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/1546195
Cassidy Anderson coming out of the sec- tion, sending them both to the ground, and taking Nicoll out of the race. But while many riders struggled with the tim- ing, former Supercross champions such as Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed whipped through it with ease. The two began working their way up through the pack after bad starts, and they began to put pressure on fifth-place Steve Drew. Many thought the Supercross-style rhythm section was too difficult, and sep- arated the field too radically. "For me, personally," Nicoll said, "that rhythm section was too difficult, like it was for all the other European guys and anyone that hasn't done Supercross before. Obviously, I'd prefer if they didn't put such dramatic sections in, but the race turned out okay." Even though he didn't struggle with it himself, Micky Dymond agreed with Nicoll's point. "I like the layout of the track, but I think putting in a full Supercross rhythm section was unneces- sary, really. It took a lot of people right out of the race that were invited and spent a whole s---load of money to get here." Not everyone criticized it, however: "The course, I loved it," Mark Burkhart said. "It was awesome. It had some fast sections; it flowed good. I thought the dirt was probably challenging for some people, but I think that's what this is all about. It's extreme games, you know? It's for the best of the best. Everybody's got to ride the same track." Aprilia's Daryl Atkins of New Zealand agreed, "The dirt section, I know a lot of people were disappointed with that. And maybe I'm being one-sided because it was in my favor, but that's now it should be. It's an extreme sport. The people going there to watch the X Games want to see some exciting things like Pastrana doing double backflips. I think it was the best track they've had for the X Games. It had everything. It really showed who was tal- Home Depot Center Los Angeles, CA August 6, 2006 AUGUST 23, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 44 X Games 12 MY OWN RACE 54 Daryl Atkins 6th Place I got a terrible start. I knew there'd be a crash in the first corner, so I just played it [safe]. Then I got a little bit sideways and I was heading for the finish-line jump, and I think if I'd jumped I might have collided with another rider. So I elected not to jump and pretty much the whole field (that didn't crash) went by me - so I started in 17th. Then I just played it cool, and lap by lap I started passing because a lot of guys weren't doing the rhythm section. I think I was in ninth before the pit stop. McGrath did his pit right before me and I actual- ly passed him on the asphalt. And then Chris Fillmore ran out of gas on the last lap. I probably did the most passing of anybody in the whole field. I came from 17th to sixth place. 199 Travis Pastrana 9th Place Wooo, boy! I thought I had that there holeshot! Then I remembered I was on slicks. 43 Micky Dymond 12th Place I actually had a pretty good start. Just going underneath the tunnel on the front straight, I tucked the front end over - there are a couple of little manhole covers. The same line I'd been using all week - and I lost the front end and I went down. Then I got up and was just trying to catch up. I circulated 12, maybe 15, laps and I ended up tucking the front end again on the same side (right). After that I was tired already from kicking and getting up off the ground so I had to pick it up and see if I could catch up again. All in all, it was another one of those: "Well, maybe next year." 24 Frankie Garcia DNF Frankie Garcia, a.k.a. El Nino, was the youngest rider invited to the Moto X Games. The 15-year-old ran into some bad luck, however, and was out in the early laps of the race. "We had some ignition problems with the bike. I don't know what happened. We were going good all weekend long until that happened - but it happens. You got to deal with it." (Above) Doug Henry's premature pit stop stirred up some confusion and controversy in the pits. (Below) Riders were required to pit within a slim three-lap window, which made for a crowded and hectic pit row. Kurt Nicoll (8) tangles with Cassidy Anderson coming out of the rhythm section.