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/128630
AMA/Chevy Trucks U .S . Motocro s s Championsh ip Serie s F in al Round: Ste el C ity USA time o ut, Ca rmichael was ted little tim e maki ng h is c ha rge to the fro nt , s licing under Windham on the second lap a n d, a few la p s later, zap pi ng Vuillemin for the lead on the track 's new finish -line area downhill sweeper. Once o ut in fro nt , Carmicha el si m pl y rod e away from h is c ompetitors , desp ite a spirited char ge by Amsoil / Fa ctory Connection/Com petition Accessories/Jack in the Box's Mike LaRocco late in th e rac e. "It fe e ls g rea t to ha ve wo n, " sa id Carm ic ha el. "I got poor starts a ll day - co m p a re d t o t he s t arts I've be en g ett in g . I rea ll y wa n te d t o tu rn it a round in the second mot o a nd finis h out the s e aso n with a bang . I ended up winn ing th e e nt ire sec ond ha lf of th e o utdoo r s e ries a nd I'm g oin g to try to c a rry that mom en tum into the MX de s Na t ions a nd th e Supercr oss s eries." Finis hing a popu la r second ove ra ll on the d ay was the a fo rem en t ion e d La Roc c o . T h e 29 -yea r-o ld fr om Sou th Bend, Indian a , sta rte d we ll a nd ra n thir d for m ost o f th e first moto, before bei ng passed by th e c ha rg ing Ca rmic hae l just afte r the ha lfway point. S t ron g a nd solid th rou gh o u t the rac e , La Rocc o was a ble to reg ai n hi s po dium pos ition b y pass ing Vuillem in with just a few laps to go . The second outing we nt e ve n better for the to ugh -a s -na ils LaRocco, passing Windh a m ea rly in the moto to t a k e o ve r t hi rd and , just after the B y JERR Y A TH EY PH OT OS BY STEV E B RUH N DELMONT, PA, SEP. 3 . . fter clinching th e 20 00 outdoo r .,.." se ries crown jus t one week ago a t B in g h a m t o n , o n e m ight have gu e s s ed that Ricky Carmichael wo uld let up on h is com p et itio n du ring the fina l rou nd of the series, held at Steel City USA. Apparently , so meone mu st h a ve fai le d to m en ti o n th is t o C a rmi c h a e l, as the T e am Ch e v y Tru cks / Ka wa s a ki rider, o nce ag ai n , piloted his Cha d Watts-tune d Fa ctory KX250 t o t h e o vera ll vic to ry, t h is tim e with a hard -fo ugh t 2 - 1 ride in front of ne arly 20,000 su n -dr enche d fan s. Ca rmi ch ael 's win ca pp ed off a n a m a zing ro o k ie 2 50c c se a s o n tha t s a w th e 2 0 -ye a r-ol d fro m Hava n a , Florida , s core nin e out of 12 ove ra ll victor ies on his way to be coming the first rider in AMA histo ry to win four c onse c u tive Nat ion al Mot o cros s Titles . Ca rmi c ha e l ga t ed p o or ly in th e first m oto , starting well o uts ide th e to p 10 afte r gett ing pinch ed off in Ste el City's sw itchba ck -style s ta rting area . Cle arly th e fas test ride r on the tra ck , th e Ka wa saki s peedster began to drop riders one- by-one, event ua lly taki ng over th e runner-up spot from Te a m Yamaha's Davi d Vuillem in with j ust a few laps t o go. Carmi c hae l fa re d b ette r in the next go -a ro und, sta rtin g thi rd be h ind T e am Ho nd a ' s Ke vin Windh am an d Vuille m in . Th is 14 SEPTEMBER 1 3 , 2 0 0 0 ' II: U II: I e n sVU's Despite having already c linched the 250c c out d oor series t itle, Chevy Truc ks/ K awasak i's Ricky Carmichael wasn 't about to cut anyone any slack. At t he series finale at Steel City, Carmichael, here trying to run away from Ya maha's David Vu ille m in 19 3 4 ), capped off the outdoor Natio nals with h i s ninth w in . Ca rm ic h ael also took sole p o sse ss i on of t h e record for most 250cc outdoor w ins in a single season from Bob Hannah. Hannah's previous mark was eight. halfway m a rk , d iving