lak es Av iation/S inisa lo's Heath Voss went 8-8, for seventh overall and was the top-finishing pri va tee r, fo llowed by Te a m Kawasaki's John Dowd , who posted 10 -7 moto finishes. VPE/Montgomeryville Cycles' Damien Plotts was next in line , with an 1 1 - 1 1 , ninth -overall r ide . T eam Kawa sak i's Larry Ward rounde d o ut (Above) Phil Lawrence (50) nailed the holeshot in the s ec o n d 250cc mota. (Bel o w ) Carmichael (4) knows he's got the t itle. He all but had it wrapped up i n the first mota when Sebastien Tortelli retired to the p its. tragedy struck . Just after the halfway mark, Torte lli mad e a cos tly miscal c u lation on Broom e -T ioga 's "u pper" ju m p section , s lammin g to the gr o u nd in a clo ud of d ust. Wh ile Tortelli attempted to re -join th e ra c e, th e numb er -2 1 fac tory Hond a wa s too da maged to conti nue and th e dis appo inted rider wa s fo rc ed to wa tc h from th e sid elines as h is ti tl e - rival ra c ed to the com manding moto victo ry, add in g a f u ll 25 p o int s t o h is a lready massiv e 40 -point advantage . T ort elli fo u g ht hard in the secon d moto , but h is eventual s ixth -p la ce finis h w a s n ot e n o ug h t o p rev e nt Carmich a el from gainin g th e e xtr a points he needed to clinc h the title . F in ish ing se c ond o ve ra ll t o Carmichael at Bing ha m to n was the defe n d ing Ser ies Ch amp ion , T e am Suzuki ' s G reg Alb ert yn . A lberty n ga te d well and rode c o ns istently t h ro ug ho u t t he day , ba tt li n g wit h T e am Mazda /Chaparral Yamaha 's T im Fe rry and la te r Amsoil / Fa ctory Conn e c ti o n /C omp et iti on Ac c es sories/ Jack in the Box 's Mike La Roc co to take fourth in th e first outing . Albertyn' s se co nd m o to went ev e n better , with t he 27 - ye a r-o ld Sou t h African taking over the runn er-up posi tion from Vuillemin early in the race and briefly pres su ring the leader, Carmicha el, before settl ing in for second. "I definitely want to win one before the ye a r's o ut and ne xt we e k is m y last opportun ity," sa id Albe rtyn , who Making a popular appearan ce at Binghamton was none other than Team Yamaha's Doug Henry. "I want to keep my National number 19 for as long as I can , so J just came out today to earn my point and keep my number for another year," said the ever-fri endly rider from Oxford, Connecticut. Henry, a three-time National MX Champion, was exempt from qualifying due to the AMA's 'Past Champions' rule, which allows former National Champions to be directly seeded into the main event. "I feel pretty good," said Henry after the Sunday morning practice sessions . "I wish I had more time to do some riding, but I'm just going to have to make do." Joining Henry was his long-time mechan ic Pete Steinbrecher. "Pete just calle d up and ask ed me if I needed a mechanic," explained Henry. "I said, . 'Sure!'" Henry , who opte d to ride a YZ250 at Broome-Tioga, ran as high as fifth in the first mota before fading to 13th. His 17th-place finish in the se cond moto landed him 15th overall - for a total of 12 National points. Mission accomplished. cue' e n e _ S • S EP T EM B ER 6 , 2000 7