McGrath Shares Spotlight With Pastrana

The EA Supercross Series, otherwise known as the Jeremy McGrath Victory Tour, began its season Saturday at Edison Field.

McGrath, the seven-time champion, opened defense of his title in front of a sellout crowd of 45,050. McGrath ran away from the field--once he caught the early leader--taking an eight-second lead into the last of his 20 laps.

But the night did not belong entirely to McGrath, an Encinitas resident who makes his living riding a Yamaha. It also belonged to another . . . boy?

Travis Pastrana, the 17-year-old X Games freestyle motocross champion who made his debut on the 250cc motorcycles, finished fifth. Pastrana plans to compete in the first five races of the season, but will join the 125cc Eastern Division series if he is not competitive in the 250cc class.

So far, he is.

Pastrana, from Annapolis, Md., made some spirited passes of veteran riders, but was never in the race for first place.

Then again, neither was anyone else.

After McGrath caught Stephane Roncada at the end of lap three, he pulled steadily away.

Ezra Lusk of Acworth, Ga., finished second, Ricky Carmichael of Havana, Fla., was third and Mike LaRocco of South Bend, Ind., was fourth.

It looked like McGrath’s pursuit of his seventh victory at Anaheim would be made easier by an incident earlier in the day.

Sebastien Tortelli, who finished fourth at Anaheim in last year’s opening round and sixth in the series, did not race. Tortelli, a Team Honda rider, fell in practice, injured his shoulder and was flown to Phoenix for an MRI examination and further observation.

It was another tough break for Honda at Anaheim. Last year, Tortelli’s teammate, Lusk--who won both 1999 races at Edison Field--injured his shoulder during practice and missed most of the season.

Pastrana was hardly overmatched in his first heat, an eight-lap race. Starting seventh, he finished second to Lusk in the heat, passing established veterans such as Mike LaRocco and David Vuillemin.

The 15-lap main for the 125cc riders was won by Ernesto Fonseca of Costa Rica in the debut of Yamaha’s four-stroke engine. Most 125cc engines are two-stroke, but the four-stroke delivered a powerful punch.

Fonseca won and teammate Justin Buckelew of Albuquerque, N.M., took third place. Breaking up the Yamaha of Troy team sweep was Danny Smith of Middleton, Idaho, who finished second on a Suzuki.

Fonseca was the 1999 champion, and he got off to a good start, winning the spirited battle with Smith until Smith went off-course on the 14th lap. Fonseca also won his heat race.

The night got off to a rocky start in the 125cc heat race. There was a major collision involving Michael Brandes and Kuraudo Toda. Brandes had an ankle injury, and Toda--taken off by stretcher--had a minor back injury. They were taken to UC Irvine Medical Center.