2001 Troy 125cc Moto 2 (Ernesto Fonseca's Career Best Moto)

• published: 25 Jun 2015
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This is the 2nd 125cc moto from the 2001 Kenworthy National in Troy, OH. In 2001, Yamaha of Troy's Ernesto Fonseca was having a decent 125cc National Motocross season. The 19-year-old Costa Rican was sitting 5th in the 125cc series standings. His best moto finish were 2 3rd places in the first motos at Hangtown and High Point; unfortunately, Fonseca suffered bike issues in both motos which led to 2 DNFs in the 2nd motos. He was credited with 11th overall in both races. His best overall finish was at Red Bud with a 5th place (4-11). After a 6th in the first moto here at Kenworthy's, Ernesto finally had a breakthrough performance. After nearly getting the holeshot, Fonseca led for over half the moto before Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Mike Brown charged through the pack and passed Ernesto. Fonseca showed he had some backbone and hung with Brown; after being knocked out of the way twice in the past two races at Red Bud and Unadilla, Fonseca gave Brown some payback, albeit a half-hearted effort. After nearly washing out himself, Brown passed Ernesto back and won the moto. Fonseca took a 2nd place for 2nd overall (6-2), matching his career best 2nd overall at Millville in 2000 when he went 2-3. Ernesto would have some good rides on that controversial bike through the rest of the Nationals. Fonseca matched his 2nd place in the first moto at Millville, but he finished 10th in the 2nd moto for 5th overall due to a flat rear tire. He ended the 2001 series a career-high 3rd overall; he finished 8th overall in 1999 and 7th in 2000. Supercross was where Fonseca really excelled. In 1999, Ernesto turned pro and rode in the 125cc East for Yamaha of Troy. He went 6-1 to win the 125cc East title, starting the season 4-0, but St. Louis was his most memorable race. After a crash in the first turn, Ernesto came from 18th to win the race by showing some last lap aggressiveness on KTM's Kelly Smith. Fonseca tripled through a rhythm section while Smith doubled and crashed, knocking him out of the race. The St. Louis crowd applauded Ernesto's effort, but the crowd boo'd Kelly Smith when he pushed Fonseca in frustration when Ernesto tried to apologize. Fonseca unsuccessfully defended his title in 2000. All he could show was 2 podiums, including a win at the 125cc East finale in Chicago. He ended the series 5th overall. Earlier over the Winter, Ernesto Fonseca debuted the brand new controversial Yamaha YZ250F 4-stroke motorcycle in the 125cc West Supercross season; his teammate, Nathan Ramsey was also riding a YZ250F in the 125cc East. There was plenty of debate and finger-pointing over the bike being in the 125cc 2-stroke class. In an interview from ESPN2 pit reporter and RacerX editor Davey Coombs, AMA Supercross/Motocross Manager Duke Finch said, "You are allowed to run a 250cc 4-stroke in the 125cc 2-stroke class." When asked about any flaws because the bike was 249 CC's and nearly classified as a 250cc bike, Finch said, "We're gonna have to wait and see... but as the rules stands, the bike is perfectly legal." Combined, Fonseca and Ramsey won 8 of the 16 125cc Supercross races in 2001 (Fonseca 5, Ramsey 3). While Fonseca won the 125cc West Supercross season, the MX world witnessed a big flaw with the 4-stroke: restarting the bike was very difficult, which required a different technique as opposed to restarting a 2-stroke. After winning the first round at Anaheim 1, Fonseca stalled the bike (luckily) after taking the checkered flag; unfortunately, he spent so much time trying to restart the bike, he couldn't take a victory lap. At the next round at San Diego, Fonseca battled with Yamaha of Troy teammate, Justin Buckelew, who rode a YZ125 2-stroke, before stalling his 250F and falling to 20th place. He fought his way up through the field only to fall again and finish the race in 13th, and dropped to 4th in the series. Fonseca reeled off 3 straight wins (despite qualifying through the LCQ in 2 straight races) before finishing 6th at Houston. He took a 3rd at Dallas and won the finale in Salt Lake City, totaling 5 wins for the season (out of 8). At then, Fonseca became the only rider to win both divisional 125cc championships; sadly, Ernesto Fonseca ended his 125cc career with a dismal 8th place at the 125cc Shootout in Las Vegas. Enjoy.