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/1542397
Elkhdrr Loke, wl Iprov Lee Designs rlonda s leff I Ward eave new li{e to his I Srp..io,ochampionship I hooes with a double win at I etin"., Lake on saturdar evening while Yamaha's championship leader Doug Henry could only manage a third-place finish in race one and a l5th- place finish in race two. "Everything went 8reat," said Ufard, the 20O4 Supermoto Champion. 'At our first race in California we had some clutch prob- lems and front-brake issues. My game was on then too, but didn't have the resuk," Ward now leads the SuPermoto Championship with 9 I points. Henry sliPPed to second in the standirEs on 76 points. ''lt was a good weekend for us, for sure," Ward added. "But we've 8ot a long way to go." Henry had a day of misfortune. ln the firct race he was forced off track after Honda rider Chris Fillmore fell. ln the second race the th.oftle housing started slipping on the handlebar and forced Henry to make a quick pit stop to have it snugged up. Ward and Henry's teammates had an up and down day. Ward's teammate Fillmore finished founh after his fall and rode to a spirited third in the second race. Henry's teammate Mark Burkhan cashed in on the Fillmore-Henry incident in the first race to claim second. ln the second race Burkhart iumped the start and had the, indignity oI receiving the stoP-and-8o meatball fla8. Defending Supermoto ChamPion .lurgen Kunzel had a mixed day as well. The German lost the drive chain early on in the flrst race while in contention. ln the second race Kunzel kept Pressure on Ward, but the race had Ward's name written all over it from the Sreen li8ht. The Supermoto Lites series started shaping up in to a dogfiSht as Troy Lee Designs Honda's Cassidy Anderson Pre- vailed over Graves Yamaha rider Brandon Currie. The two banSed in to each in the early going and looked ready to bang it up again at the end, when Currie fell on a downhill paved corner. The real war was waged in the paddock, however, as Currie used tires that teams had earlier agreed not to use in Supermoto Lites due to limited availabiliry The team said it was an honest mistake in mounting wheels, but others felt different. Anderson has won both Supermoto Lites races in the two-race-old season. The Supermoto Unlimited race was a riches-to-rags race for chamPionshiP leader Ben Carlson and his KTM. The local hero led early. br-rt had a mrscue in the dirt that dropped him to third. Carlson fell again on the pavement and was out of contention for the win, but recovered well enough to retake third and retain the championship lead. The Unlimited race was won by Frenchman David Baffeleuf on a Husky with defend- ing class-champion Micky Dymond linish- ing second on his KTM. Both riders revived their championshiP hoPes at Elkhart take after going home from the first round in Fontana in tafters. sUP€RMOTO RAC€ ON€ The 24 riders gridded up for the l8-laP flnal under a great blue sky with Burkhart on pole after taking the four-rider Superpole shootout. Ward made amends for the problems he had at Fontana by taking the holeshot from the front row. "l iust tried not to make mistakes," Ward said. "When you get the holeshot that's all you need to do. The easiest way to lose one of these races is to go down or make a big mistake. I t.ied to make these guys work for it. lt was the first time l've had a holeshot in a while and I was a little tight in the beginning." Kunzel was the flrst rider to droP out of the race after iust two laPs while run- ning in fifth. "l made my race a little bit shorter than the other gufs!' he said. "l lost my chain and I don't know why it happened. I came into the chicane and then I lost the chain.'' David Baffeleuf was the second rider to drop out. Bafieleuef was running seventh when his motorcycle suddenly slowed. The lead group was led by Y%rd shad- owed by Fillmore with the Yamahas of Henry and Burkhart close behind. rA/ard's Honda had good acceleration offthe corrrcrs and it looked like dle best that the Yamaha rideG could do was to rnolest Fillrnore. taP 14 defined Fillmore's race when the 19- year-old fell on the last left-hand fi.rm- "l think what happened was that I hit the rumble strip with my frame and it kicked the rear wheel around." Henry was left with few options on where to 80. "l was trying to 8o around the bike but I ended up runninS over him on his lower leg," Henry said. "By the time I knew he was going to fall, he and his bike started separating. He started falling into where I was Soing and there was nothing I could do. I ,ust preloaded the bike and tried to bunny hop over him lightly. He 8ot uP and seemed to be okay." Fillmore wa5 not aware that Henry ran over him until long after the race. "l guess that might be why my knee is a little sore," he said. Henry's teammate Mark Burkhart sped through the incident to move from fourth to second. "l wanted to sit back and watch until about halfway," Burkhan said. "l chose the wrong front tire for the first race. lt was a little bit softer tire and wasn't working as good after halfi^.ay in the race. Dunlop tires are Sreat and my rear was working awesome, I iust chose the wrong front tire. lt just lost its grip. I got lucky, I guess." Fillmore remounted and finished fourth "l was so upset because I was doing so well. I got back uP and was Pretty haPPy to linish fourth." Ward was unaware that Burkhart made it to second unscathed. "l saw Chris iust going down and Doug going to the right into the grass," Ward said. " I knew I had a decent lead, but I didn't know that Burkhart had snuck by. The next couple laps I looked over and saw Doug and thought he was in second. I backed off a little bit and then saw Burkhart only two seconds behind. I did- n't know he was there. I got on the throt- tle again and opened it up to about f|e seconds. I had some good speed there at the end to pull away." Husqvarna rider Troy Herfoss finished a lonely fifth. "My practice and qualifying did not go well, to say the least," Herfoss said. "l did- n't qudiry where lthink I should of- I knew in the race I could go fast- I iust had to sort out what lines were quicker. By the Jefftilflard does the double and changps eYerything 32 JUNE 14,2N6 . CYCIE NEt/Ys SUFERMOTO ilII \ -7 I ",a I tr ,fr .s I c ?, r d 4 , , di .r" J ffi 1 I I AMA sup€rmoto Championshh June 3, 2006 ,€b 3 \.t Iq' fr-*'r '*iEltr*- *ffi GJ :s JefI word (3) leodr DouE Heary {191otd f Mork Burkhor, (6) en route to o double'toce girl or ihc AlriA Supirrnoro rcund ot Elkhir4 t.ok4|Pr ---"-:a f,--*-r fi D,. ii,i) ) 't \ L '{ \ It I f .-,.*.ms** "a l': r [YIi r L L ft l. : --""4 lt BY TRAcy Hnca{ PHoios rv RdVrliono Guirov