JANUARY 21, 2006
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Sold Out! |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
By Brett Dailey
Are you ready for Anaheim 2? Our Senior Editor, Allison Kennedy, had plans to cover Anaheim 1 back at the start of January. When her trip didn’t work out, she was understandably disappointed to stay home and miss the first opportunity to see Darcy Lange, Colton Facciotti, Marco Dube and Doug DeHaan in action. I tried to lessen the blow by telling her that season openers have a tendency to go awry. I suggested that she would be better off to wait a round or two and let some momentum build and allow rivalries to establish themselves.
Well, that argument went out the window when Darcy Lange holeshot the Lites main in Anaheim two weekends ago and … she missed the photo opportunity of a lifetime. Darcy was the only Canadian to make the main in Anaheim but he sure made an impression. I don’t think we will ever forgive ourselves for missing that round!
Here we are two weeks later and Allison has arrived in California for round three. Although she missed a big one at A1, my earlier rationale has proven true as she now gets to witness a historical Supercross round featuring the three top riders—Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart and Chad Reed—all coming into Anaheim separated by one point! RC and Stewart are tied with 45 points and Reed is one point behind with 44 points. Can you say pressure?
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All the SX series needs now is a win by Chad Reed to give us three different SX winners in three rounds. |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
Even the Lites class couldn’t be tighter this year. The top five (Laninovich, Short, Villopoto, Langston and Ramsey) are separated by only eight points. Following Nate Ramsey is our very own Darcy Lange. His 5-8 finishes puts him in sixth place in the overall standings. On top of it all, he will feel comfortable in Anaheim after his holeshot and top five finish two weekends ago. Allison mentioned tonight that Goat Breker has taken an interest in Darcy and his mechanic Ian Woods and Breker has been helping with training and testing advice. That’s some esteemed company in the Richmond pits!
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Grant Langston has not yet won a main this season. Don't expect that to last much longer. |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
If that wasn’t enough to get you excited about Saturday night, check out one of the best Thursday Rev-Ups I have read by Andy Bowyer.
Also, check out a few good interviews we have posted recently: [Doug DeHaan], [Marco Dube], [Darcy Lange], [Colton Facciotti]
Colton Facciotti was searching for a mechanic earlier this week and the spot was filled by Ontario’s Steve Simms (who wrenched for Jay Burke this year). Doriane Facciotti said that she received over 15 resumes from all over North America but she got a good feeling from Steve and received a lot of good reports about him. Steve doesn’t fly out until Monday so Colton will get some help in the pits this weekend from Dean Wilson’s family. Congrats Steve and enjoy the west coast!
Brady Sheren has been given the green light to ride again after his battle with mono. Reports indicate that he will enter the Eastern Lites division and team up with Ryan Lockhart (who will continue with the SX class) in the SixSixOne Funmover. Speaking of the Eastern Lites division, Danny Brault is down south right now working on two stories. One features our Racer X Canada Total Devotion Award winner, Davey Fraser as he enjoys his week at the Millsaps Training Facility. Since MTF and Georgia Practice Facility are close, Danny also dropped by GPF to get an update from Dusty Klatt, Mitch Cooke and the Blackfoot Racing Team as they prepare for St. Louis. Dean Thompson said that they would let Danny try one of their race bikes on the supercross track and I haven't heard from Danny yet so hope everything is okay. (Danny doesn't crash much but when he does, he likes to go big. Actually, come to think of it, he crashes a lot too.)
Here are a few interesting notes from Phoenix to get you prepared to watch our Canadians this weekend.
Phoenix Day Qualifiers
Ryan Lockhart finished second in his pre-qualifier to make the evening program. In doing so, he beat some big names including: Tim Ferry, Keith Johnson and … Doug DeHaan. His lap times were very consistent and all fell in the 59.4 second range. He even holeshot and led the race for three laps! DeHaan finished 9th and transferred to the evening show.
Colton Facciotti was fifth in his pre-qualifier and also beat some big names including: Ryan Sipes, Jeff Dement, Ryan Mills and … Marco Dube.
Marco went on to finish third in his consolation. Unfortunately only the top two transferred to the night program. Allison talked with Marco today and he’s disappointed that he didn’t qualify but he is feeling good about his riding. He says that is has been a big change for him to switch to a 250F after so many years on a 250/450. He’s getting more and more aggressive on the bike and obviously hopes to make the main on Saturday.
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Marco Dube in the Yamaha of Troy pits. |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
Phoenix Evening Program
Ryan Lockhart’s night ended early; he retired three laps into his heat race. He got tangled up with Ricky Carmichael in the first corner, which put him back in the pack for the first lap. He charged for the early stages but crashed and suffered a concussion and further aggravated a foot injury from a crash in practice. Having met his goal of making the evening program, Lockhart decided to call it a night and prepare for A2.
DeHaan was third in the LCQ, one spot out of qualifying position. His best lap time was 56.901 on the third lap. That lap time put him in the top 15 of the riders in the main event and faster than Clark Stiles, Mike Brown, Erick Vallejo, Jason Thomas and Robbie Reynard. He is riding well this year and is confident in his bike and his abilities. As he has said many times before, his best chance to make the main is a good start in his Semi and consistent laps.
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Doug DeHaan's CRF450. Blair Brothers MX has stepped up their rig this year. |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
Given his prominent position in the standings, Darcy Lange didn’t have to ride the day qualifiers in Phoenix. Darcy finished the night in eighth place and is now in sixth overall in the point standings. However, his finish does not tell the whole story as Darcy ran in third for the early stages of the race and is doing a great job of getting noticed on the track. His fastest lap was only 9th fastest but his lap times were very consistent and he is showing fitness as his 12th and 13th lap (of 15) were two of his fastest laps in the main event.
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Ian Woods told Allison that mxforum.com would be turning green this weekend. I think Rick Hammer-Jackson can expect another "Screw Hammertime" jersey to add to his collection. |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
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Bring on Anaheim 2! If you will be listening to the race on-line, here are some critical links. COMPLETE INFO PAGE: http://supercross.cc.com/webcasts/Article.2006-01-20.5859 DIRECT LISTENING LINK: http://mfile.akamai.com/10735/live/reflector:46845.asx?prop=n XM RADIO: Channel 152 From 9pm PST - 11pm PST TV Schedule: |
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Did we pick the right guy for our first stand-alone cover or what? The week that we sent the issue to the printer, Darcy Lange holeshot the Lites main and rode into the Canadian history books with his fifth place finish in Anaheim. |
The big news around here is our first stand-alone issue of Racer X Canada. That's right; no longer will Racer X Canada be inserted inside of Racer X Illustrated, Canadians now have their own self-covered issue. Both magazines will still come poly bagged together so this will be an unbeatable combination for both readers and advertisers. This new format should shake up the industry as much as when we first launched Racer X Canada back in the summer of 2004. We're really excited about the features in this issue and it should hit subscriber mailboxes as early as next week. Support this site, support Racer X Canada and subscribe today. You'll save over $60 off the 12-issue newsstand price.
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Go Canada! |
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Photo by Allison Kennedy |
