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/128640
N ational A r e nac ross S e r ie s R o u n d 1 : Veterans Memorrial A u d itori u m ' I've left here in a much worse position than fou rth , so I'll take that going into Albany , no problem." The surprise o f th e weekend was that of Honda -mounted privateer Jeff G ibson. The Thornvill e, Ohi o , na t ive ca me into Des Moines wi th his 125cc and a borrow ed 250c c and came out with a win, a second , an d a six th. No t bad afte r riding a Cannondale thu mper all summer, doing races and testing fo r the American manufacturer. Gibson has d one well at A re nacro ss over t he last few yea rs and he even tu rned dow n a ride for th is current series . M aybe the 19 -y ear -o ld w ill reco nsi der co m plet ing the entire series seeing th at he did ve ry we ll at o ne of t h e m o st h eav il y co nteste d A rena cr osses eve r. " I fel t g o o d o n m y H o nd a s a ll weekend ," Gib son sa id from the podi um o n Sat u r d a y . " I' m goi n g t o d o t hese first fo ur races to warm up for t he Super c ross series, plus I'd li k e to go t o Sw itz e rl and , it so un ds like a good experience for m e ." F R IO A Y hard , I' v e been tra ining m y b utt off and it paid off th is weekend . I ca me in read y and focused and now I feel that I'm rig ht where I left off in April. "I j ust signed a two-yea r deal wi th S uzu k i and I'd lik e t o w in a no the r championship for th em and all of our sponso rs, " Antunez adde d. "I'm go ing to k eep doing th is fo r as lon g as I'm co m pe t itive and w inning. I don 't pla n on stopping an y time soon , and I j ust kee p ge tti ng mo re comfo rtab le and us ed t o th e b ik es a nd t hing s k eep getting better and better." Larson C yc l es / S i n isalo' s H eat h Voss m ad e hi s annual ap pea ra nc e at D es M oin es anot he r g ood one, to o . The Minnesota -nat iv e m ad e th e several - ho u r dri v e to show h is Su p er cro ss sk ills to the locals that fr equen t the ser ies. Vo ss came away w ith a wi n du ri ng Sa turda y 's 250 c c m ai n an d fini she d sec ond beh ind Antun ez on th e 250c c o n Friday, but on ly after su rr endering th e lead o n th e final lap afte r d ealing w ith a flat rear t ir e for several lap s. Voss' 12 5c c resu lt s of seve nt h and eig ht h hav e th e privateer sit ting comfo rta bly in sec ond in the points sta nding s goi ng into ro und two , but Vo ss says t ha t t h e on ly o t h er r ound h e m ay do would be t he Roc kford , Ill ino is, roun d in December. Ei th er way , wh en V o s s sh ow s u p , p eopl e p a y atte nt io n. "It' s good to tak e a break fro m all th e trainin g I' v e bee n do ing la t ely," B y D A VE D ERINGER P HOTO S BY S T EVE B RUH N DES MOINES, lA, NOV. 3-4 Ii' U he start of t he 17th year of Arena cross was all that it was made out to be. A new t r ack , new t eams, new riders and four di ffe rent w inn ers mad e f or a great sh o w o v er the c ourse of the tw o -night ev ent. It also mark ed th e largest turnout of riders an Arena cross has eve r seen o n Frid ay, partly due t o the race trip t o Switzerl and in December. In early O ctober , SFX made it k no wn th at th e t o p 15 rid er s in points aft er ro u nd four (Rock fo rd, IL ) will qu a lify for a fiv e -d ay trip .t o r ac e in G en e v a , Switzer land , in mid -D ec ember. Th at , a l o n g w ith g o od pr ize m on ey a nd contin ge ncy , m ade fo r a hu g e rid er turnout. T he ra ce results were similar to t he past th ou gh . Four-t im e , and defend in g , Are nacrosss Champ io n Buddy Antun ez p ick ed up wh ere he left off earlier this ye ar, as he made th e podi um in all four ma in eve nts; o n e b ein g a w