Yamaha Report
Yamaha San Manuel LandM Team’s Josh Hill scored his fourth consecutive podium result and his second runner-up position in a week at a wet Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego for the fourth round of seventeen in the AMA Supercross series, also an FIM World Championship. The visit to southern California was a good one for Yamaha and the 2010 YZ450F as Valli Motorsports’ Ivan Tedesco rode to third place for his first piece of silverware of the season. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Justin Brayton steered the third YZ inside the top five to a personal-best of 5th spot.
Mike Bell won the first San Diego SX on a Yamaha 30 years ago and Hill tried his best to add another garland in what was the 28th Main Event in the city. He was part of a five rider dice across a slippery and rutted track caused by rainfall. While Davi Millsaps would eventually become the fourth different winner in the first five outings of the championship, Hill rode smartly to hold off the attentions of Tedesco and continue his impressive consistency since climbing aboard the YZ450F and joining the LandM crew.
‘I felt really good out there but I spent way too much time trying to pass Ivan and I think that let Davi get away a bit too far for the time I had left,’ he said. ‘I just coming into every week thinking about doing my best and so far that’s working but I haven’t won one yet. I hope to soon, and I really think I will, but I just need to put everything together at the same time.’
‘I’m happy that I finally got on the box because I’ve been close this year but haven’t gotten up here until now,’ said Tedesco. ‘I’m pumped, though. This is some momentum that I can build on for next week before we head east.’
In the West Coast Lites category British teenager and rookie Max Anstie took a career-best 4th position on the YZ250F, one rank ahead of Broc Tickle. The American is currently 4th in the points table.
Hill has gained ground on SX standings leader Ryan Dungey who could only finish 6th. The Yamaha man is just four points from the lead of the competitive AMA contest and is flying the flag for the team with defending champion James Stewart on the sidelines with a broken right scaphoid. Tedesco is 5th and Brayton 6th. ‘I’m pumped to be that close in points now but I know Dungey isn’t going to keep having these weekends, so I need to win soon,’ commented Hill.
Round six goes back to the Angel Stadium, Anaheim in Los Angeles next week for the third and final visit of the 2010 calendar.
—Â Suzuki Report
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey raced back from two crashes to finish sixth in Saturday night’s fifth round AMA/ FIM Supercross at San Diego – and keep his series lead intact.
Dungey started off early grabbing the fastest time in practice by almost a second. The gauntlet was thrown down and the other riders were left trying to figure out how to make up eight-10ths of-a-second.
He lined up for heat two with a slick track and deep ruts facing him. At the start, it was Dungey into the first turn, but coming out, Kevin Windham cut inside him for the lead exiting turn one. Dungey had to settle into second for lap one. The track was really tricky and both Windham and Dungey were being a little careful. Dungey applied pressure the whole race and passed Windham on the next to last lap and rode to the win.
“I was being patient,” explained Dungey. “Kevin was riding really good and I waited for a mistake. He lost traction coming up to the triple and that gave me the momentum to pass.”
The rain was off and on and by the time the Main Event rolled around. The riders had to be very precise as the ruts were deep and cross-rutting was a distinct possibility. A little track maintenance was done before the start of the Main and the surface was responding well. A downpour swept through the stadium 10 minutes before the start of the race just to add some drama, but by the Main, it was a pretty good track and the San Diego fans were rewarded for their dedication.
Before the start, the track crew scraped the start and moved some dirt around in an effort to improve conditions. At the start, Dungey’s Suzuki RM-Z450 charged out in the lead snagging the holeshot but quickly fell going into the first turn.
Team manager Roger DeCoster explained the incident: “In the Main, Ryan got the start but in the first turn he hit a slick spot… the track crew had moved some dirt around and Ryan hit a slick spot with loose dirt on top of hard dirt… both wheels let loose at once and he went down.”
Uninjured, Dungey picked up his bike and got going. He started out after the crash almost dead last. More importantly, his radiator had been “holed” in the mishap causing coolant to rapidly pour form the damaged component. He now had to charge forward and try to pass roughly 17 riders. Before the first lap was over, another challenge faced Dungey. Trying to make a pass, he fell over in a corner, losing even more valuable ground.
Once back up and running, Dungey put his head down and started picking off riders one by one. Even with steam coming from his motorcycle, Dungey never gave up and by the mid-way point he had passed his way up to 10th place. But there was still a long way to go and his bike was now rapidly running out of coolant.
By the flag Dungey had passed his way all the way up to sixth place! What made the accomplishment even more memorable was the fact that there was no coolant in his bike at all for the last half of the race. The bike steadily lost power as it was grossly overheated, but somehow finished; a testament to the durability of the Suzuki RM-Z450 engine.
DeCoster was philosophical about the finish: “We have the points lead and it’s a long season. Ryan is clearly fast, and there is still a long way to go”.
“That was a difficult race!” added Dungey. “I was feeling good and was excited for the Main, but after I fell down it was a lot of work to get towards the front. It’s a long season though and we did a good job minimizing the damage. It’s good to leave San Diego with the points lead still in hand and I look forward to Anaheim Three.”
| AMA SX Rnd 5 Results | AMA SX Championship Standings |
| 1 David D Millsaps Honda USA 18’27.078 2 Josh Hill Yamaha USA 0’03.696 3 Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 0’04.983 4 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 0’26.210 5 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0’29.377 6 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0’30.048 7 Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 0’39.073 8 Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 0’41.504 9 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 0’44.469 10 Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA -1Laps 11 Chris Blose Honda USA -1Laps 12 Fabien Izoird Kawasaki FRA -1Laps 13 Dan Reardon Yamaha USA -1Laps 14 Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS -1Laps 15 Bobby Bonds Kawasaki USA -1Laps |
1. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 105 2. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 101 3. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 95 4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 82 5. Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 77 6. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 72 7. Andrew Short Honda USA 69 8. Kevin Windham Honda USA 66 9. Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 56 10. James Stewart Yamaha USA 51 11. Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 50 12. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 39 13. Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 36 14. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 32 15. Chris Blose Honda USA 26 21. Dan Reardon Yamaha USA 8 |
