2011 AMA Supercross Championship Round Seven
A dedicated crowd of 53,342 fans withstood the rain inside Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday night as the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, hosted its final race in Southern California this season. In his debut season piloting his own TwoTwo Motorsports team, Chad Reed captured his sixth-career San Diego win in the Supercross class. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac captured his first career supercross victory in the Western Regional Supercross Lites class.
It was Reed who crossed the holeshot stripe first to kick off the 20-lap supercross main event with American Honda’s Trey Canard and Red Bull KTM’s Andrew Short in tow. Canard quickly made his move for the top spot and held it for the first five laps before falling and stalling his bike. Reed assumed the lead and held it for the remainder of the main event.
“This is incredible,” said Reed. “I‘ve put so much work into this team to make it the best it can be. To win with your name on your chest makes everything so much better. This one is emotional. I just followed Trey because he was showing me some lines. When he went down, it became just about putting together 20 clean laps.”
Canard remounted in third, allowing San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart to take over second. However, on Lap 15, Stewart stalled his bike, falling to fourth. While running second, Canard suffered his second fall of the evening, allowing Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey to secure second with Stewart in third. They would complete the podium in that order.
Championship leader Ryan Villopoto crashed on the opening lap, but fought through the field to secure a seventh place effort aboard his Monster Energy Kawasaki. He now holds a three-point advantage over Stewart in the points.
“I just stalled it,” said Stewart. “I’m trying my best. I don’t want to just throw it away like that, but I’m glad to get on the podium. I had nothing for Chad tonight, he was riding great, but I made up a lot of points.”
As the gates dropped on the Supercross Lites class main event, Tomac grabbed the holeshot and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire with a convincing win.
“The first five laps I just put my head down and pulled away. It was kind of crazy,” said Tomac, who won by over 10 seconds. “The track was really tricky and slippery. I got a little nervous out (front), but overall it was really good. I’ve learned a lot this season and I’ve gotten a lot better in recent weeks.”
Behind him, a stellar battle ensued for the remaining podium positions among the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki trio of Josh Hansen, Tyla Rattray and Broc Tickle as well as GEICO Honda’s Jimmy Decotis and Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Cole Seely. As the group of five riders traded positions, it was Rattray and Tickle who prevailed to round out the top three.
Hansen, the class points leader, fell to sixth, still on the mend from a hand injury suffered at the previous round. His advantage over teammate Tickle dwindled to three points as the Western Regional Supercross Lites class Championship takes a midseason break until April 16 in Seattle.
Rnd 7 Open Results 1. Chad Reed, Honda 2. Ryan Dungey, Suzuki +5.79 3. James Stewart, Yamaha +28.03 4. Trey Canard, Honda +30.25 5. Davi Millsaps, Yamaha +32.00 6. Andrew Short, KTM +33.69 7. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki +34.92 8. Brett Metcalfe, Suzuki +35.89 9. Mike Alessi, KTM +39.86 10. Justin Brayton, Yamaha +57.51 | Open Series Standings 1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki – 146 2. James Stewart, Yamaha – 143 3. Chad Reed, Honda – 130 4. Trey Canard, Honda – 130 5. Ryan Dungey, Suzuki – 123 6. Andrew Short, KTM – 95 7. Brett Metcalfe, Suzuki – 93 8. Davi Millsaps, Yamaha – 78 9. Justin Brayton, Yamaha – 76 10. Ivan Tedesco, Kawasaki – 66 |
Rnd Lites Results 1. Eli Tomac, Honda 2. Tyla Rattray, Kawasaki +10.20 3. Broc Tickle, Kawasaki +11.37 4. Cole Seely, Honda +12.02 5. Jimmy Decotis, Honda +28.04 6. Josh Hansen, Kawasaki +29.35 7. Ken Roczen, KTM +38.03 8. Ben Evans, Kawasaki +48.82 9. Ryan Morais, Suzuki +1 lap 10. Kyle Cunningham, Yamaha +1 lap | Lites West Series Standings 1. Josh Hansen, Kawasaki – 128 2. Broc Tickle, Kawasaki – 125 3. Eli Tomac, Honda – 116 4. Ryan Morais, Suzuki – 96 5. Cole Seely, Honda – 88 6. Ken Roczen, KTM – 83 7. Tyla Rattray, Kawasaki – 80 8. Kyle Cunningham, Yamaha – 71 9. Martin Davalos, Suzuki – 69 10. Jimmy Decotis, Honda – 67 |
– Reed Report
Australia’s multiple World Supercross Champion Chad Reed, has written another chapter in the sports rich history, taking his privateer TwoTwo Motorsports team to the top step of the dais in just seven outings.
Not only did Reed win the seventh round of the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, he dominated from the onset.
Reed took his first holeshot of the year and traded blows with Trey Canard until his fellow Honda rider made a mistake, leaving the door open for the Australian to pull away.
While his rivals struggled in the wet conditions Reed thrived, leading 17 of the 20 laps to take the victory nearly 6 seconds ahead of defending champion Ryan Dungey.
“It’s emotional,” Reed admitted. “Only a few months ago I was contemplating drinking beer in the stands with the fans and here I am tonight celebrating my teams first ever win.
“This is awesome. I‘ve put so much work into this team to make it the best it can be. To win with your name on your chest makes everything so much better.
“I struggled through practice, but I still felt good and everything came together in the main,” he said.
Tonight’s win was Reeds 39th career victory and is his sixth in San Diego, seeing him surpass Jeremy McGrath’s record of five.
