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/1542337
I D€sphe finishirE fourth in dle Supercrocs-class mdn evert and pulling three holeshots on one of iust $ree two6trokes in $e field, ler€rny Mccrati is rumored to be cortemplatint rwhdling srokes, perhapG as early as this week. "h's true; we've been talking about it," Mccra$ said. "l don't know yet, I mean, today's race was okay, but I think that if I had a 450, I could iump d|at section [fie triple lead- ing into the rtDdfim lanel and maybe I y,/ould ve been on the podium. I think you're ar a disadvantage lon the t$ao-stroke] in some ofthe tums lvhe.e you have to s€at-bounce pretty far - the 250 you @nt do that, or h's hard to do that, And I'm not willinS to lake the chan.e like $at." Mccrath admitted that he found the tlvo-stroke to be at more of a db- advantage than he $ought. "l w'as more sur- prised after Amhejm 1," he said. "l didn't think it would be so much of a difrerence. But that track was the worst l've ever seen- And some of dle iumps were gnart WtEt *lose t'rys were doing on the 450 was pretty cre)a That Eiple-triple-triple thing lthe rhythm lane in Phoenixl was iust too scary on dle 250. I would consiier it lriding the 450]." As far as having to adiust quickly to the four-stroke, Mccrath doesn t tt'ink drat will be a brg prou lem. "l dont think 5o," he said. 'iAll I ride is the 450 mo6t of the time: I just ride the 250 for dris- It will be en adjustrnent, for sure, might be tough getting Lrsed to it in on€ wEek, but hellw*h ir" f Mccrath do€s switch to the 450 next week, then the Pho€nix race will Eo down in history as the last race to s€e a works 250cc two-stroke bike in *re field. BooKoo EnerB/Honda's David \fuillemin suffered a scary crash durinS pradice while attempting !o triple into the rhythm tane thal Jererny Mccrath spoke of earlien Vuillemin, riding a CR250R two-stroke, cased the $ird jump, rausing tie front whed to shm into the face of the founi jump, sendint Vuillemin endoinS oito the ground. "l iust tried to triPle in the section - ell the top gu)s were doinS it, so I iust tried it," \fujllemin said. ''[NadEn] Ramsey was doing ir on the 2508 so I tried and I think I spun, lo6t my drive and cased realt bad erd almost entu riglt *reret but I hh the next iump and that lras it - dlat was the end of iL I hurt my ribs a little bit, but my head is fine and e\€ry$ing is fine." Vuillemin was slow to his feet, brrt once he ripped ofr what was remainirE of his helmet visor, he ripped off some of his best lap times of the night. "Yeah, ny lap times [were] not too bad after Continued on pdge 19 After winning hst we€k's L.ites main in AnalEim, Team Hondat Andrew Short showed up at Phoenix whh a notjceable limp, and a cresh like that." he said. FIICKY CAFIIVIICHAEL B,ATTLES BACK T THE TOP DF I-HE PODIUIVI IN PHOENIX THRILLER By KlI PArr(rR PHoros By Sr:v: Bnuxru AND KNNEy JoNls a lrftle, and liusr hit it and'ldont renrember if llost the front or lost the rear - but it kind ofwent sideways and my helmet got stuck on my handlebars.'' Pretty soon, Carmichael was ri8ht behind Reed and was turning up the pres- sure. He got a little help from Reed aSain when Reed bobbled coming out of a turn. which messed up Reed's entry into a tricky rhythm section. This allowed Carmichael to get alongside Reed, and Carmichael was able to stutf Reed in the following turn, returning the favor from earlier in the night. Carmichael pinched Reed off so hard that the two riders actu- ally almost came to a stop, though it appeared that they never really touched. 'l [saw] Chad up there, and we were pretty close, lap for lap," Carmichael said. "Once I got into second, I thought | 8ot a great chance to do it, and I iust need to not get loose coming out of the turns and nail that rhythm lane every lap. He made a mistake in Lhe turn before rhe rhythm lane and wasn't able to hit the rhythm lane, a d I was and was able to get by him. "l had to make an aggressive move. but I do what I have to do, and it's done with," Carmichael said of the actual pass. "l have a lot of respect for Chad. as well as James. and we all want to win. but I don't think we are going out there to iust ruin each other. lf I would've shut oll - he was already anSling over: I had to bring him to the outside or the dude is goinS to go by me- I did what I had to do and not [in] the ugliest fashion. We both stayed upright and did battle after that." Once Carmichael 8ot into the lead right at the midway point, he slowly opened up a small gap, a gap that didn't get much bigger than a few seconds, because Reed never gave up and contin- ued to put in some good laps. "l never felt like it was over," Reed said. "l knew the tack was slick, and I knew that nry pace was good. I had onc more shot at him, but I ruined that. and that was it - iust little misEkes that I need to take out of my program.'' Carmichaelwent on to take the check- ered flag 2.593 seconds ahead of Reed. "l felt like I gave that one away toniSht, I felt like I was in control," Reed said. "k was a tough track, and we were all so even. I knew that not one of us could take leaps and bounds out of anyone els€'s lead." As for Stewart, he cenainly made the best out of a bad situation. After goinS down in the first turn and rounding the first lap in l9th place, the Anaheim lwin- ner went into salvage mode and eventual- ly worked hi! way into third place, getting there on the llth lap. At that point, Stewart was a good six seconds or so behind Reed and had little chance of catching him, so he played it safe and was content to stay where he was, Cormichoel {4) ond Chod Reed (22) vie for the hole5hot in the mqin evenl. I I ,,Bsl $.9' q a "\. 't !}f; { 1( \ ! 4r l t 6 t E Q, I 1 I' ,-) .D r* I I t. A1 \ b. I L ll { d a \ .I I ta -l$ CYCLE NEW S . JANUARY 25. 2006 17 ,lt '.1 I ) ! sl I t* b l- ? h / I \ I ,l l- /. I I l.t I Briefly...