i n during Frid ay 's 250cc final. Th e Bill' s Pip e s / AXO /RG 3 /Su zu k i - b a c k e d An tun ez l eft Des M oin es wi t h th e po ints lea d and , onc e again, loo k s to be one of th e strongest rid ers o n the lo ng and g rueling A ren a cir cuit. "T hi s wa s easily one of m y better f irst w eek ends eve r co m ing o u t of Des Mo in es," Antunez sa id afte r Satu rday ' s f in als . " I' v e r ea l l y w ork ed 14 NOVEMBER 2 2, 200 0 ' eye I e n e vv s Defending Arenacross Champion Buddy Antunez got off to a good start to the 2000- '01 season, winning one main event and leaving Des Moines w ith the se ri e s points le ad. Voss co m m ented of his so- ca lled vac ati on. "These races are fun. Th ere's no pr essure, and I ca n relax and ju st ride lap s. Th e track and the dirt is goo d, but I just don 't rid e the 125cc eno ug h to be real competiti ve on it ." Car ro llton K aw as ak i/Thor/Pro Circu it's Josh Demuth was al so a winner. Demuth ca me out swingi ng , taking th e first m ain eve nt win of t he y ear du rin g F riday's 125cc final. He led from start to fin ish and sho we d that his several m on th absence fro m th e Nat ion al tour d id n ot s l o w him do w n o n e bit. Dem uth has m atured q uite a b it and his onc e w ide-open , go- for- brok e sty le has n o w dimi n i sh ed , alt hough h is sp eed h as sta yed th e sa m e . If th e North Rich land Hills , T exas, resid ent stays health y , he wil l be a big factor in th e champ ionshi p hunt. St . Louis Power sp orts/ HJ C/ T ho r 's D enn y St ephen son ca me o u t of th e first rou nd the bes t th at he h as eve r do ne during his Arenacross ca reer. A thi rd , t wo fourth s and a six th were St ep hen so n 's re sult s,a nd th e num ber -two A renac ross pl at e hol der was quite hap py w ith his perform an ces . "We ' ve been te sti ng in Califo rni a fo r sever al w eeks and gettin g read y fo r this ye ar," Stephen son said. "I do need to practice on m y st art s t ho ugh. T h o r /H onda / Tu f Ra c ing 's J e ff Wi ll oh grabbed t he first m a in eve nt ho leshot of the yea r d uri ng F ri day' s 125c c fi na l. D em u t h got b y o n lap fo ur and led the pa ck th e rema in der of th e 16 -l ap rac e. A nt u n ez f o l lo wed D em u th b y W illoh and m ove d int o sec ond . Car rollton Kawasak i /Smith /Sunstar 's Darcy Lange got by Willoh a few la ps later for th ird and Stephen son, KTM Canada ' s Marc o Dube a n d G ibson also snuck by Willoh for the top six pos itions at the fini sh . Vos s grabbed t he st art of the fourlap Da sh for Cash , but the race was qu ickl y r ed-flag g ed b ecaus e Dube had j um pe d the gat e. On th e restart, Voss pull ed awa y aga in and earned ove r $400 f r o m th e c row d f or his efforts and th e win . D ub e and Vo ss g at ed w ell in the 250c c fin al. Antun ez was much farth er b ac k. Vos s led for mu ch of the race as Dube held a strong seco nd on his oran ge bike, im pre ssing many in atte ndance. On lap 12 , t h ings began to hap pen . Vos s and Du be began wo rkin g through lapp er s an d Dube sev ere ly misjud g ed t he cata p ult doub le and c am e up v ery short, c ausing him t o cras h vio lently. Voss was soon alo ne, but h is lap t im es w ere slo w i ng . He now had a rea r flat t ire . W ith o n l y a few la p s r ema in i ng , Antunez wa s up to sec ond a sneaki ng i n o n th e w o un d ed Vo ss . Wi th t he w h it e fl a g wav ing , An t u nez ca u g ht Voss and he m ad e t he pa ss for t he lead o nl y a few corners from t he fi nis h . Vos s he l d o n fo r sec o n d wh il e S t e phens o n, D e m u t h a nd n ew l y sig ned Mot oW o rld of EI C ajon / Yam aha -ri de r Isa iah Johns on rounded out t he top fiv e.