Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Colifornio spGcd\rroy Fonrono, Cdlifornio 5UP€RMOTO Round I April 29, 2006 AMA Sup€Fmoto ChamPionshiP I Doug Henry (.enter), J€ff there. And I didn't want to make any cru- cial errors. lf he had caught up to me, he still would have had to pass me l miSht have been able to pick it uP a little bit, but I knew the race was winding down, so I iust kind of held my own.'' Fillmore came home four seconds adrift of Nicoll in fourth, with fellow l9-year-old young gun Herfoss roundinS out the toP five. Herfoss' Husky teammate David Baffeleuf was sixth, with Dymond seventh. Burkhart worked his way back uP to e€tth after stalling his Yamaha twice, with fellow Yamaha rider Avard and Honda-mounted Chisum again finishing ninth and l0th, respectively. Kunzel was able to sakage some points, making his way back from nearly dead last to finish I lth. sUP€RMOTO LIT€s New Troy Lee Designs Honda recruit Anderson was a man on a mission in the opening round of the Al'4A Supermoto Lites Series, iumPing out to the early lead and never looking back en route to win- ninS the I l-lap event, and Setting his first full-time Lites-class season olf to a flaw- less start. Anderson was followed home by Euro import Alexandre Thiebault, on a Husqvarna, and Graves Yamaha's newest member, Brandon Currie. ThiebaLrk sat on pole for the Lites event, followed by Currie and Anderson- And it was Thiebault jumpin8 into the lead into turn one. He was followed bY Anderson, Currie, Red Barron KTM's David Pin8ree, Yamaha rider Danny Casey, Honda-mounted Leonardo Bagnis, and the rest of the 24-rider field Anderson's Honda easily Pow- ered by Thiebault's HusqYarna down the long back straiSht at the end of lap one to take the Point position. From there, Anderson stayed smooth and consistent and slowly moved away from the rest of the lield. Thiebault put Pressure on the Troy Lee Honda rider early in the race, but Anderson clicked off fast lap after ,ast lap and couldn't be pressured into a mistake. Currie and Pingree were bolh in tow early on as well before Currie made a mistake on laP five and allowed Pingree by. Currie was able to quickly make the ground back up, riding like a man on a mistion, coming back by the former factorY Supercross and motocrosser on laP eiSht of I I . lt was a close pass in the Pavement section, with the two cominS toSether briefly. Ping stayed close until a run-in with a l+Ped rider held him uP and allowed Currie to break away, This cemented the toP three, with Anderson winning over Thiebault by 2.4 seconds. "lt was a really good race for me out there," said Anderson of his first Lites- class win, "My Troy Lee Designs Honda ran well, and once I was able to get every- thing figured out, I felt great. I iust tried to ride my own race, and I was able to 8et away, as I had hoped. My Hondawas real- ly fast, and I was able to get by Thiebault down the back straight Pretty easily. This is going to be a long series, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to start it off." Second-placed Thiebault was hapPy with his resuk, in what was his first ride for the Huslv team. "Ever!,thing went well for me tday," he said. "l like the track very much, and the bike is coming along well. lt is my fiRt time* on the bike, and I am h+Py to finish on the podium. We qualiry well, but Cassidy have avery fast bike, and he come by me on the straight. lt is good, and we will do better Y n t I a E.-- t -EE I r*?a.4e G *, Mv Owru Race I Ol Davia Pingee Sup€rmoto Lites/4th Place Pingree took his Red Barron KTM to a strong fourth-place finish after bat_ tling Giaves Yamaha's Brandon Currie for the final podium position. "l had a pretq/ good baftle going for third before I goc into lapped traffic," said Pingree. "The podium is where I want to be every weekend. I iust missed it this weekend, blrt I had fun, All those other guys arc two, three Yea.s doin8 this, and this is my first year. I did a couple races on a pieced- together Yamaha last year, but this is the first year that I have been on tood stuff and dointthe whole series." I 5Tleremy toye Supermoto Lites/ I (hh place Scoaing one for the road racers, Toye stu

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