AMA Supercross Series 250cc/125cc West
AMA Supercross Series 250cc/125cc West Round 2: Phoenix, AZ January 11, 2003 After two weeks, the new-season hype has worn off. It's business as usual in the Supercross wars, and the Honda Red Riders closed out an action-packed race in Phoenix with Ricky Carmichael claiming fourth place in the 250 race amidst amazing circumstances, while Travis Preston continued his strong run by taking the runner-up spot in the 125 West event. Before the race, a confident Ricky Carmichael said, "I like Phoenix, and I like the track. It seems like there's less pressure here this week, and Phoenix always has a great crowd. Maybe that's because my wife is from Phoenix, so we feel like there's kind of a home track advantage here." As the gate dropped for the 250 main, RC got off to a great start with Ezra Lusk just ahead of him and Chad Reed leading the pack. Carmichael stalked the pair of riders for the first six laps, "Then I started to get a little impatient with their pace," RC said after the race. "I got too aggressive, tried to force a pass, and I just pushed too hard and lost the front end. I only lost three places, but when I got back on my bike, I had no front brake." The spill had torn loose the front brake line on his CR250R, so Carmichael began his usual charge?only this time, with only a rear brake to slow him on the super-challenging Phoenix circuit. "This guy is so amazing," Team Manager Erik Kehoe said after the race. "Before he went down, Ricky was turning 51-second lap times. With no front brake, his lap times dropped only one second, and he ran consistent 52s for the rest of the race. I have no idea how he could do that, but he did." From his sixth-place restart, Ricky charged as hard as his injured bike would allow, and after making a few passes he finished a mind-boggling fourth place. Meanwhile, Team Honda Pilot Ernesto Fonseca had also gotten away to a strong start, laying claim to fourth place right behind Carmichael in the early going. Fonseca inherited third place when RC went down, and was riding strong. After the race, Fonseca said, "I felt good, and I was riding really well. I didn't hear anybody coming up behind me, but suddenly in the section after the whoops, I got hit by a block-pass and I went off the track, into a hay bale, and got pinned under my bike." Relegated to ninth, Fonseca quickly got things sorted out and finished eighth. Team Amsoil/Chaparral/Factory Connection Red Rider Mike LaRocco had been involved in a multi-bike pile-up the week before in Anaheim, and the fracas left him with some lingering soreness and stiffness that had not fully abated in only a week's time. Still, the Ironman got his CR250R away to a mid-pack start and soldiered around in seventh place for most of the night, where he finished, garnering valuable points. His Amsoil teammate Michael Byrne suffered a terrible start in the Phoenix race, which left him at the back of the pack, but he worked up to an eleventh-place finish by the time the checkers fell. In the 125 West event, 2002 Champion Travis Preston launched his Team Amsoil/Chaparral/Factory Connection CR125R to a fifth-place start, then steadily worked his way forward to second place. "This was not my favorite track," Travis explained. "But in the main, I got out to a good start, got into my pace, then put my head down and just rode. In practice, it took me a while to figure out the jumps after the rhythm section that followed the first turn. You have to take it as a double jump, then hit a triple jump and a triple again if you want to make up time. I did get it figured out in time for the race, but between that and the soft texture of the track, Phoenix was a little tough for me. I can't wait to get back to the hard-pack track at the second race in Anaheim; that's more to my liking." Preston's teammate Chris Gosselaar suffered a mediocre start, then tangled with another rider and went down, but he still salvaged a twelfth-place finish. As the traveling Supercross show returns to Anaheim for the second of three races on January 18, look for the Honda Red Riders to continue their charge to the front of the pack. 250 Main Event Results: 1. Ezra Lusk - Kawasaki 2. Chad Reed - Yamaha 3. Tim Ferry - Yamaha 4. Ricky Carmichael - Honda 5. David Vuillemin - Yamaha 7. Mike LaRocco - Honda 8. Ernesto Fonseca - Honda 11. Michael Byrne - Honda 14. Damon Huffman - Honda 250 AMA Supercross Point Standings: 1. Chad Reed - Yamaha - 47 2. Ricky Carmichael - Honda - 40 (tie) 3. Tim Ferry - Yamaha - 40 (tie) 4. Ezra Lusk ? Kawasaki - 38 5. David Vuillemin - Yamaha - 34 7. Ernesto Fonseca - Honda - 28 11. Mike LaRocco - Honda - 18 15. Michael Byrne - Honda ? 11 (tie) 19. Damon Huffman ? Honda ? 7 (tie) 20. Larry Ward - Honda ? 7 (tie) 125 West Main Event Results: 1. James Stewart - Kawasaki 2. Travis Preston - Honda 3. Danny Smith - Suzuki 4. Sean Hamblin - Suzuki 5. Kevin Johnson - Yamaha 12. Chris Gosselaar - Honda 125 Western Region Supercross Point Standings: 1. Travis Preston - Honda ? 47 (tie) 2. James Stewart - Kawasaki ? 47 (tie) 3. Danny Smith - Suzuki - 36 4. Andrew Short - Suzuki - 32 5. Chris Gosselaar - Honda ? 27 (tie) 16. Turbo Reif - Honda ? 13 (tie)