Supermotard

Jeff Ward continues his winning ways

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Jeff Ward took another win following his success in the first round of the AMA Red Bull US Supermoto series.
Jeff Ward continued his winning ways taking out the Premier 450 class for the fifth round of the USA Supermoto Nationals at Long Beach on July 20 The ‰ÛÏGodfather‰Û
Metzger (875) lead Ward (3x) early in the race but a crash ended his chances.
Qualifying was hectic with the top sixteen fastest rider having a clear passage straight through to the fourteen min feature race Larry Pegram got the holeshot in the Unlimited final with Avard a close second but by the second lap a fallen rider bought out the red flag for a restart. Avard couldn‰Ûªt repeat his previous start but was still in contention as this time Metzger lead the field. Metzger was unstoppable as he slid himself around the mainly road course that was broken up by only one dirt jump to take the easiest of wins. Steve Drew was second with Matthew Pursley third. Avard had been held up in the traffic to finish narrowly in fifth. The main feature had Metzger back out in front with Fillmore and Ward joining him on the front row. As the lights turned green it was Metzger and Fillmore who made the better of the start but Ward was making up ground through the next couple of corners. The battle continued as Ward hounded Metzger through the middle of the race. Avard was working his way through the field taking Erion Honda rider Jake Zemke then Fillmore for third. Metzger was suffering with a lack of energy after such a tough racing schedule and made a mistake with only minutes remaining. He only dropped one spot but this left the door open for the hard finishing Avard. But it was not to be as Metzger held on to finish only metres ahead.
The Pacifico Suzuki Team was so impressed with Avard‰Ûªs ride that they offered him a contract to compete for them for the rest of the season.
PIT NOTES
  • It‰Ûªs certainly a shame that the National series could have such good time keeping with transponders which meant the fastest guys qualified up the front instead of the Pro AMA Red Bull series grid draw from a hat!

  • With the track being mostly tarmac most of the riders were using slick tyres with only the rear being lightly cut.

  • It was no surprise that Aussie Mark Avard was one of the fastest riders on both the big bore and the 450 but he struggled with the lack of feel from both bikes front brakes. On the KTM 525 he was using standard brakes with a 950 Adventurer disk and the Suzuki was using an AP item that was mismatched to the caliper. In qualifying Avard could only card 4-5 fast laps before the lever was back to the bar. In one 450 qualifier he got into a wild slide down the back straight and had to bail out. Luckily enough, because the bike kept on sliding and wedged itself underneath an Ambulance that was trackside.

  • Avard was lucky to have even competed in the 450 final when it was found that his front brake master cylinder was leaking. A quick change within 10 min of the final to a new Magura cylinder did the trick. The team was having trouble getting a lever when Adam Altham stepped in and saved the day.

  • Mark Avard has already confirmed that he will be riding for the Pacifico Suzuki Team as a guest at the next round of the Red Bull series at Virginia on August 30.

  • Metzger was another lucky starter at Long Beach as he was supposed to be doing his trademark back flips at Disneyland. But the racing bug has hit and Management thought it best they keep their star attraction happy and allowed him to ride.

  • Jeremy McGrath was a last minute withdrawal from the event citing: ‰ÛÏI could think of better things to do than race around this parking lot.‰Û
Photos:
More Photos can be foud in the Fullnoise photo gallery. Results:
450 class
===========================
1 Jeff Ward
2 Mike Metzger
3 Mark Avard
4 Ben Calson
5 Jeke Zemke
6 Chris Fillmore
7 Cory Call
8 Mark Cernicky
9 Gary Trachy
10 Casey Yarrow

Unlimited
===========================
1 Mike Metzger
2 Steve Drew
3 Mathew Pursley
4 Ben Carlson
5 Mark Avard
6 Nick Daniels
7 Jake Zemke
8 Chris Fillmore
9 Cory Call
10 Larry Pegram

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