Monday, July 23

Carmichael Burns Up Troy

By B.J. Smith

TROY, OH - From here on out it's all about gaining points and it doesn't matter how. Despite a stomach ailment and having to deal with the blistering heat, Ricky Carmichael was able to come out of Troy with his fifth win in a row and extend his points lead to 48 over third place finisher Kevin Windham.

Quick notables include Ferry's DNF in the first moto because of bike problems and Sebastien Tortelli's horrendous crash on the last lap of the second moto. Read on for more...

Moto One:

Windham pulled the holeshot followed by Carmichael, Sebastien Tortelli and Stephane Roncada. Carmichael blew by Windham before the end of the first lap. Carmichael, Windham and Tortelli, 1-2-3 left the rest of pack to salvage what was left. No battles materialized between those three though so the racing was between Roncada and Ryan Hughes. But Roncada went down on lap four and Hughes capitalized. Hard charger Mike LaRocco moved through the pack to catch Hughes, forcing a battle on lap six and made his move on lap seven.

By lap nine, RC, Windham and Tortelli had a 30 second lead on LaRocco and Ferry in fifth. Hughes was running sixth until a crash in the pro section put him back to 13th.

Another big disappointment was Ferry, who suffered bike problems with two laps to go. After running fifth for most of the moto, Ferry was forced to take a DNF.

RC blazed to the moto win ahead of Windham, Tortelli, LaRocco and Roncada.

Moto Two:

Ferry was back in moto two with fresh parts and a holeshot and was followed by fellow four stroke pioneers John Dowd and Hughes.

To make a short story even shorter, Ferry went all 30 minutes plus two laps unchallenged. Carmichael moved into second by lap three and made a charge at the end but couldn't match the speed of Ferry.

Hughes had a roller coaster moto. He was second on laps one and two, sixth on lap three, fifth on four, and third on five. After passing Windham for third, LaRocco muscled through the pack once again to spoil fun. LaRocco passed Hughes on lap six and went on to finish third. Hughes held on for fourth.

Tortelli was at the very back of the pack at the start of the race but was in sixth and gaining ground with a few laps to go. But Tortelli's charge put him on the ground in the pro-only section on lap 13. Tortelli stood up after the crash but was too dazed to remain standing. He collapsed and was rushed away by ambulance. He was conscious when loaded into the ambulance and he had movement in all appendages. His shoulder or collarbone appeared to be injured. Updates will follow.

Overall Results:

1. Ricky Carmichael - 1-2
2. Mike LaRocco - 4-3
3. Kevin Windham - 2-5
4. Stephane Roncada - 5-6
5. David Vuillemin - 7-7
6. Ryan Hughes - 13-4
7. John Dowd - 8-8
8. Tim Ferry - 31-1
9. Kyle Lewis - 9-9
10. Sebastien Tortelli - 3-30
11. Kevin Crine - 12-11
12. Jason Thomas - 11-12
13. Travis Preston - 10-13
14. Robbie Reynard - 17-10
15. Ezra Lusk - 6-26

Point Standings (After 8 of 12 rounds):

1. Carmichael - 346
2. Windham - 298
3. Ferry - 277
4. LaRocco - 276
5. Tortelli - 275
6. Vuillemin - 218
7. John Dowd - 215
8. Roncada - 196
9. Hughes - 195
10. Lewis - 154