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/1542356
AMA Super I E.' E Irlork Burkhorr (6), Doug Henry (IO) ond Kurr Nicoll (8) laod rhe Supermo'lo Hd inlo. turn one ol Colifiornio Spcedwqy ro kick off rhc 5aolon. I I r I ffii I \ I t Doug Henry (l9l wor flowless in hit firtt rs.. bock ftom rerious iniury lost rcoron. tlq I E 7 I I -r I I I I Doug Henry was hack to his winning ways at California Speedway Bv Sr:vr Arus PHoros eY RAvMoNo Guuov I E a oug Henry made a tri- umphant return to action, taking both AIYA Super- moto wins in the opening rounds of the series at Cal- series in Fontana. with the Don Canet-desiSned track using the majorir/ of one of the "i Speedway s large parking lots as wellas a large infield dirt section that fidhrred several small paved/dirt strips, on which the urbancross iumps were pla€ed. ln other action, new Troy Lee Designs recruit Cassidy Anderson proved his worth, dominating the Supermoto Lites race from start to finish in his first ride for the team. Meanwhile, young gun Ben Carlson played a game of hide-and-seek, disappearing from the competition in the Unlimited class aboard his factory KTPI. sUP€RMOTO RAC€ I Sifting on pole for the opening rolnd of the AllA Supermoto series was Graves Yamaha's Mark Burkhart. who'd put down a l:23.825, followed by his team- mate Henry at l:23.901. Troy Lee Designs Honda'sJeff Ward ended up third with a l:23.966. Nicoll rounded out the front row with a fast lap of I :24.122. It was Henry leading the 24-rider lield into turn one, followed by Burkhart, Ward, Nicoll and his KTM teammate Jurgen Kunzel, and Husqvarna's Troy Herfoss. New Hart and Huntington rider Steve Drew 8ot angled with Henry wiles ofl the line, and the two bikes lay inter- Ewined on the exi( of the first turn after the field cleared through. "l got railed in the back by HenryWiles in turn one," said Drew. "His bike was wedged into the back of me, and by the time I flnally got the bikes apart, I was probably almost a lap down. So I iust got back out and rode off some aSSression for the rest of the race." Also notabty absent at the end of the opening lap w-as Troy Lee Designs Honda rider Chris Fillmore, who suffered a clutch failure on the line and was unable to start the race. Ward stalled his Honda in the dirt sec- tion on the first lap, dropping back to sixth, but he was quickly back on the move, passing Herfoss at the end o, the lirst lap and sefting his sights on Kunzel, the defending series champion, right Co nio Spcad\roy o, colifo"niq t F_ t=i tip .a--rEA ..**iF il Round t APril 29, 2006 5UP€RMOTO I, { ifornia Speedway. lt was the Graves Yamaha rider's first ride back since break- ing his pefuis, among other things, at the Colorado round in AuSust of last year. The slippery track made victims of many of the top ride6 at one Point or another, with the only other man to stand on the podium in both premier-class races being KTI'4 factory rider and t€am boss Kurt Nicoll, the Brit scoring a Pair of third-place linishes. The race was run in coniunction with the third round of the AMA road-race away. Burkhan was the next to fall victim to the ultraslick dirt section on lap three. "l was right behind Doug [Henry], and getting out of the dirt onto the pavement, I lost the front and fell over," Burkhart said. "l couldn't get my bike staned real quick and I lost a lot of positions." Burkhart restarted in loth. Behind the lead frve, Herfoss'Husq- varna teammate David Baffeleuf was on the move, catching and passinS his team- mate to move into the top five on the fiIth of ll laps. Defending Unlimited-class champion Micky Dymond had gotten offto a rough start but was makinS up ground and followed Baffeleuf by Herfoss on the fifth lap. Wardy was on the 8as as well, slowly reeling in the KTM pair of Nicolland Kunzel, who held down second and third. Nicoll led Kunzel for l0 ofthe I I laps, with the German rider stalking his team boss, waiting to make his moYe until it counted. He made the move on the final lap, doing so in a bi8 way. Kunzel muscled his way through, bouncin8 ofl Nicoll in the dirt section to take the spot. By that time, r h&., .)$ .*rr 54 MAY r O, 2006 . CYCLE NEWS