Honda's Ricky Carmichael won both motos of the season opener in the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernadino without much trouble. He has the momentum from his recent EA Sports Supercross championship behind him and a bike that he likes, and he has never lost an outdoor championship since his rookie year in 1997. His competition has its work cut out for them, and his closest so far is his Honda teammate Sebastien Tortelli.

Carmichael and Tortelli finished their motos 1-1 and 2-2 respectively on 2-stroke Honda CR250s in a field populated with quite a few strong 4-strokes with larger engine displacement. Third overall, and last year's winner, was Yamaha's Tim Ferry on a 4-stroke YZ426, and his teammate David Vuillemin was fifth overall on a 2-stroke 250. Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada, just off his best 250 supercross season, had a great start to the day while running second to Carmichael in the first moto but his endurance wasn't good due to a case of bronchitis.

Sobe Suzuki, which was sidelined when Travis Pastrana DNF'd at Daytona and stayed out to rest and get treated for a tonsil infection, was back but had another weekend it would rather forget. Pastrana was turning impressive lap times and was in the fastest group in moto one when he had to pull off with a bike problem. Then in moto 2 he crashed into the crowd.

Also returning was retired factory Suzuki rider Guy Cooper, now with KTM, on a powerful 4-stroke KTM 540. Cooper did good considering he hasn't raced this series in years, and he proved the bikes capabilities by getting to the first turn ahead of a lot of expensive factory bikes. Cooper was just in the points both motos with a 18-19. Keith Johnson was also on a 540 and was 10th with a 12-13.

Carmichael dominated the motos after two good starts. He led every lap of both motos and except for the Roncada in moto 1 and Tortelli in moto 2, he was out riding by himself.

Tortelli has won here before but said experience on the track only goes so far because of the rough track. "Experience is good here (at Glen Helen) but the track is so rough it can't help you in all situations," he said, "Everything is rough so you just have to go through the bumps and get comfortable. Ricky and I are on the same team. Each of do our job and take care of ourselves. Between the motos we just do our own thing and get some rest. (This track) is one of the roughest. I think the downhill is a little but too fast for sure. The other one with the corner at the bottom is very good to break your speed and make it more technical. Next year I think they will do something with that downhill to make it safer. The track is great. They always do a great job preparing the track. The new riders are going faster and faster. The first moto was the first moto of the season. I was tight a little bit. I didn't get a good jump out of the gate. I was back to 8th or something. It took me 15 or 20 minutes to loosen up and get back my speed a little bit. After that those guys were a little bit tired and it was easier for me to pass them and get second place. In the second moto I got a better jump and passed a couple of guys and was behind Ricky after that. He pulled away a little bit and I was trying to catch up to him. I guess I was trying a little bit too hard and making some mistakes and at the end I crashed."

Many observed the battle for the top spot wasn't much to see in terms of close racing because Carmichael was out on his own. "A boring race is good for somebody," said, "The second moto was pretty good and Sebastien fell off. After that is was pretty easy. I made up a lot of time (when he fell). The bike was working awesome today. It was really, really fast. Sebastien's bike and my bike were probably the 2 fastest bikes out there. We are probably the only 2-strokes that didn't have a disadvantage against the 4-strokes. It made it a little easier on me compared to last year. The bike was so fast and it was handling good. It was tough to ride hard. It is important to win the first race and win the first two motos, but it is a long season. We go all over the country and there are 24 motos and a lot of stuff can happen. Winning is good. It doesn't matter how many races I win, I am in it for the title. I want the big picture."

"In the first moto I got the holeshot," said Carmichael, "I did pretty good out of the gate and pulled pretty good out of the straightaway. Ronron was behind me there for a while. He caught me there on one lap. On the 4th lap he started dropping off about 2 or 3 seconds a lap. I started pulling away and was just keeping an eye on everyone and everything. I haven't been riding outdoor much so I was just trying to make a moto out of it. In the second moto I got a worse jump out of the gate. I just kind of passed those guys on the straightaway and ended up getting the holeshot somewhat. Sebastien was in second there behind me. I was putting in a fast lap and he was putting in a fast lap and it was good to have someone pushing you like that. You can get into a mode where you don't have to ride hard and that is a bad habit to get into. He was making me work for it and I was answering his calls. He made a mistake and the rest was history after that part. (After this win) I am going to work the same. I think I will get a little better as the season goes on. I will just try to get by these first few races and try and do the best I can. If I win I win and if I get beat I get beat, I just want to put in 100%."

Next weekend the series moved to Sacramento for round 2 at Hangtown.

1. Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Honda
2. Sebastien Tortelli, Los Angeles, Calif., Honda
3. Tim Ferry, Largo, Fl., Yamaha
4. David Vuillemin, Corona, Calif., Yamaha
5. Stephan Roncada, France, Kawasaki
6. Ezra Lusk, Acworth, Ga., Kawasaki
7. Kyle Lewis, Henderson, Nev., Honda
8. John Dowd, Chicopee, Ma., KTM
9. Paul Carpenter, Ithica, NY, Honda
10. Keith Johnson, Pembroke, Ma., KTM

1. Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Honda, 50 pts
2. Sebastien Tortelli, Los Angeles, Calif., Honda, 44 pts
3. Tim Ferry, Largo, Fl., Yamaha, 40 pts
4. David Vuillemin, Corona, Calif., Yamaha, 33 pts
5. Stephan Roncada, France, Kawasaki, 33 pts
6. Ezra Lusk, Acworth, Ga., Kawasaki, 30 pts
7. Kyle Lewis, Henderson, Nev., Honda, 29 pts
8. John Dowd, Chicopee, Ma., KTM, 27 pts
9. Paul Carpenter, Ithica, NY, Honda, 21 pts
10. Keith Johnson, Pembroke, Ma., KTM, 17 pts

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