BUCHANAN, MICHIGAN, July 1, 2007: Ricky Carmichael took advantage of a late-race fall by James Stewart to claim the overall win in front of 29,338 fans at round five of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship, held at Red Bud Track N Trail near Buchanan, Michigan.
The win was Carmichael’s ninth win at the facility and the 149th combined Motocross and Supercross win of his career.
Carmichael and Stewart staged another thrilling performance as the two riders quickly separated themselves from the pack in each moto. Stewart got the best of Carmichael in the opening moto after Carmichael steered off the track in the late stages of the race, handing Stewart a relatively easy road to victory.
In the second moto, Stewart returned the favor. The Kawasaki rider looked to have the race and the overall victory well in hand until he clipped a course marker with his front brake and went over the bars, allowing Carmichael to ride his Suzuki unabated to the finish, giving him the overall victory with 2-1 moto finishes.
Stewart remounted to finish second in the moto and second overall.
“I didn’t get the best start in either moto,” said Carmichael. “And in the second moto, I had to pass a lot of riders on the first lap, which put me in position for the rest of the race. I put my head down and got behind James but I was unable to do anything. Unfortunately, James had some bad luck in the second moto and fell down. That allowed me to move into the lead and take the win.”
KTM’s Mike Alessi continues to improve and turned in a solid 3-3 performance for third overall, holding off a second moto charge by Kawasaki’s Timmy Ferry en route to his first-ever Motocross-class podium.
Ferry held on for fourth overall with 4-4 moto finishes, while Honda’s Andrew Short finished fifth with a 6-5 score.
In the Lites division, Ryan Villopoto grabbed his second overall win of the season with an impressive two-moto sweep. And in doing so, extended his points lead to 16 points (238 to 214) over Kawasaki teammate Ben Townley, who went 2-2 for second overall.
Villopoto walked away with the first moto and then needed half of the second moto to get around Townley to earn the victory. Honda’s Josh Grant was third overall (4-3).
“I have won the last four motos,” said Villopoto. “We (Townley and Villopoto) are both going to be battling for the win next weekend in Unadilla.”
Motocross (Overall)
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. James Stewart (Kaw)
3. Mike Alessi (KTM)
4. Timmy Ferry (Kaw)
5. Andrew Short (Hon)
6. Grant Langston (Yam)
7. Jeff Alessi (KTM)
8. Kevin Windham (Hon)
9. David Vuillemin (Hon)
10. Michael Byrne (Suz)
Motocross Lites (Overall)
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Ben Townley (Kaw)
3. Josh Grant (Hon)
4. Jason Lawrence (Yam)
5. Jake Weimer (Hon)
6. Thomas Hahn (Hon)
7. Ryan Morais (Yam)
8. Andrew McFarlane (Suz)
9. Chris Gosselaar (Kaw)
10. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
