Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ow MY Owlr RRce: 54 Robert Kiniry 8th Place Robert Kiniry finished offa successful Supercross Lites season on a high note. "The night went really well for me, but t srarted off rough," Kiniry said. "l crashed the fi6t lap of the heat race, had to ride the LCQ and did whar I had to do and tot in there. I go! a bad sran in the main but came up from about lSth to finish eithth. ,ust had a good night. felt stront, rode really smart and consistent. I had a good year. (umed myselfaround. 144 fyrc Partridge 9th Ptace Kyle Panridge had one of the besr nights of hi5 career. The Star Racing/Lucas Oils/Yarnaha team rider squeezed into th€ main via a nanth-pla(e finish in his heat race but came out on firein the ls-lap main. Panridge put his Yamaha into founh orf the st rt and hung right with the lead group for much of the mce, and spent a lor of it dicing with eveno.r- al third-place finisher Tommy Hahn. He evenrualt finished ninth after getting passed by the likes of Ryan Morais, Rfan Vllopoto and Darcy Lange late E3 .l!! d r% ,@ $1000 Progressive Direct holeshot money, went down in the second turn. The Monster Enerry/Pro Circui/ Kawasaki rider tagged the KTM's rear tire and "l had some bad luck and got tangled up in the turn," Mllopoto said. "l think I could've won this weekend." The mistake put Villopoto in 2fth place after the first lap, but he would climb all the way back up to sixth before it was all over. later that same lap, Villopoto's team- mate Chris Gosselaar also went down when he slid out in a fast, sweeping turn. The crash reportedly left Gosselaar with a chipped bone in his leg, Meanwhile, Alessi suddenly found him- self with a big lead, followed by his team- mate Jay Marmont, Short, Star Racing/Lucas Oillt'amaha's Kyle Partridge and l''latt Goerke, Millsaps, and SoBe/Samsung F'lobile/Honda's Josh Grant. Alessi. however, was struggling in the two whoop sections, and Short, who had taken over second place, guickly caught and passed Alessi, as did the flying Millsaps, who was smokin' jt through the whoops. By the third lap, Shon and Millsaps were engaged in a battle for the lead, as they pulled away from the rest of the pack. Even though Millsaps seemed to have the slight edge over Short in the whoops, Short was quicker in the back section oI the track and was able to keep his teammate at bay. On the eighth lap, however, Short breathed a big sigh of relief when l"lillsaps overcooked it in the whoops and went cartwheeling. Although Millsaps got back up quickly, the front of his bike was badly bent, and Shon suddenly found himself with a huge lead with little less than half the race to go. "l was bummed he went down," Short said. "l wanted to race him straight up.' The fight for second, however, was far from over. Grant had put his Honda into third and was catching Alessi. Pretty soon, he was right on the KTl"l rider and looking for a way to pass Alessi . He actually got by Alessi, but then crashed moments later. "l don't know what Josh Grant was doing," Alessi said. "He got by me, and I ,ust came up on the inside. We didn't even touch or anything. Then, two corners later, he jumped in front of me and tried to take me out and just ran off the track." Grant got back up in sevemh and man- aged to get three positions back before it was all over. Short, meanwhile, maintaioed his com- fortable lead and was able to enjoy and savor the last lap with about a l2-second lead over Alessi. The 2005 outdoor Lites Champion officially took the checkers 10.320 seconds ahead of Alessi, who him- self had some breathing room over Hahn, who spent much of the race dicing with Partridge and inherited third when Grant crashed. For Hahn, this was his second podium "To get out there and get on the podi- um is good for me," he said. "That was my goal for this weekend. I didn't really ride that great in practice, but I'm pumped coming out of here without going down with a good finish. There were people going everywhere the first couple of laps. I rode super conservative, got about a loth-place start, and just watched everybody kill themselves in front of me, so I just went around them." Grant ended up fourth, followed by WBRlfoshimura,/Suzuki's Ryan Morais. Villopoto, Kawasaki Team Green's Darcy Lange, Motosport/MD(Honda's Robert Kinir), and Pa.tridge, wio Put in one of his best rides of the season. "l didn't expect it," Short said of his win. "l wasn't riding that good, but I'm pumped now." Short didn't expect his first Shootout win back in '03, either. "The first one," he recalled. "Bubba went down and [Eric] Sorby went down in the whoops; I was iust in the right place at the right time. This [tonight's win] is definitely a boost for morale for me and the team." Gil SArir BoYD SraDrura SX UTES WEST HEAT (5 Lp6, l-9 to main): l. Ryan VillofEto (Kaw); 2. Billy Laninovich (Hon); l. RFn l'1omit (Suz):4. mikeAlesi (KTrl): 5. A.drew short (Hon): 6. Jen L:wrence (su): 7. lustin BElron (Ys)i 8. Paul carpenter {Hon): 9. Kyle Panndse (Yam)i | 0. Danoy Smirh (Hon)i I L Da.., Lanse (kw): I 2. Bretr tlercalle (Yam); I 3. Adah Chatijeld (Hon): 14. RFn P,briso (Hn): 15. Nathan Brmel (KTH); 16. hich&l Sleeter (KrM)i 17. Justi. (EnE, (Hon); 18. Enc Ny€ (Y )j 19. Rodris Than (K.w): ne. Tim: 6 min 30 790 e. SX LITES EAST IICAT (5 k+6, | -9 to main). L Oavi f'lillsps (Hon)i 2. Chns Gosler (Kaw); 3. Thoh6 Hahn (H@)r a. lorh Gtut (Hon); s. Matt G@rke (Y ): 6. lay Hmont lKTl'l): 7. atrdn le$M (Yam): 8. Kre chsholm (Kaw): 9. Teddy f,lais (K.w)i l0 losh SuhdEy (Hon)i ll. Kelly Smirh (Hoh)r 12. Rob Kinir/ (Hoo): 13. Brra lohGon (Yo)r 14. H'chad ab* Gon); ls. chad Johnson (Ym); 16. Chris Blse (Hon)i 17. Gres S.hEll {Suz); 18. Donnie Mccourty (Kawli 19. Manin OMl6 tYn):20.5d Hublin (suz). R.a Tlme: 6 mm., 23.720 s€(. sx uTEs LcQ(4 r.F, r.a tom.in): r. Darcy Late (Kaw); 2. ErFnlohnson (Y ):3. Rob Ki.iry (Hon):4. Kelly Smirh (Hn); 5. Erett tletcJrE (Yn); 6. Rlan Abnso Hon): 7. Nath& 8-n$/ (KTH);8. t .rtin oav.l6 (Ym)i 9. chad Johnq (Ym): 10. Adm clEtlield (Hn); l l. Sodng Th.in (Kaw): l2.lu5n. Kene/ (Hon); 13. oanny smhh (Ho.)r l{. Chns Sl*e (Hon): 15. GEt S

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