SEPT 13-GLEN HELEN RACE REPORT

By John Basher
Photos by John Kerr

250 Class:

Two years ago, Ricky Carmichael capped off what many thought to be unheard of – a perfect season. 24 straight moto wins without a single hitch in the season. It almost sounds impossible. With the chances of suffering from a first turn crash, bike problem, or just a freak accident always looming in motocross, it’s a wonder that Carmichael could avoid said problems and go undefeated in 12 continuous Nationals.

As the sun was beginning to set behind the treacherous hills of Glen Helen on Sunday, Carmichael crossed the finish line first once again to cap off another perfect season. Chad Reed, Kevin Windham, David Vuillemin, and Sebastien Tortelli could not dethrone the king of motocross from the opener at Hangtown to midway at Unadilla to the finale at Glen Helen. In the opening moto, RC came out of the first turn in second place behind Chad Reed, only to pass him in a single lap. From then on out, it was only 27 minutes and two laps before Ricky would claim 23 straight moto wins. In moto two Carmichael made it very easy on himself by grabbing the holeshot and leading wire to wire. In his last outdoor season with Team Honda, RC put the CRF450 on the top spot and readily thanked the manufacturer atop the podium for three great years of service.

Chad Reed once again played second fiddle, but with Ricky Carmichael in the class, second is the best anyone else could do. Known more for his indoor prowess, Reed has made leaps and bounds over last outdoor season by consistently beating Kevin Windham and keeping RC in sight for a few laps each race. While Carmichael has been ‘the guy’ in the 250 class, Chad no doubt should receive the award for ‘most improved’ rider.

Sebastien Tortelli and Kyle Lewis had some great battles through the course of the day. Lewis ripped two top-three starts, while Tortelli was sitting just outside the top five, and it took #103 several laps to catch Kyle, but quite a few for Tortelli to actually make his way around ‘Lucky.’ For Sebastien, it was just another weekend as he went 3-3 for third overall, but for Lewis it showed that he still has persistency and hunger to be at the top, and made us think that maybe there isn’t a 30 something year-old rider under that helmet.

125 Class:

James Stewart made a wise decision in choosing the KXF250 for Glen Helen. With the massive hills and brutally long start straight, Stewart needed all of the power that he could get to not be buried in the back of the pack off the gate. It paid off, because in the second moto after only two laps Bubba already had an 18-second lead, and that’s after he grabbed the holeshot. Leading up to the race, Stewart had only ridden the four-stroke over the course of three days, but during the race it looked as if he had raced the bike all year long. With 1-1 moto scores, James was one moto shy of a perfect season and ended his 125 career with 28 National wins. At the press conference, Stewart commented that he is glad that he didn’t race the four-stroke all year, as he had to push himself more on the 125 during the season, which will make him more prepared for next year in the 250 class. Come Anaheim I, James Stewart should be more than ready to go up against Carmichael and company.

I had the chance to sit down with Chris Gosselaar at Red Bud after the races, and we had discussed his future plans. At the time he had no idea of what he was planning on doing, although he did have several options available to him. Two months later, Gosselaar planted himself on the Motoworld team for next season, and was really looking forward to supercross. After all, G’s outdoor season was nothing to write home about – until Glen Helen came around. On Sunday, Chris grabbed two great starts, but even better, he held onto his position and charged forward. Gosselaar rode well at Steel City (going 5-4 for fourth overall), but he ended his season on a high note Sunday when he finished 4-3 for second overall. Congrats to Chris.

How can a rider finish 11-4 for third overall? Only under extremely unusual circumstances would Nate Ramsey find himself on the podium after putting in one lackluster moto and another moto just out of the top three, but at Glen Helen it happened. The top guys in the first moto (Broc Hepler and Matt Walker) did not finish the second moto, while Ivan Tedesco went down hard the first moto and rebounded to second place the final moto. In the end, Ramseys 11-4 just edged out Kelly Smith’s 9-5 moto scores for third overall.

