Daryl Hurley Wins Spanish SX Opener
Cycle News Staff | December 6, 2003
Team Motoworldracing.com’s Daryl Hurley won his first ever Supercross main, taking the season-opening World Supercross GP on an absolute quagmire of a racetrack at Estadio Olimpico in Seville, Spain on Saturday night. KTM’s Grant Langston finished second and Suzuki’s Tyler Evans was third.
“Today was a weird day because I have been sick all week,” said Hurley. “I didn’t even think I was going to run the race, so I didn’t have any pressure. Mike Brown was pressuring me, but I knew I had to save my clutch, so I adjusted it every few corners. This has not even sunk in yet”
The heavy rains that fell prior to the event made the race more of a battle of survival than an actual supercross. The main event was cut to just eight laps, and several riders had difficulty in just making a single lap without falling in the mud. Langston crashed in the first turn and spent most of the race playing catch up.
“I was on the ground, upside down in the first turn, just like a beginner,” said Langston. “I’m glad I have my new number, ‘8,’ because when I was upside down, everyone could read it. When I would fall tonight, it never hurt; it was really safe. I was more concerned about saving the bike. The World Supercross GP is a major goal of mine”
Like Langston, Evans spent some time on ground.
“By the last lap, I was exhausted,” said Evans. “I would not have been able to go one more lap. It’s so hard to crash and pick your bike up six times in this mud. I have a lot to prove next year, and I am not going to blow it. This is a great opportunity for the privateers to make a lot of money.”
MAIN :
1. Daryl Hurley
2. Grant Langston
3. Tyler Evans
4. Heath Voss
5. Steve Boniface
6. James Povolny Jr.
7. Andrew Lozano
8. Andrew Short
9. Clark Stiles
10. Joe Oehloff
11. Jeff Gibson
12. Craig Anderson
13. Mike Brown
14. Greg Schnell
15. Jason Thomas
16. Damon Huffman
17. Cheyne Boyd
18. Erick Vallejo
19. Jeremy Isreal
20. Jean-Sebastien Roy
