Monday, May 14

Surprise! Ferry Wins Opener!

By B.J. Smith
MotoWorld

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. - It was bound to happen sooner than later. For the third week in a row, Team Yamaha's Tim Ferry impressed his bosses with an inspirational ride only this time he made the top spot of the podium. Defending champ, Ricky Carmichael had a forgettable first moto that ended his record streak of moto wins here at Glen Helen.

Tim Ferry had the most impressive ride of his career, taking the overall with 2-2 moto scores.

Moto One:

Carmichael pulled the holeshot in moto one and led the 40-rider field around the new, banked first corner and up the first hill. But RC went into a swap on the first ascent and ended up off the track. Shaun Palmer, Ricky's training partner and extreme sports icon, also went down on the top of the hill and tore up a fingernail. The injury kept him off the track for the rest of the day.

Up front it was David Vuillemin followed by Ryan Hughes, Sebastien Tortelli, and Kevin Windham. On lap two Vuillemin went down and pulled off the track with bike problems. Meanwhile, Tortelli passed Hughes and took over the number one spot and Ferry sat in third. Carmichael, who finished the first lap in 38th place was in 11th by the end of lap three.

Ferry was on the move, passing Hughes and finally, with three laps to go in the moto, he caught and passed Tortelli and looked well on his way to his first ever 250 moto win. Ferry stalled it after the finish line though and let Tortelli slip by for the win. Ferry restarted in time to keep second while Windham, Mike LaRocco and Hughes rounded out the top five. RC put on an impressive charge to finish eighth.

Moto two:

In the second moto, Hughes pulled the holeshot on the new Honda four-stroke, followed by Carmichael, Ferry and Tortelli. Carmichael had a couple of scares on the first lap, nearly losing it jumping off Mt. St, Helen where he passed Hughes. Hughes retaliated immediately on the step-up and RC again passed him back, swapping down the new Yamaha Mt.

Ryno ran into some trouble of his own early in the race when he lost his goggles and had to come in for a clean set. Carmichael eased into a comfortable lead while Ferry, Ezra Lusk and Tortelli battled for second but Tortelli went down just before the halfway point sending him back to sixth.

RC cruised to the moto win while Ferry sat back in second, which he knew was good enough for the overall. Kevin Windham was all alone in third. The real racing though was between the Honda guys, LaRocco, Tortelli and Lusk. The trio went back and forth until the last lap. LaRocoo topped this battle for fourth, Tortelli ended fifth and Lusk finished sixth.

Ferry's 2-2 gave him the overall, his first on a 250. Tortelli's 1-5 gave him second while Windham finished third with 3-3. Carmichael finished fourth and LaRocco rounded out the top five.

"I'm getting more comfortable on this bike," Ferry said. "We've done a lot of testing. I wanted to come out here and get a podium but I came away with the win. This was the best 250cc ride of my career and it felt good. People were cheering for me and that feels so good."

With 44 points, Ferry sits atop the chart followed by Tortelli with 41, Windham with 40, Carmichael 38 and LaRocco 36.

Moto One Results:

1. Sebastien Tortelli
2. Tim Ferry
3. Kevin Windham
4. Mike LaRocco
5. Ryan Hughes

Moto Two Results:

1. Ricky Carmichael
2. Tim Ferry
3. Kevin Windham
4. Mike LaRocco
5. Sebastien Tortelli

Overall and Point Standings:

1. Ferry - 44
2. Tortelli - 41
3. Windham - 40
4. Carmichael - 38
5. LaRocco - 36