For the 25th straight time, Team Makita Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael took the overall victory in the 250cc class at round 10 of the AMA Motocross Championship Series in Binghamton, New York, today. Carmichael won both motos handily over Amsoil/Chaparral Honda’s Kevin Windham, though there was some drama in the second moto.
After finishing third in the first moto, Team Kawasaki’s James Stewart grabbed the holeshot on his two-stroke KX250 and led Carmichael around for a lap and a half when things got too close for comfort. Carmichael had just passed Stewart for the lead when Stewart tried to get him back down a steep downhill. Stewart over-cooked it going into the turn at the bottom of the hill and almost made contact with Carmichael. As he was trying to avoid hitting Carmichael, Stewart went down hard, while Carmichael kept it on two wheels and rode off to victory. Stewart was slow to his feet, made a lap around the track at nearly full speed before pulling off and retiring to the pits with a sore shoulder.
Windham inherited second and went 2-2 for second overall. Both times, Windham finished well behind Carmichael.
Finishing third overall was Team Honda’s Ernesto Fonseca, who went 8-3 on the day, nipping Kawasaki’s Michael Byrne’s 4-6 for the podium position.
Rounding out the top five was Team Yamaha’s David Vuillemin, whose day got off to a bad start when he fell in the first turn of the first moto. He fell again later in the moto and ended up going 9-4 for the day and is now tied for third in the standings with Fonseca. All Carmichael needs to do to clinch the title is finish 16th in either motos at the next round in Delmont, Pennsylvania, in two weeks.
In the 125cc class, Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi secured his second win of the season after going 1-2. Alessi led from start to finish in the first moto, but Team Makita Suzuki’s Broc Hepler, who finished third in the first moto, finished off the day with the moto win. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t good enough to beat Alessi for the overall victory.
Third overall went to last week’s winner Honda’s Andrew Short, who posted 4-4 moto finishes, and fourth went to Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Grant Langston.
Series points leader Ivan Tedesco, Langston’s teammate, rounded out the top five overall with 7-3. Tedesco still enjoys a 43-point lead over Alessi.
Results:
250 O/A: 1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz) 1-1; 2. Kevin Windham (Hon) 2-2; 3. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon) 8-3; 4. Michel Byrne (Kaw) 4-6; 5. David Vuillemin (Yam) 9-4; 6. Robbie Reynard (Hon) 6-7; 7. Travis Preston (Hon) 6-7; 8. Nick Wey (Hon) 7-9; 9. Ryan Hughes (Suz) 15-5.
125 O/A: 1. Mike Alessi (KTM 1-2; 2. Broc Hepler (Suz) 3-1; 3. Andrew Short (Hon) 4-4; 4. Grant Langston (Kaw) 2-7; 5. Ivan Tedesco (Kaw) 7-3; 6. Josh Grant (Hon) 6-5; 7. Kelly Smith (Yam) 8-8; 8. Mike Brown (Hon) 11-6; 9. Jason Lawrence (Suz) 5-13; 10. David Millsaps (Suz) 11-11.
