LaRocco takes fourth at exciting Anaheim Supercross
23 January 2001
2001 EA Sports Supercross Championship, Round 3: Edison International Field, Anaheim, CA, January 21, 2001 2000 Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath showed another sell-out crowd who was the "boss of Supercross" Saturday at Anaheim's second Supercross in three weeks. The defending champ fought off a young and aggressive Ricky Carmichael to win his second Supercross of the season. Honda Racing's Ezra Lusk was following closely in third place until he crashed hard just before a triple-jump. Lusk remounted quickly, but would be unable to sustain the speed he had shown before the fall. "I was just trying to ride my own race and once I crashed, I knew it would be tough to catch up to the leaders," said Lusk. Another rider who was trying to get his Supercross form back was Honda Racing's Sebastien Tortelli. The Frenchman had injured his left shoulder at Round 1, and was told he might not be able to return to action for 4 - 6 weeks. The young superstar saw his destiny differently and with the help of his sports doctor from France, set out on a vigorous rehabilitation program. The result was that Tortelli came back in only two short weeks, to race in Round 3. While he was down on speed, Tortelli got an A+ for effort from his fans, and was welcomed back by the Supercross community. The best hope for Honda fans was to be Honda-supported Mike LaRocco, riding for the AMSOIL / Dr. Martens / Journeys / Competition Accessories Team. The hard charger started off the evening with a crash in his heat race, and had to do battle in a 250cc semi to qualify for the main event. Once in the main, LaRocco suffered a poor start but soon displayed the form that netted him a 2nd place finish at Round 2 in San Diego. Unfortunately, the final lap arrived sooner than expected and Larocco settled for fourth behind Kevin Windham. "I wanted that podium spot. I could see Windham but just didn't have enough laps to get close-in for the pass," said LaRocco. Anaheim Round 3 Supercross 250-class Results, Top 5 Finishers 1. Jeremy McGrath - YAM 2. Ricky Carmichael - KAW 3. Kevin Windham - SUZ 4. Mike LaRocco - HON 5. Tim Ferry - YAM 10. Sebastien Tortelli - HON 11. Ezra Lusk - HON EA Sports 2001 Supercross 250-class Point Standings, Top Riders 1. Jeremy McGrath - 70 2. Ricky Carmichael - 67 3. Mike LaRocco - 58 4. TIE: E. Lusk, K. Windham - 49 Upcoming rounds Round 4 - Bank-One-Ball Park, Phoenix, AZ January 27 Round 5 - Edison International Field, Anaheim, CA February 3