Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

UFO P last F a s teros s Crossdromo Tho ugh it ta ke s p lace o n a n out doo r tra c k , th e F a stc ro s s ut ilize s a S u pe rc ro s s -s tyle form at , with q ua lifiers sending riders to a fina l e ve nt. A one-lap Da sh for Ca sh o nly a dds to the s pe cta cle. S T O RY AN D PHO TOS BY G EOF F M EYE R ARSAGO SEPRIO, ITALY, SEPT. 17 he uniquely Italia n e vent known as Fastcross, held eac h off-season nea r Milan , is always a favo rite with th e riders , bu t its m illennial ren d ition was perh a ps contested e spe ciall y hard , seeing as how it was the last o ne ever. In the hottest form of h is career, former World Moto c ro ss Cha mpio n Sebast ien Tortelli added the event to his impressive list of victo ries, just one week a fte r dominating the final m oto at the Motocross des Na t ion s . T or t e lli was with out d ou bt th e sta r of the weekend , ta king wins in the Dash for Cash , his he a t ra c e , a nd then th e a ll-im po rtant final. "T hi s is a very fa mous plac e in Eu ro pe ," Tortell i sa id . "Loo k a t t he previous winners , ride rs like J e rem y McG ra t h , Ric ky John so n, Da m o n B ra d sh a w , G reg A lb e rt y n , Ste fan Everts ; I am p roud to be among that , list. " In s e c ond p la c e wa s Am e rica ' s Fac t or y Co nnect io n / Ja c k in t h e Bo x/ Com petition Accesso ries Hon da rid er Mik e La Ro cco, w ith anot h er Am e r ic an - Ry an Hugh e s o n t h e PAMO Hond a - taking third . T 18 ' O C TO B ER 4 , 2000' cue • QUALIFYING T ortel li's day s t a rte d p erfect ly , with a good sta rt in his he at, th en a f1 ag -to-f1ag victo ry over a la te -c ha rg ing Ryan Hughes of PAMO Hond a, with S plitFire/Pro Circuit Kawa s aki 's T a ll o n Vohland tak ing third . F or To rte lli, it was pr imarily a bo ut look ing o ut for crashing riders . "I got a ve ry go o d start ," Tortelli sai d . "The n Voh la nd pa s sed me , and [Edgar] Torrentar a s . Tall on got a little sideways in th e whoops, so I got h im there . Then I took ~y time a nd had a nice win . I have a lot of fun o n this t rack. We bro ught so m e more parts from th e U.S ., so the bike feels rea lly go od ." Fresh off his des Natio ns g lory of t he prev iou s weekend , Hugh es wa s im p re s s e d with his own fo rm : "My, start place was a little s oft , so I got a ba d sta rt," he sai d . "Then I hit a fa lle n rider and go t up in last pla c e . I ju st fought on thro ugh . I knew I c ould get e n e vv s Sebastien Tortelli had just one more chance t o score a Fastcross w in, a s this was the event's f inal year. The Frenchman capitalized on the chance and won. some good results . My co nfiden c e is re ally go od at the moment; I'm hav ing fun aga in , and it' s m ainly becau se of wha t h app ened last week . I like th is trac k: I ride pr etty good here . I prov ed to many people wh o I a m. " KTM 's 125 cc Wor ld Champion Gr a nt Langsto n ca me o u t o n fir e , leading his heat early before Fa ctory Connection / Jack in th e Box /Com pe tit ion Accessorie s Honda ride r Mike LaR o c c o pass ed him for t h e w in . . South African Langston wa s the run ne r-up , with French Gra nd Prix rider Micka el Maschio cl a im in g third . La ng s ton , thoug h , was happy to be a ble to ra c e with La Roc co. "It was not so bad ," La ngsto n sa id. "He was quicker ou t of the sta rt, bu t I kept it on a little longe r a nd go t him . I led fo r a litt le while , b ut misse d a g ear and he got b y m e . I lost my rhythm after that. It wa s a good heat. I fe lt com fo rta ble o n t he 250; it' s a s tro ng b ike. I'm not s urprised that I c a n ra c e wi th La Roc co . In th e whoops , tho ugh , he had the edge ." The final hea t ra c e saw McGrath come o ut flying. The No Fear-s ponsore d Ya maha rider wo n a head of Free Time Yama ha 's Yve s Demaria a n d Corona S uzuki's J o sh Co ppin s . For Mc Gr ath , it wa s a goo d way to com e back to ra cin g . "I felt go od," McGrath s a id. "I rode a lot more [during the Nationals] this ye a r than la s t ye a r. I'm just taking my tim e , not taki ng a ny cha nc es . It's hot today , but 1 should be okay . I'm not expe ctin g to win ; I st ill need to get m y race s peed ." McGrath was again o n show for the first sem i, althoug h this t ime he was give n another rid ing lesson by KTMm o u n t e d La ngsto n . La ngston won fro m McGrat h an d Maschio . "I g ot a n o t h e r g ood st art, " Langston said. "It' s the sa me as on the 125 - I ca n a lways get the sta rt . I've got to le arn how to brea t h in Supercr oss : I los t m y breath, then he got me . I told m ys elf to start brea th ing - breathe , breathe , br eathe - th en I got going ag a in and passed him . It was a clean ra ce." In t h e seco nd s e m i-fin a l, it was La Rocco from To rtell i and Voh la nd . Tortelli , who was o n a ro ll, could not s how his Ho nda riva l a clean pa ir of heels th is time a ro und . "I got an ok ay start," Tor te lli said. "I ha d to pass Mike, though , and he was hold ing his line s really we ll. I fee l go od , so I'll see how it ends up in the final. " LaRocco was ha ppy to get a good sta rt, which more o r less gave h im th e win . " I' m not usu ally a good st arter," La Ro c c o said . "I le arn e d a li tt le fro m m y h ea t race , and am ha ppy to get the win. I've ne ve r wo n here , and it wo uld me an a lot to me if I c ould win this thin g . It' s a fun tra ck, a nd I want a win ." DASH F OR CASH Between the hea t races an d the se m is , th e top rid ers a p pe a re d in a Da s h for Cas h -type eve nt that featured o ne -o n-one confro nt ations in o ne- la p s p ri nts . Most of t h e major names had eas y first-u p ra ces , with LaRocco , Tor te lli, Co p pin s, Hugh es , Langston , Vohland , Claudio Fed erici and Mc Grat h a ll getti ng wins . It started getting inte re sting, th ough , wh e n t hese gu ys began mi xing it up with e a ch other. To rtelli got pa st La Rocco , Hugh e s k nocked o u t GP rival Cop pi ns , a nd McGra th gav e Fed e rici a ridi ng less on. The be st action c a me fro m th e Vohl and /Lang sto n cl a sh , with La ng ston getti ng the verdict over his future rival. "We hit a fe w t im e s ," Langst o n s a id. "He tou ched m y rea r end com ing over a jump , and I nearly fell. He wa nted to win bad. I wa nt ed t o do well in that race ." Nex t up, Torte lli beat Hughe s aft er th e Am erican crashed comi ng over a ju mp . "T h e bike just d ied co m in g over th e jump," Hug hes said . "I just

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