Kunzel, Dymond Take Titles at Red Bull Supermoto-A-Go-Go

After finishing second in race one, and with only one race remaining at the Red Bull Supermoto A-Go-Go on the streets of downtown Reno, Nevada, Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Jeff Ward appeared to be well on his way to a second consecutive AMA Supermoto Championship. Still, anything could happen.

Anything did.

Capping off a wild and woolly day before approximately 45,000 rabid racing fans who lined the sidewalks more than four deep and peered from parking garages to catch a bird’s-eye view of the technical Reno street circuit, Red Bull KTM’s Jurgen Kunzel escaped with his first career AMA Supermoto Championship title after Ward crashed while leading the crucial race two, which paid double points to all riders who had qualified for at least one round of the series prior to Reno. In Supermoto Unlimited, the battle for the title came down to the last corner on the last lap, where two-time AMA 125cc National MX Champion Micky Dymond won the race and the championship after a controversial pass on series points leader Darryl Atkins.

Ward got loose in the dirt whoop section on lap four, tagged a hay bale and went down. His bike stalled after he picked it back up, and he could not get the machine re-fired. Ultimately, members of his team arrived on the scene, pushing the bike and thus allowing Ward to bumpstart it and get back underway in last place in the 22-rider field. Ward rode like a madman, passing riders as quickly as he could, but he could only advance to 15th place by the end of the 16-lap race. Kunzel, who finished third in race one, finished second to Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Mark Burkhart, the newly crowned AMA Supermoto Lites Champion who won both Supermoto races at Reno to remain undefeated for the season. Under the double points format, the consistent Kunzel, who won only one race all season, was able to steal the title away from Ward, who had scored five race wins, by two points, 259-257. If Ward had finished 14th, the two men would have tied, and Ward would have retained the championship by virtue of those five wins.

The battle for third overall in the series was even tighter than that, though it was similar in that crashes played a huge role in the outcome. Fresh off his pair of podium finishes at the Nashville round, Red Bull KTM's Kurt Nicoll had high hopes of displacing Troy Lee Designs Honda's Chris Fillmore for third in the points, and when Fillmore crashed on the first lap in race one, it appeared as though that might happen. Nicoll shot himself in the foot, however, when he crashed twice on the same lap, dropping from third place to finish 17th. Fillmore was 21st in race one, but even a third-place finish by Nicoll in race two was not enough to offset the points that Fillmore earned by finishing fifth. The two ended up tied, with Fillmore winning the tiebreaker by virtue of his better average finishes for the season [Nicoll did not score any points at the second of the two Copper Mountain, Colorado, rounds].

With three riders still in the running for the class title, the 16-lap Supermoto Unlimited race held just prior to the Supermoto finale was equally as wild. HMC/Generations of Sonoma Wines KTM’s Atkins held a single-point lead over All Access Racing KTM’s Dymond, 98-97, with Pacifico/GP Husqvarna’s Troy Herfoss eight points behind Atkins – rather than five – after AMA Pro Racing docked Herfoss two points and fined him $250 for cutting the course at Nashville. The outcome would be the subject of controversy.

Herfoss inherited the lead after HMC/Generations of Sonoma Wines KTM’s David Baffeleuf crashed in turn 11 on lap three. Herfoss led the next seven laps while Atkins and Dymond ran nose to tail behind him, battling for second place. When Herfoss suffered a mechanical failure that forced him out of the race on lap 10, it came down to Atkins and Dymond. The season-long battle for the championship came to a head in the last corner on the last lap, when Atkins appeared to slip just wide enough to allow Dymond underneath him. The two riders made contact, and Atkins crashed at a high rate of speed. Dymond trucked across the line to claim his first career Supermoto Unlimited race win and also his first AMA National Championship title since winning the AMA 125cc MX National Championship in 1987. Although severely battered, Atkins managed to get up and push his bike across the finish line third, behind Pacifico/GP Husqvarna’s Rodney Taplin. While Dymond was awarded the number one plate on the podium, AMA Supermoto Manager Todd Eagan was going to review footage of the incident to determine if any penalties should be handed out.

Crashes and heroic rides punctuated the final Supermoto Lites class event of 2005 as well, with Team Currie/Troy Lee Designs Kawasaki’s Brendan Currie able to claim both distinctions en route to his first career AMA National victory. Two Brothers Racing Kawasaki’s Joel Albrecht took the early lead in the 16-lap race for the 250cc contingent, with Currie dogging Albrecht at every turn before backing it in too hard and high-siding in turn three on lap seven. Currie managed to get up quickly and overcome a deficit of about 10 seconds to run Albrecht down again on lap 14, passing the former AMA National motocross and supercross racer at the end of the whoop section to take over the lead. Currie then went on to take the win over Albrecht, with Nashville third-place man Casey Yarrow finishing third again in Reno.

Currie’s win actually tied him in points with Mark Burkhart, 125-125, though Burkhart clinched the class at Nashville after having the tiebreaker – most National wins – in the bag.

SUPERMOTO RACE 1

1. Mark Burkhart (Yamaha)

2. Jeff Ward (Honda)

3. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM)

4. David Baffeleuf (KTM)

5. Steve Drew (Suzuki)

6. Cassidy Anderson (Honda)

7. Travis Pastrana (Suzuki)

8. Benny Carlson (KTM)

9. Gary Trachy (Honda)

10. Massimo Gazzarata (Honda)

SUPERMOTO RACE 2

1. Mark Burkhart (Yamaha)

2. Jurgen Kunzel (KTM)

3. Kurt Nicoll (KTM)

4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)

5. Chris Fillmore (Honda)

6. Steve Drew (Suzuki)

7. David Baffeleuf (KTM)

8. Cassidy Anderson (Honda)

9. Travis Pastrana (Suzuki)

10. Benny Carlson (KTM)

SUPERMOTO LITES

1. Brandon Currie (Kawasaki)

2. Joel Albrecht (Kawasaki)

3. Casey Yarrow (Yamaha)

4. Dalton Dimick (Honda)

5. Calvin Andlovec (Yamaha)

6. John Lewis (KTM)

7. Casey Currie (Kawasaki)

8. Cd Howell (Honda)

9. Troy Lee (Honda)

10. Matt Pursley (Honda)

SUPERMOTO UNLIMITED

1. Micky Dymond (KTM)

2. Rodney Taplin (Husqvarna)

3. Darryl Atkins (KTM)

4. Justin Ross (KTM)

5. Robert Loire (KTM)

6. Cole Walsdorf (KTM)

7. Mike Bergman (KTM)

8. Paul Nafziger (KTM)

9. Rick Pearce (Honda)

10. Chris Tucker (KTM)