Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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B y D AV E D ERINGER P HOT OS BY S T EVE B RUH N DELMON T,PA,SEPT.3 ~ omehow, he did it. Team Suzu ~ ki 's 16 -ye ar -o ld mot o cross Phenom Travis Pas trana arguably became the first true pro fessiona l rookie to win a 125cc Nation al Ch ampi onship in his first year of competiti on since Marty Smith back in 1974 . The t eenag er from Ann ap ol is , Mar yl and, ov e rc am e a 41 -p o int defi c it in the middle of th e sea son to simp ly domi n at e th e fina l thr ee ro unds of the se rie s, includ ing the fina l round of th e yea r a t S te el City Ra c e wa y just outside o f Pitt s b urgh . Add ed to th at, his first -ev er mot o win in th e mud at High Po int , h is first ov e rall win at S outhwick, a n overa ll at Wa sh ou gal, a nd a high ly publicized win a t the X-Game s tw o we e ks ago , Pastr an a tru ly lit up th e m ot o cross scene in 2000. Co m ing int o Steel City , Pastrana w as s ix p o int s d o w n fro m ser ies leader Ste phane Ronc a da , a nd wh en he left, he was two points a head , carry in g a nu m b e r - o n e p late an d a c heck for $22,500 from series s po nsor Chevy Tru c ks . Pa stran a took the champio ns hip by winning both m oto s o n th e lon g , hilly , off -c a m ber course on a hot a nd humi d day in fron t of ne a rly 20,000 e n t h u si as ti c fa ns . A fir s t - mo to holeshot turn ed into a solid win that put h im one po int down fro m Ronc ada g oi ng into th e fin al m oto . Wh en the gate fe ll for moto two , both we re up front , but Pastra na just h ad the ex t ra e dge t hat h e n e ed ed a n d h e turn ed it into a no t he r m oto win, an ove ra ll win, and m ost im po rta nt ly, a se rie s championsh ip. " I c a n ' t b e lie v e th is , thi s is so gr eat," Pastra na loud ly e xc lai med. "I couldn 't hav e don e it wit hout all th e hel p from Team Su zuk i. my m ec han ic Lee McCollum and m y tra iner Ga ry Bailey. I knew that it would ta ke the best ra c e of m y life to do it and it' s incred ib le . I h a ve to co ngratu lat e Stephane on a gr eat year, too. He is a great ra c er and a good friend and me a nd m y pare nts wer e ne rvo us comi ng in he re . This is th e most a m azing da y of m y entire life. " Finis hing se cond on th e da y and for the year was Yam aha of Troy/Fox/Pro a year. Ro ncada .too k th e runn e r-up ho nors very , very gracious ly a nd was a true c ha m pion througho ut th e day a nd series , de s p ite los ing a title that wa s a ll but his by only two points. "Afte r th e first la p of th e first moto I wa s thinking th at I guess this is the wa y it ' s suppo s e d to be ," Ronca d a s aid . "It was very fun rac ing aga inst Travis a ll ye ar. He is a ve ry fa ir rider a n d we h a d fu n . After Troy th ings didn 't go m y way . I wasn 't tra in ing the sa me a nd th en he s tarted winn ing a nd it hurt m y confide nce too . It's to o bad I d idn 't get it, but I ha d a good season a nd I am ve ry h a p p y about how th ing s wo rked out this yea r." Bran d en J e ss eman fin is hed third o vera ll fo r the day . Th e B ill 's Pipe s / Mo torio us .co m / AXO -bac ked rider rode extremely well all day long, in c lud ing a strong s e c o nd place in moto one be hind Pa str ana . Some say th at the home -sta te Penns ylvan ia re side n t m a y ha ve b e en a ble t o pass Pa stra na , bu t he he ld u p to help out h is S uzuki co u nte rpart. An e ig ht hplace s tart in m oto two saw J e ss e m a n mo ve th rough the pa c k well in wh ich he wou ld finis h third b e h in d Pa strana a nd Ron c a da. The 18 -yearold is now in co ntract ne gotia tio ns with severa l te ams due to his stro ng e nd -o f-t he-season run a nd is one of th e hottest p ro spects for next ye a r. After a s low start in th e beg inn ing o f the serie s , Jessema n finished 11th in points. Jessema n sai d, "T he b ik e s h ave been worki ng great and I've been rid ing we ll la te ly and it's good to e nd th e season this way ." Spl itFi re /Pro C ir cu it / Kaw asak i's T a llon Voh lan d wa s fo u rt h a t Ste e l City. Vohland rode to 8 -4 moto finis h e s an d finis he d t he s e rie s in third , Vohland only had on e moto win, th e second m ot o a t Glen Helen , but was in the hunt until s evera l c ra s he s a nd some bad luck to wa rds the middle of Suzuki's Travis Pastrana came from behind in the series to win the 125cc num be r-one plate. He had to win both motos at Steel City and he did. Circ uit/ Dun lo p- s ponso red Ron c ada . Th e easy-goi ng ride r from Fran ce , via Men ife e , Ca lifo rnia, loo ke d a s if h e wo u ld t ak e th e c ha m p ions hi p aft e r domina ting seve ral rounds ba ck in th e m id d le o f th e s er ie s . An un tim e ly crash and inju ry a t th e Troy , Oh io , round was his ult imate setback. Still, Ron cada had eig ht moto wins a nd four overa lls a nd sho uld not in any wa y be disappo inted with h is outcome . Add to that a 125cc Eastern Regi ona l Super c ros s title a nd yo u hav e one heck of Yamaha of Troy's Stephane Roncada never really recovered sin ce inj uri ng his knee at th e Troy, Oh io , Na tional. Roncada went 3·2 at Steel City, losing the championship by two po ints. cu e I e n e _ S • SEPTEM B ER 13, 2000 17