Travis Pastrana may not have taken the 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross title in his rookie season, but he proved in Las Vegas’ 125cc East/West Shootout that he deserves the considerable hype directed his way, riding to a convincing victory against the best of the tiddler class’ best.
While the Western Regional champ – Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Shae Bentley – was prevented from competing by a severe flu bug, Eastern champion Stephane Roncada was in fine form. The Frenchman, who rides for Yamaha of Troy and was crowned just last week in Joliet, came out of turn one near last when he was forced wide, but he quickly sliced his way through the pack and eventually finished a commendable second.
The early laps featured some close racing between Pastrana, Yamaha of Troy’s Ernesto Fonseca and Motoworld Yamaha’s Greg Schnell, but Pastrana took over for good on the fifth circuit and never looked back. He took a couple of chances to get there, but kept it on two wheels and pulled ahead. His winning effort was aided by the fact that the Team Suzuki rider was the only tiddler pilot to triple a section of jumps as the track entered the stadium following a brief jaunt outside.
Roncada was runner-up, and felt that he could have won had he not been delayed in turn one. In third was last year’s Eastern Champion Fonseca, who faded in the middle part of the race.
Results:
1. Travis Pastrana (Suz)
2. Stephane Roncada (Yam)
3. Ernesto Fonseca (Yam)
4. Greg Schnell (Yam)
5. Brock Sellards (Hon)
6. Nicholas Wey (Kaw)
7. David Pingree (Suz)
8. Branden Jesseman (Suz)
9. Keith Johnson (KTM)
10. Kelly Smith (KTM)
