Carmichael Fastest At Budds Creek

Shan Moore | June 17, 2006

Not surprisingly, Ricky Carmichael turned the fastest lap in today’s timed practice at Budds Creek MX Park, near Budds Creek, Maryland, in preparation for round four of the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Championship to be held tomorrow.

The Makita Suzuki rider’s best time, a 2:30.733, came on the final lap of the second seeded session and was nearly two seconds faster than Team Yamaha’s Chad Reed, who posted a 2:32.524 during the same session.

As reported in an earlier post, Team Kawasaki’s James Stewart elected to sit out the Budds Creek event to allow injuries to heal that he sustained during the previous two races.

The third fastest time of the day was turned in by a Lites-class rider, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopotto. However, Villopotto’s time of 2:35.665 was over three seconds slower than Reed’s, leaving Reed and Carmichael in a class of their own on the well-prepared course.

Team Honda’s Kevin Windham posted the fourth best time, with a 2:36.033, while Villopotto’s teammate Matt Walker rounded out the top five with a 3:36.634, just ahead of Team Honda’s Andrew Short, who posted a 2:36.920.

Broc Hepler made his return to racing after missing the last six months with a broken foot. The Makita Suzuki Lites rider looked good in practice and logged a fastest time of 2:37.596, which put him fifth fastest among the Lites division and ninth fastest overall.