At tonight’s Minneapolis post-race press conference, where the podium-finishers from both classes showed up to talk with reporters, Ricky Carmichael was the only American. Fortunately for him, and for yank fans who like to see their countrymen on top, he was the last rider to speak, which means he was the 250cc class winner.
The Team Honda rider didn’t win his heat race or get the main-event holeshot, but he worked his way up from a fourth-place start to take over the lead at the halfway point, then pulled away to a comfortable victory, gaining back a few precious championship points.
Making it a Honda 1-2 and taking the second 250cc podium finish of his career was Ernesto Fonseca, the steady Costa Rican riding all but one of the race’s 20 laps in the position. Continuing his perfect podium streak, but just barely, was points leader David Vuillemin. The Frenchman suffered a horrendous start and then crashed on the first lap, but rode smart and put on a late-race charge to advance to fourth. It looked like that was where the Team Yamaha rider would finish, but Ezra Lusk made a mistake on the final lap, and Vuillemin got around to minimize the title-chase damage.
Chevy Trucks Kawasaki riders completed the top five, with Stephane Roncada also capitalizing on the late mistake by his teammate to take fourth. Lusk remounted from his mishap to claim fifth.
After completing lap one in fourth, Jeremy McGrath advanced to the lead by lap six, and it looked like the Bud Light Yamaha rider might pull off yet another Metrodome win (McGrath won every event in the venue until last year). He made a mistake near the halfway point, however, and after that he tightened up and faded, eventually finishing sixth. Sobe Suzuki’s Kevin Windham was next.
Making his return to supercross from a serious off-season surgery was Sebastien Tortelli, and the Frenchman raised some eyebrows when he grabbed the holeshot. He led several laps on his factory Honda, but eventually slipped back and finished eighth. Taking ninth was LCR Racing Yamaha’s Keith Johnson, with Blackfood Honda’s Heath Voss completing the top 10.
There was a big mix-up in the title-chase tonight, as second-place points-sitter Mike LaRocco broke his wrist in an incident with Travis Pastrana. The Sobe Suzuki rider was trailing LaRocco through the whoops on lap six, and he doubled a jump at the end of the section. LaRocco, who had been doubling the obstacle, singled, and Pastrana landed on the Amsoil/Dr. Martens Honda veteran. Both went down, but only LaRocco was injured, and enraged. Pastrana remounted and rode another lap before crashing again in the whoops, this time hard enough to put him out of the race. LaRocco, wearing an ice pack and still angry at having lost his shot at the title, tracked down Pastrana and gave him an earful before leaving the stadium. According to OMS Ltd.’s Fred Bramblett, LaRocco will be out for eight to 10 weeks.
Speaking of injuries, Chad Reed incurred a pulled groin muscle in a practice crash at Lake Elsinore MX Park in California last Monday, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to even race in the 125cc class tonight. After skipping Friday’s practice and testing the injury in Saturday practice, the Australian sucked it up to go out and win the main event. The Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing rider was flawless, taking the holeshot and pulling steadily ahead to win by a comfortable advantage.
KTM Red Bull riders completed the podium, with Grant Langston making up for last week’s DNF with a runner-up result. The South African had to work for it, as French teammate Steve Boniface rode in the second slot for much of the main, finally giving it up on the penultimate lap.
Mike Brown rode every one of the 15 laps in fourth place, and the Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks rider retains second in the points battle. Making the top five for the second week in a row was Moto XXX/DGY’s Larry Ward, with teammate Kelly Smith taking sixth after pulling the holeshot. Riding yet another Yamaha YZ250F, Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Greg Schnell was seventh, with Team ECC’s Josh Woods next on a Suzuki. Completing the top 10 were Nielsen Enterprises/Snocross Suzuki’s Robbie Horton and Blimpie Suzuki veteran Buddy Antunez.
125 MAIN: 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Grant Langston (KTM); 3. Steve Boniface (KTM); 4. Michael Brown (Kaw); 5. Larry Ward (Yam); 6. Kelly Smith (Yam); 7. Greg Schnell (Yam); 8. Joshua Woods (Suz); 9. Robbie Horton (Suz); 10. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 11. Ryan Clark (Yam); 12. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 13. Keith Johnson (Yam); 14. Steve Mertens (Hus); 15. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 16. Daniel Blair (Yam); 17. John Dowd (KTM); 18. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 19. Michael Blose (Suz); 20. Andrew Short (Suz); 21. Chase Reed (Yam); 22. Jacob Martin (Yam).
125 POINTS: 1. Chad Reed (50/2 wins); 2. Michael Brown (40); 3. (TIE) Larry Ward/Steve Boniface (34); 5. Buddy Antunez (31); 6. Greg Schnell (26); 7. (TIE) Kelly Smith/Grant Langston (22); 9. Robbie Horton (21); 10. John Dowd (20).
250 MAIN: 1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 2. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 3. David Vuillemin (Yam); 4. Stephane Roncada (Kaw); 5. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 6. Jeremy McGrath (Yam); 7. Kevin Windham (Suz); 8. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 9. Keith Johnson (Yam); 10. Heath Voss (Hon); 11. Damon Huffman (Suz); 12. Nicholas Wey (Yam); 13. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 14. Tyler Evans (Hus); 15. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 16. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 17. Nathan Ramsey (Hon); 18. Robbie Reynard (Hon); 19. Travis Pastrana (Suz); 20. Mike LaRocco (Hon).
250 POINTS: 1. David Vuillemin (157/3 wins); 2. Ricky Carmichael (134/3 wins); 3. Mike LaRocco (120/1 win); 4. Stephane Roncada (101); 5. Ezra Lusk (99); 6. Travis Pastrana (95); 7. Jeremy McGrath (90); 8. Nathan Ramsey (87); 9. Ernesto Fonseca (71); 10. Damon Huffman (68); 11. Nicholas Wey (67); 12. Heath Voss (64); 13. Kevin Windham (62); 14. Michael Byrne (56); 15. (TIE) Jean-Sebastien Roy/Chad Reed (44); 17. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 18. Keith Johnson (20); 19. Timmy Ferry (17); 20. Tyler Evans (15).
