Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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C Y C L E N E W S • AUGUST 9, 2006 29 Team Yamaha's Chad Reed skipped Saturday's practice to give his ailing knee an extra day's rest. Reed arrived at the track Saturday afternoon but didn't take to the track until race- day morning. At Unadilla, Reed damaged the meniscus cartilage in his knee, but it doesn't appear that the knee will require surgery. "I've got to be easy; I don't need to try to do some fast laps in practice and kind of dab my foot and hurt my knee again," Reed said. "It's coming around and it's getting stronger. To be honest, missing Saturday practice is better for me. I don't particularly enjoy coming to some of these tracks, and I've been staying away on Satur- day, which gets me motivated for Sunday, so I don't mind doing it." Reed, however, does- n't plan on resting much during the week off between the Washougal and Millville rounds of the series. "I have testing tomorrow and Tuesday for the X Games - Supermoto next weekend - so no weekends off for me, but it'll be fun." Rockstar Suzuki's Ryan Mills did not suit up for the Washougal National. At the Unadilla round two weeks ago, Mills had a hard get-off and chose to skip the following Denver round to rest up, but while he was practicing between the Denver and Washougal rounds, Mills twisted his knee, saying the pain felt like an electric current went up his leg, and then his knee swelled up. He tried riding Saturday at Washougal, but the pain was too much for the Suzuki rider, so he packed up his bags. It is not yet known just how serious the injury is. Daniel Sani, of the Unbound Energy/MB1/ Tokyo Mods Honda team, had an outstanding ride at Washou- gal. Now riding in the MX class, Sani's number-86 Honda was con- stantly mixing it up among the top riders and eventually finished off the day going 10-10 for ninth overall. But Sani almost didn't ride Sunday. "I had a really bad fall Saturday," he said. "I clipped a lapper and it shot me into a fence. It took down a couple steel posts and it broke a spectator's leg. I got a mangled and bruised back. We hurried up and got back to the rig. I didn't ride the second prac- tice. I just iced up and tried to keep from getting sore. Actually I am surprised I was even riding today." Team Makita Suzuki's Broc Hepler had a disappointing day at Washougal. In the first Lites moto, he got a bad start but worked his way up to fourth and was putting pressure on third-place Mike Alessi at the finish. In the second moto, Hepler crashed in the first turn and couldn't get his bike restarted. It was later discovered that an electrical wire was pulled loose because of the crash. He was credited with 39th place for 14th overall. "I just didn't get a perfect jump off the start in the second moto," Hepler said. "Then, someone came in under me in the first cor- ner and we just piled up. My bike got caught up with his and it ripped a wire and the bike wouldn't start. Nobody did anything wrong, it was just damage from the wreckage. Now, I'll just use the time off and get back to my regular practice schedule. My speed is com- ing along and I don't want to let up at all." Word has it that Red Bull KTM has signed current Star Racing team rider Martin Davalos for the 2007 season. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team owner Mitch Payton says that he nearly has his team finalized for the 2007 season. The team will be made up of Ryan Villopoto, Ben Townley, Brett Metcalfe and another yet-to-be-determined rider, possibly Troy Adams or Chris Gosselaar. This week's Racer X Holeshot Award money winners were Davi Millsaps, Chris Gosselaar, Chad Reed and Andrew Short. Each pocketed $500 for pulling the holeshot in their respective classes. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Chris Gosselaar made his return to action after fighting a nagging ankle injury early in the season. "Actually, his ankles are just really bad from a bunch of injuries during his career," said Pro Circuit's Jim "Bones" Bacon. But Gosselaar rode well, capturing the Racer X holeshot award in the first Lites moto and running up front. "I'm 100 percent physically, it's just getting back into that race pace," said L'il Goose. "After a few laps, I could barely hold on." Gosselaar is back from his ankle problems, but an ankle injury has claimed his teammate Grant Langston for the second-straight year. "Grant broke his ankle in five places," said Bacon. "It's not a bad break, just small cracks, but I think he's going to be out for a while." Langston was recovering from a wrist injury suffered at the Las Vegas Supercross and injured his ankle while riding at home in Florida. SoBe/Samsung Mobile's Joaquim Rodrigues had a scary weekend. Still recovering from a broken leg suffered a few months back, "J-Rod" got into a car accident heading to the track on Saturday. "A guy swerved and took me out," said J-Rod, who was in pretty good spirits considering the accident. "My shoulder hurts pretty bad." Rodrigues didn't race at Washougal but hopes to be back for Spring Creek in two weeks. The Spring Creek National at Millville usually marks the debut of next year's top new pros, as many will end their Amateur career at the Air Nautiques/AMA Amateur Nationals at Loretta Lynn's, and then turn Pro at Millville. Yamaha is expected to have a spot in the factory semi ready for 17-year-old phenom Josh Hill from Oregon. Texan Sean Hackley is expected to race there, as well. Also, Minnesota's Ryan Dungey will race for the Makita Suzuki team, although he won't be racing at Loretta's. Dungey had qualified for the B class at Loretta's earlier in the year, but has decided to go Pro instead. He will spend next week testing for his debut. Local favorite Kevin Rookstool was on the gas during practice, cutting the third-fastest lap times of anyone in the Lites class (includ- ing the factory riders). Rookstool was look- ing to add his name to the list of local-hero rides turned in by riders such as Ryan Huff- man and Jason McCormick, but instead, the Klamath Falls, Oregon rider crashed hard on the first lap of his qualifier on Sunday morn- ing an suffered a broken arm. Briefly... Mike Alessi regained control of the Lites series with a third- overall finish, putting him three points ahead of Villopoto. It was a disappointing day for Ryan Villopoto who suffered a DNF in the first moto due to engine failure.