“It’s not to often you can claim that you have beaten one of Jeremy records, so this is very cool,” he concluded.
Reed now sits third in the championship standings and has further reduced the points gap to championship leader Ryan Villopoto.
The team will have little time to celebrate with the series heading to Atlanta’s Georgia Dome next weekend.
– Team RockStar Energy Suzuki
Team Rockstar Energy Suzuki scored a top ten finish in the sixth round of the 2011 AMA/FIM Supercross Lites West Championship season on Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
Ryan Morais rode a strong race in the wet conditions, powering his Yoshimura-equipped Suzuki RM-Z250 to a ninth-place finish. Team mate Martin Davalos had a tough night, finishing 12th in the 15-lap Lites Main Event.
After a delayed and shortened practice and qualifying, Morais had a decent ride on his RM-Z250 in his heat race, finishing fifth. A mid-pack start in the Main put Morais 10th after the second lap. An incident on lap two sent him to the back of the pack, but he dug deep and his RM-Z powered him through the pack to a ninth-placed finish.
“I just didn’t get a good start in the Main,” said Morais. “After that, I was trying to make something happen in the first couple laps and ended up crashing. I got back up nearly last but I put my head down, felt pretty good, and clicked off some pretty good laps on my Suzuki RM-Z and ended up finishing ninth. I’m not real happy with the result but I felt I actually rode pretty well. I plan on working hard over our break and come back to Seattle strong.”
Davalos started his day with a decent time in practice and qualifying. After a problem in his heat race, his Suzuki RM-Z250 powered him to a win in the last chance qualifier. In the Main, the Rockstar Energy Suzuki rider had a tough start and ended up on the ground a couple times before crossing the line in 12th place.
“I started out decent in practice,” said Davalos. “But I made a couple mistakes in my heat race and ended up having to go to the last chance qualifier, which I won. I crashed twice in the Main Event, struggled a bit, and ended up 12th. I’m going to go back home to Georgia over the break and try to get ready for the last three rounds. I really want to win and I know I can put my RM-Z on top of the box.”
The 2011 Rockstar Energy Suzuki team’s next event is Saturday, February 26th, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
– Yamaha
The rain fell hard on the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego last Saturday for the seventh round of seventeen in the AMA Supercross series – also an FIM World Championship – but over 53,000 spectators were able to witness San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart seal a steady third position for his sixth podium result of the season on the YZ450F. Thanks to a first corner tumble and seventh place finish for rival Ryan Villopoto, Stewart was able to shrink the deficit at the top of the class standings to just three points as the series now moves away from the west coast.
The San Diego layout demanded a measure of caution in slick and difficult circumstances and would catch out numerous stars of the SX category. Stewart held second position for a lion’s share of the twenty lap main event until he stalled his race-bike with just five circulations left before the flag. He dropped to fourth but kept pushing and was rewarded when Houston-winner Trey Canard slipped off and he made it to the podium ceremony.
“That rut got pretty deep out there and unfortunately I just made a small mistake,” recollected Stewart. “I wasn’t riding good all day. It wasn’t my kind of track, and I just tried to do my best. My team did an awesome job, though and it was a good night and a good recovery from last week, so I just want to keep it rolling.”
JGR Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps posted his second consecutive top five ranking with fifth while team- mate Justin Brayton placed a third YZ450F on the leader-board with tenth place. Stewart holds a 13 point advantage over Chad Reed, who lies in third in the table, and can potentially overhaul Villopoto if he finishes ahead of the youngster next weekend at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
– Rockstar Makita Suzuki
Ryan Dungey charged back from a mid-pack start to take second place in Saturday night’s AMA/ FIM World Supercross seventh round in San Diego, California.
The Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider, who is currently fifth in the standings, closed the gap on leader Ryan Villopoto to 23 points as team mate Brett Metcalfe put in another solid performance on his RM-Z450, finishing eighth overall in the 20-lap Main Event.
Dungey tallied the fifth best time in the day’s qualifying schedule, which was delayed and shortened due to weather conditions. In his heat race, he piloted his Suzuki to a consistent fourth-place finish. A good start in the Main put Dungey in fourth place by the end of the first lap.
“The track was actually in pretty decent shape at the start of the Main,” said Dungey. “I got a great start right up with the front guys and really tried to put my Rockstar Makita Suzuki in a good position and make no mistakes because the rain was coming down. The track was getting greasy so I just tried to keep my lap times good and not make any mistakes. To finish off with a second was good – a great step in the right direction and one step closer to that win. I’m looking forward to Atlanta. We have press day there so we’ll get a chance to check out the track a bit. Atlanta has been really good to me – I really enjoy going back there. The fans are great and it’s always one of the biggest crowds.”
After qualifying 11th, Metcalfe grabbed a sixth-place finish in his heat race aboard his RM-Z450. A tough start in the Main put him in 11th place at lap one. Metcalfe quickly worked his way up to eighth place by lap four and rode a consistent race for the remainder, crossing the line in eighth place.
“I really enjoyed riding the track tonight,” said Metcalfe. “I’m just a little disappointed in my results. I got a bad start in the main – I had a lot of wheel spin at the start because the gate was so slick. I had to fight my way through the pack with my RM-Z a bit but I was a little inconsistent. It was a difficult one, but I still picked up an eighth and I’m happy that my Rockstar Makita Suzuki is still sitting seventh in the points. I need to start pushing and get some better results. I’m glad to go to Atlanta. I’ve done well there in the past and it’s a good layout with a lot of floor space. The dirt is tacky and it suits my style. I look forward to a better result with my Suzuki there.”