Side Notes:

Broc Hepler went down hard on the first lap of the second moto in the mud straightaway and broke his collarbone. He will miss the U.S. Open.

Matt Walker had a nasty crash in the second moto on a triple section after the finish line when he got cross-rutted and landed in the face of the next jump. ‘Stalker’ suffered from a dislocated hip.

Ricky Carmichael ran the number one plate in appreciation for Team Honda’s support the past three years. Also on RC’s plates was a little number three and an addition sign, signifying the three National championships he has won with Honda.

Evan Laughridge had the worst get-off the first moto when he started in the top 20 going into the second turn and his front end tucked. Laughridge flipped over the bike and was slingshot into several riders in front of him.

Kevin Windham crashed on Sunday practice over the tabletop right before Talladega when he cross-rutted and landed sideways. Carmichael was following closely behind, landed on Windham’s bike, and RC hurt his foot in the process. As for Windham, he was riding banged up and hurt all day.

Juss Lansoo, a European rider who has been contesting the MX3 class this season, made the jump across the pond and finished a very respectable 13-9 for 10th overall in the 250 class aboard a Honda CRF450.

Davi Millsaps had trouble this weekend, but it wasn’t due to bike problems or lack of training. On Thursday night at the first annual Motobowl, Millsaps broke his middle right finger while bowling. How could he do such a thing while bowling? Keep in mind that we’re talking about Davi here, one of the goofiest kids at the track. Apparently while Millsaps was bowling granny style (taking the bowling ball and rolling it between your legs),

David Pingree tried rolling another bowling ball between Davi’s legs. The timing was not right, as the two balls hit and Davi’s finger was pinched in between. Leading up to the race, Millsaps had the finger drained eight times and was sporting a middle finger reminiscent to the late and great Andre the Giant. Anybody want a peanut?

Rich Taylor and Ted Campbell did more stunt double work for ‘Supercross: The Movie.’ Taylor went 36-38 for 38th overall, while Campbell fared slightly better with a 27-33 for 35th overall.

Ivan Tedesco would have had a great weekend, but he went down hard the first moto in the mud straightaway on the first lap. Still, Tedesco finished 8th overall with a second place finish the final moto.

Nick Evennou was the top placing rookie (rookie as in after Loretta Lynn’s) at Glen Helen. ‘Even Steven’ went 15-12 for 14th overall aboard a Yamaha of Troy powered machine.

Mike Alessi would have received the Skoal Top Privateer award last race at Steel City, but with him being only 16 (underage for a smokeless tabacco consumer), he was not allowed to receive the money.

The Smith’s (Kelly and Danny) once again finished in consecutive order. Are these guys brothers?

Several riders made the trek over from Japan, and those names included

Kitai (125), Fukadome (125), and Katsuta (250). Katsuta fared the best with an 18th place overall finish.

The difference in fastest lap times between Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart was two seconds in the first moto and three-and-a-half seconds in the second moto (Carmichael was faster).

125 CLASS

1. James Stewart (Kaw)
2. Chris Gosselaar (Hon)
3. Nate Ramsey (Hon)
4. Kelly Smith (Yam)
5. Danny Smith (Yam)
6. Mike Brown (Yam)
7. Troy Adams (Kaw)
8. Ivan Tedesco (Kaw)
9. Broc Hepler (Suz)
10. Davi Millsaps (Suz)
11. Matt Walker (Kaw)
12. Paul Carpenter (Kaw)
13. Brett Metcalfe (KTM)
14. Nick Evennou (Yam)
15. Tommy Hahn (Hon).

250 CLASS

1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. Sebastien Tortelli (Suz)
4. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
5. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
6. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
7. Heath Voss (Yam)
8. Nick Wey (Suz)
9. Ryan Clark (Yam)
10. Juss Laansoo (Hon)
11. Kevin Windham (Hon)
12. Joaquim Rodrigues (KTM)
13. Richie Owens (Kaw)
14. David Vuillemin (Yam)
15. Rodrig Thain (Suz)