Tuesday, May 22

Racewire - 05.22.01

By B.J. Smith
MotoWorld

... Like the Yoshimura Suzuki team at Road Atlanta, KTM had a banner weekend of racing results at Hangtown. KTM didn't fill the podium but they did put their entire team in the top seven in the 125cc class at round two of the AMA Motocross. Grant Langston won both motos, Kelly Smith went 5-8 for fourth, Brock Sellards went 14-3 for fifth and David Pingree went 8-12 for seventh.

There was a new "Pros only" uphill double at Hangtown this year. The gap was about 60 feet and took fourth gear on a 125 to clear.

... If KTM was to pick a weekend to dominate, last weekend was perfect timing. Mr. Pierer, the CEO of Red Bull, KTM's title sponsor was on a visit from Austria and spent the day at the track to watch his well-spent dollars in action.

... It wasn't a good weekend for consistency that's for sure. Travis Pastrana finished second with a 9-2. Rodrig Thain got third with 4-9. And there was a handful of other riders that finished ahead of where they placed in both motos. Because of this, Langston is already enjoying a 28-point lead over defending champion, Pastrana.

... People keep telling me that Pastrana's not in as bad of a position as he was last year, but that's not so. Even with a DNF at Hangtown last year, Pastrana was only 23 points out of the lead after two rounds and 20 points behind his eventual title competition Stephane Roncada. Langston's consistency has given him a huge lead and if Pastrana wants to successfully defend his title, he needs to show the consistency he did at the end of last year. But it's a long series and anything can happen.

... Bobby Bonds really opened eyes and turned heads at Hangtown. Nobody expected Bonds to be a threat this year but he proved he can run at the front of the pack. Dealing with the pressure is another challenge he must overcome. Bonds nearly won the first moto over Langston and was leading the second moto with only three laps to go when he and Langston collided at the bottom of the hill. Bonds hit the ground hard and posted a DNF. Before two collided, it was evident that Bonds was tiring fast in the blistering heat. With a little more training and Bonds could be serious threat for a few race wins.

... What's the deal with Michael Brandes? The team Moto XXX rider pulled the holeshot in moto two and had a ten bike-length lead by the end of the first lap. After a few more laps he was so far out front he could have stopped to change his oil and still won. At about the half-way point, Brandes threw out his anchor and faded to 13th. And don't forget he did the exact same thing in the first moto of the year at Glen Helen but only led for three laps before fading outside the top 20. He's obviously shown he can run at the front of the pack but not for the entire race. Whether it's a problem with his conditioning or the bike, he needs to sort it out because he's fast enough to win.

... Tallon Vohland decided not to ride Sunday. Vohland crashed last weekend at Glen Helen and suffered a concussion. After practicing on Saturday, he decided racing would not be a good idea.

"When I was riding practice on Saturday I just felt dizzy going over the jumps," he said. "I'm going to need some time to heal up."

Vohland said he will take Mt. Morris off too. A return at Southwick is possible, maybe Budd's Creek, he said.

... Here's an interesting factoid. Ricky Carmichael had a terrible start in the first moto at Hangtown. Why? "I started in first gear," he said. Carmichael said his Kawasaki tranny is designed to not mis-shift into neutral. When he was burning his tire on the line in first gear he tried to click it back into neutral but when he let the clutch out the bike was in gear. The only problem was that it was still in first gear not second.

... RC's reaction to Steve Bruhn's Glen Helen crash photo of Carmichael in the first moto: "Aw, it wasn't really as bad as it looked."

... Too bad for... Steve Lamson was my pick to win the race and I thought he would be able to do it with his great start in the first moto. Unfortunately he hit an over-watered corner. Too bad it was the second corner because when Lamson went down about 31 riders ran into him. Davey Dye, Lamson's mechanic said Steve was pretty torn up after the fall, not because it was a hard crash but because he was hit by so many bikes. Lamson went back to the pits with a sore back. He was running in the top five in the second moto but his back hurt so bad he couldn't finish the race.

... At the end of the day Pastrana said it was amazing how bizarre the pileup in the first moto was. "I looked around and I couldn't believe how many of the top riders were on the ground," he said. Along with Lamson and Pastrana was Brown, Wey, Ramsey, and many others.

... Too bad for II... Ernesto Fonseca was having one of the best outdoor rides of his career. After a third in the first moto, Fonseca was running in second in moto two, and catching Brandes until his bike started smoking and he was forced to watch the rest of the race on a haybale.

... Too bad for III... Mike Brown went back to the pits in the first moto with a sore shoulder after going down in the pileup on the first lap. In the second moto, Brown's bike seized. Hopefully better luck this weekend for Brown.

... We weren't able to give you official points after the 250cc race Sunday because the AMA was having computer troubles. And then when we did get them we forgot to update the report. So, here they are:

1. Sebastien Tortelli - 86 2. Ricky Carmichael - 79 3. Tim Ferry - 78 4. Kevin Windham - 76 5. Mike LaRocco - 74 6. David Vuillemin - 50 7. Ryan Hughes - 47 8. John Dowd - 44 9. Stephane Roncada - 41 10. Kyle Lewis - 38

... Now this is racing. Look at the top five of the 250cc class. Only 12 points separates them. It would be great to see this for the rest of the season.

... Tim Ferry is still at it. He had a little bad luck in the first moto when he, Roncada and Down came together in the chicane. Ferry retaliated in the second moto by putting a classic inside pass on Windham and leading until the halfway point. Ferry finished second behind RC.

... Old News: Just in case you didn't hear about this already, Jeremy McGrath is engaged to marry long time girl friend, Kim Maddox.

... Don't forget to listen to the live Web cast of every AMA Motocross race this summer. If you can't make it to the races, listen to the Web cast.