LAKEWOOD, CO, JULY 22 – Kawasaki’s James Stewart picked up his first win of the outdoor season in a tiebreaker at round seven of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship at Lakewood, Colorado.
Stewart finished the day in a rare three-way tie with KTM’s Mike Alessi and Honda’s Andrew Short, but was awarded the overall victory based on his better performance in the second moto.
Stewart finished fourth in the opening moto, riding in obvious pain after his hard crash the previous weekend at Unadilla. Stewart led the first moto during the early stages but eventually faded while Honda’s Davi Millsaps claimed his first moto win of the year.
Short finished second in the moto and Alessi was third.
In the second moto, Stewart led for most of the race but yielded to teammate Tim Ferry with just two laps to go, to finish second, while Alessi again finished third. The moto win was Ferry’s second in two weeks.
In the end, Stewart claimed the overall win, with Alessi second overall and Short third.
Ferry finished fifth overall after taking an 11th in the opening moto, while Millsaps suffered from severe cramps in the second moto and ended up with eighth place in the moto for fourth overall.
In the Lites division, Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates Ben Townley and Ryan Villopoto swapped wins with Townley getting the second moto win and the overall victory.
Villopoto ran away with the first moto win, while Townley, who had fallen on the opening lap, worked his way up to finish second, keeping his title hopes alive.
In the second moto it was Villopoto who would hit the dirt as Townley shot out to the front. Townley cruised to the second moto win and overall victory. Meanwhile, Villopoto worked back to second in the moto and finished second overall on the day. Honda’s Josh Grant was third overall with a 3-4 moto finish.
Villopoto and Townley, who entered the event tied in points, remain even atop the standings with 310 points apiece. Grant is in third with 253 points.
Motocross (Moto Finish)
1. James Stewart (Kaw), 2-4
2. Mike Alessi (KTM), 3-3
3. Andrew Short (Hon), 2-4
4. Davi Millsaps (Hon), 1-8
5. Timmy Ferry (Kaw), 11-1
6. David Vuillemin (Hon), 8-5
7. Josh Summey (Hon), 7-7
8. Gavin Gracyk (Hon), 6-10
9. Kevin Windham (Hon), 5-11
10. Grant Langston (Yam), 10-9
Motocross Lites (Moto Finish)
1. Ben Townley (Kaw), 2-1
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw), 1-2
3. Josh Grant (Hon), 3-4
4. Jason Lawrence (Yam), 7-3
5. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw), 5-5
6. Martin Davalos (KTM), 6-6
7. Chris Gosselaar (Kaw), 10-7
8. Andrew McFarlane (Suz), 9-8
9. Thomas Hahn (Hon), 8-9
10. Broc Hepler (Yam), 11-12