under Vuille m in a nd into the runne r-up spot. "Compared to the beg innin g of the season, the la st fo ur ra ce s ha ve actu a lly be en fu n ," s a id La Ro c co fro m ins ide th e Fa ctor y Conne ction trans porter. "That m a kes a big difference, especially when you 've been doing it as long as I have. We mad e some c ha nges right before Unad illa a nd I started getting m ore comfortable on the bike . S ince t hen , I've been ha ving mor e fun a nd getting bett e r finish es . That' s wha t it' s a ll about." Filling out the podium at St e el City was t he series ' run ner -up , T e a m Ho n d a ' s Sebastien Tort e lli. Torte lli charged ha rd in m oto one , houndi ng early le a d er Vu illem in fo r th e le a d bef or e le a pin g past his fellow coun trym an a nd rac ing on to the de cisive moto victory . Tortelli started fifth in moto two and , once again, loo ke d to be a co nte nder, but a pair of la te -ra ce c ras hes wo u ld eve ntua lly d rop t he 22-y ea r-o ld Fr en c hm an to six t h . De s p it e h is ra th e r ro ugh second m oto , Tortell i, re m a ined upbe at about h is day . "T he first m ot o we nt very good," sa id t he tw o -ti me World Motoc ross Champion . "I g"t a good sta rt a nd the tra c k wa s still a little bit tacky . I ha d s ome good lines a nd wa s goi ng good . I just fe lt g reat - m y b ike was wor king great and everyth ing was going well. I wis h I co ul d have s t a rt e d behi nd Ric ky in th e se cond moto a nd had a figh t with him , but I was a little too far b a c k ," Tortell i added . "I had a hard tim e getting by Vuillemin and ended up c ra s h ing twic e ." Torte lli, wh o, a long with Stepha ne Ro nca da and Fr e d e ric Bo lley , wi ll rep rese n t Fr a n c e a t th e MX des Nat ions , also fee ls pos itive a bou t his co unt ry's cha nce for its first-e ver win at th e prestigious event. " I th in k o u r c hances a re very good ," sai d To rt e lli. "The race is in Fr a nce a nd we ha ve a s trong te am , 50 e ve rything looks good ." F in ishi ng fo u rth o ve ra ll wa s Vuille m in. Th e yo ung Frenc hman led the first half of moto on e before s urren d erin g the lea d to Torte lli just aft er the ha lfwa y point, Late-race ch arge s by Ca rm ic hae l a n d LaR o c c o would Prior to the start of the fi nal 250cc moto at Steel City, reigning 250cc National Champion Greg Albertyn took a parade lap. Dressed in shorts, a Team Suzuki pit shirt and his helmet, the 27-year-old South African slowly circulated the course just to the inside of the spectator fence, bidding farewell to the huge crowd and giving his many fans a final opportunity to see their hero up close. Albertyn decided to sit out the final moto after a nasty crash in moto one. The day was, understandably, an emotional one for Albertyn....l've defini tely got mixed emotions," said Albertyn. "On the one hand, it's extremely sad to say this is going to be the last outdoor National I do, but, on the other hand, I believe that I have a lot of exciting things to look forward to . I know God's got awesome thIngs planned for my life. I've realIy got to thank everyone. "I've had such awesome 'support since I've been here in the States - I've enjoyed my racing thoroughly. I've also had a lot of hard wrecks, today being one of them, and that's just solidIfied my thoughts on retiring. It's a very tough sport and you have really got to take your hat off to these champions out here - they gIve it everything they've got - and they are worthy champio ns every one of them." . Albertyn retires with five 250cc National MX wins, one 250cc Supercross wIn and the 1999 AMA 250cc NatIonal Cham pio nshi p ยท a lo ng with three World Motocross Championships.