Stewart Blitzes Toronto SX Qualifying
Cycle News Staff | March 26, 2011
TORONTO (March 26, 2011) –
If there were any questions on the health of James Stewart coming into Toronto, he answered them with a blazing lap of 51.818 seconds on his San Manuel/Red Bull Yamaha during timed qualifying for tonight’s round 12 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship. How good was Stewart this afternoon? He was over a second faster than American Honda’s Trey Canard, who clocked a 52.947. Chad Reed was third fastest with a 53.053 aboard his Two Two Motorsports Honda.
While Stewart showed amazing resilience in the Supercross class, Ryan Sipes continued his string of topping the charts in Supercross Lites East qualifying, turning a lap at 53.045 seconds on his DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha. Monster Energy Pro Circuit’s Dean Wilson was second with a 53.238, followed by series leader Justin Barcia with a 54.072 on his GEICO Honda. In spite of suffering yet another tough crash last weekend in Jacksonville, Stewart looked solid from the first practice session. As usual he was picking and choosing his time to go, taking a lap or two in a burst before rolling jumps and taking it easy for a few minutes, then another burst. Even though his speed for short durations was typical Stewart, immediately after the final qualifying session he was back in his transporter trying to keep what he called a very stiff back loose. After setting the fastest qualifying time in the Lites East at Toronto, Sipes has now been the fastest qualifier at all East rounds so far, except for Daytona.
“I’m feeling good today,” said Sipes, who broke through a few weeks ago to win his first Supercross at Indy. “I’m ready to go out tonight and attack it.” He went on to say he enjoyed the Toronto track. “I like it, it flows really good. It’s a little rocky and slick, but it’s a nice layout and it’s got some good berms out there. