Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

a chance at getting around Currie as the young Californian bobbled on the opening lap heading into the first dirt section. "Coming down the hill I broke a little early," Currie said. "He had me covered and got around me there." Anderson pulled away from Currie for a few laps, but then Currie got a second wind and moved to with three lengths of Anderson, with Dimick running solo in third. By lap six, Currie had moved close enough to make an attempt for the lead, doing so in a tight dirt section. For three straight laps, Currie attempted a pass in the same section, but with no success. In the meantime, Mach 1 Motorpsorts' Danny Casey and BP Racing's Leonard Bagnis fought over fourth place, with Yamaha-mount- ed Larry Pegram and Red Baron's Steve Hatch not far behind. On lap 12, Currie was in position to make a block pass in a tight left-hander, but pulled up just short of making contact. On the same lap, Casey went down, moving Bagnis into fourth place, while Hatch passed Pegram for fifth. Anderson seemed to pick up the pace after Currie's failed pass attempt and crossed the stripe with nearly a second to spare over Currie. Dimick ran an uneventful race on his way to third, his first-ever podium finish, while Hatch caught Bagnis in the end to finish fourth. "It was a good race," Currie said. "I've been working all year on my starts and it finally paid off and I got the holeshot, but a few corners later I made a mistake and Cassidy got by me. I knew it was going to be tough to pass here, so I caught up behind him and tried to pass him, but we are so close in speed and since it was a hard track to pass on, I just couldn't get around." SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED For the second event in a row Benny Carlson suffered a disappointing crash in AMA Supermoto Unlimited competition and, while his crash at Waterford Hills Raceway wasn't as major as the one that put him out of contention at Miller Motorsports Park, it did cost him the series points lead. At the start of the Unlimited-class race, All Access Racing's Micky Dymond grabbed a rare holeshot and led Carlson and GP Husqvarna's David Baffeleuf through the first lap. After a handful of laps, Dymond had managed to put four or five bikelengths on the Red Bull KTM HMC-backed Carlson, with Baffeleuf and equal distance behind Carlson. Another 10 or so lengths behind came a two-rider battle between Husqvarna-mounted Gary Trachy and BP Racing's Leonard Bagnis. On lap six, Bagnis found his way around Trachy, while up front, Carlson found some extra speed and moved back onto Dymond's rear wheel. For the next several laps, Carlson shadowed Dymond's every move, gaining in certain spots and then losing it in others. With two laps to go, Carlson became more desperate and tried several times to stick a wheel under Dymond, once in a sweeping left- hander of the second dirt section, but with no luck. Each time the defending Unlimted class champion fended him off. Then on the final lap, in a section where the asphalt turns into a rough sandy section, Carlson went down, leav- ing Dymond alone out front. Carlson was able to get going quickly enough, but not before Baffeleuf and Bagnis went by, and, at the finish, Dymond took an easy win, fol- lowed by Baffeleuf, Bagnis and Dymond. "I am just disappointed," Carlson said. "My rear end just got in the grass or something. If he had of made a mistake I would have got by him, but he didn't and I had to make a last-minute move. I was quicker than him in the first dirt sec- tion. It was extra soft, and I was getting through it really good. I'm just really disappointed." "I think Benny got a little impatient on the last few laps," Dymond said. "I kind of knew where he was stronger and I was able to hold him off to the end and he ended up going down." "I haven't got good starts all year and now I've got two holeshots in a row," Dymond added. "It's definitely a lot easier when you get a good start. Benny was behind me and I didn't expect to pull away from him, but at one point he made a mistake and I gapped him a little. But then I made a mistake in one of the dirt turns and he was on me again. So I just regrouped and tried to put some laps together. I just rode the best I could and protected my lead." With the crash and the resulting fourth-place finish, Carlson saw his narrow points lead vanish completely and now, after five of 10 rounds, Baffeleuf holds a one-point lead over Carlson (92 to 91) in the series standings, while Dymond crept back into the thick of things with his win and sits in third overall with 89 points. CN WATERFORD HILLS RACEWAY CLARKSTON, MICHIGAN RESULTS: JULY 8, 2006 (ROUND 5 OF 10) SUPERMOTO RACE ONE: 1. Jeff Ward (Hon); 2. Mark Burkhart (Yam); 3. Christopher S. Fillmore (Hon); 4. Doug A. Henry (Yam); 5. Troy Herfoss (Hus); 6. Steve Drew (KTM); 7. Josh W. Chisum (Hon); 8. Jason B. Conlon (Yam); 9. Matt W. Burton (Yam); 10. Vincent M. Guisande (Hon); 11. Travis A. Pastrana (Suz); 12. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); 13. Carey Hart (Hon); 14. Travis F. Ellis (Hon); 15. David Arnold (Hon); 16. Brandon Stooksbury (Hon); 17. Norman J. Larose (Hon); 18. Jesse L. George (Suz); 19. Jessica R. Patterson (Hon); 20. Michelle Disalvo (Hon). Race Time: 17:21.487 sec. Margin of Victory: 0:548 sec. SUPERMOTO RACE TWO: 1. Doug A. Henry (Yam); 2. Jeff Ward (Hon); 3. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM); 4. Christopher S. Fillmore (Hon); 5. Steve Drew (KTM); 6. Troy Herfoss (Hus); 7. Mark Burkhart (Yam); 8. Josh W. Chisum (Hon); 9. Jason B. Conlon (Yam); 10. Travis A. Pastrana (Suz); 11. Carey Hart (Hon); 12. Vincent M. Guisande (Hon); 13. Kurt Nicoll (KTM); 14. Jesse L. George (Suz); 15. Travis C. Marks (Hon); 16. David Arnold (Hon); 17. Brandon Stooksbury (Hon); 18. Jessica R. Patterson (Hon); 19. Travis F. Ellis (Hon); 20. Michelle Disalvo (Hon). Race Time: 17:36.636 sec. Margin of Victory: 2.144 sec. AMA SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STAND- INGS (After 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Jeff Ward (203); 2. Doug Henry (192); 3. Mark Burkhart (172); 4. Chris Fillmore (170); 5. Troy Herfoss (152); 6. Jurgen Kunzel (147); 7. Kurt Nicoll (142); 8. Travis Marks (128); 9. Josh Chisum (120); 10. Micky Dymond (107); 11. Steve Drew (90); 12. Matt Burton (78); 13. David Baffeleuf (69); 14. Vincent Guisande (65); 15. Bernd Hiemer (47); 16. Travis Pastrana (47); 17. Jason Conlon (36); 18. David Arnold (36); 19. Travis Ellis (35); 20. Carey Hart (31). SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED: 1. Micky M. Dymond (KTM); 2. David Baffeleuf (Hus); 3. Leonard Bagnis (KTM); 4. Benjamin T. Carlson (KTM); 5. Darryl Atkins (Apr); 6. Steve J. Hatch (KTM); 7. John M. Lewis (KTM); 8. Justin Ross (KTM); 9. Robert P. Loire (Hus); 10. Monte Frank (KTM); 11. Daniel A. Jannette (KTM); 12. Paul Nafziger (KTM); 13. Nick Daniels (Hus); 14. Alex McElea (KTM); 15. Donald J. Wanat (KTM); 16. Brian Stephenson (KTM); 17. Eddie L. Ray (KTM); 18. Rick S. Crist (KTM); 19. Colin W. Horn (Hus); 20. Brandon Stooksbury (KTM). Race Time: 17:45.375 sec. Margin of Victory: 13.451 sec. AMA SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS: 1. D. Baffeleuf (92); 2. Benny Carlson (91); 3. Micky Dymond (89); 4. John Lewis (86); 5. Justin Ross (76); 6. Gary Trachy (68); 7. Robert Loire (68); 8. Steve Hatch (56); 9. Leonard Bagnis (50); 10. Daryl Atkins (49); 11. Alex McElyea (49); 12. Monte Frank (48); 13. Daniel Jannette (38); 14. Eddie Ray (36); 15. Paul Nafziger (34); 16. Brandon Stooksbury (27); 17. Donald Wanat (21); 18. Steven Ayler (17); 19. Jeff Grace (16); 20. Josh Chisum (14). SUPERMOTO LITES: 1. Cassidy J. Anderson (Hon); 2. Brandon Currie (Yam); 3. Dalton C. Dimick (Hon); 4. Steve J. Hatch (KTM); 5. Leonard Bagnis (KTM); 6. Larry Pegram (Yam); 7. Alexandre Thiebault (Hus); 8. Eric R. Wedemayer (KTM); 9. Chris E. Fischer (Yam); 10. Mike G. Gergman (Yam); 11. Casey A. Yarrow (Yam); 12. Cole T. Walsdorf (KTM); 13. Don Hart (Yam); 14. Stuart P. Sinclair (Yam); 15. Troy Lee (Hon); 16. Andrew Dickson (KTM); 17. Danny Casey (Yam); 18. Matt S. Abbott (Kaw); 19. Andrea L. Walsdorf (KTM). Race Time: 17:48.094 sec. Margin of Victory: 1:16.292 sec. AMA SUPERMOTO LITES CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS: 1. Cassidy Anderson (125); 2. Brandon Currie (104); 3. Leonard Bagnis (86); 4. Alexandre Thiebault (78); 5. Casey Yarrow (67); 6. Steve Hatch (66); 7. Danny Casey (60); 8. Dalton Dimick (57); 9. David Pingree (49); 10. Cole Walsdorf (45); 11. Eric Wedemayer (42); 12. Matt Abbott (39); 13. Troy Lee (34); 14. Justin Ross (33); 15. Mike Bergman (28); 16. Cameron Welsh (25); 17. Chris Fischer (23); 18. Calvin. Andlovec (21); 19. Larry Pegram (15); 20. Paul Allison (15). C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 19, 2006 19 Fillmore was also glad to see the Urbancross jumps made their return at this round. "I love the Urbancross jumps," Fillmore said. "Bringing those back was a really good idea. Where they set them was perfect; you jump to the outside and kind of cross it up so you can drive up this long hill. It's really cool." Former AMA Motocross Champion and X-Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana rode the Detroit event in preparation for the upcoming X- Games Supermoto event. "We went to the last round in Utah to kind of see where we were at and I was real happy with how we came together," Pastrana said before the Detroit race. "We had just a few minor things to work out with the motorcycle, so, hopefully, we can stop the bike from overheating this weekend. We've got a little more speed out of the Yoshimura bike, so we want to see how much better we are, and how much work we've got to do before the X-Games. This is a lot of fun to ride; unfortunate- ly, I am really bad at the road portion, but I actually enjoy that part the most. The dirt sections without the knobbies actually aren't very fun, but that is were I make up the most time. Learn- ing how to slide the bike has been a whole new challenge for me and I real- ly enjoy doing it." Former National Enduro Champion Steve Hatch took some time off from "woods" riding in 2006 to spend more time with his family and to "try new things." So far, he has ridden all five of the Supermoto rounds this year and claimed his best finish of the year at the Detroit event. "Red Baron has been helping me out this year, and I am hav- ing fun coming out here with the guys and riding," Hatch said. "This has been a new twist for me and a new spark, and I am having a ton of fun. I had never ridden a Supermoto event before this year, and I was hoping to be top five by the fifth race, and I got that in Utah, which was the fourth race. And this week I finished fourth, so I am happy. Now to make the top three would be awesome. Since I come from an off-road background, the hardest part is to remember when you are in the dirt sections that you have bald tires and big front brakes. So you want to rail the turns." Carey Hart, the owner of Hart and Huntington Tattoo, which is featured on the A&E Network program "Inked," has put together a Supermoto team, which joined the series just after the Fontana round. The team includes Hart, Steve Drew, Donnie Wanat and Cole Walsdorf, and it is sponsored by Hart and Huntington Tattoo. The team graphics are definitely some of the most interesting in the pits. "This whole thing came together because I was friends with Donnie Wanat and Steve Drew," Hart said. "I actually got a wild card into the X-Games and did the Supermoto. These guys were pri- vateers this year, so I figured, 'What the hell,' and I dug into the company and bought the dually and the trailer and got some graphics made up. We're weekend warriors, but we're out here doing it. We put this whole deal together a week after Fontana, and each week we are getting better and better. We got the trailer for Salt Lake and we teamed up with Pinit Motors and East Coast Wheels. I am doing the rest of the season, and we will have a presence at the X-Games. The plan is to build our program each year." In the Team Championship standings, Troy Lee Designs/Honda leads the standings with 372 points, followed by Graves Motorsports Yamaha with 361 and Red Bull KTM HMC with 307. The four-rider Superpole field includ- ed Doug Henry, Chris Fillmore, Jeff Ward and Mark Burkhart. Burkhart set the fastest time by over a second over Fillmore to earn the pole position, with Ward and Henry finishing out the front row, in that order. Briefly... Continued from page 17

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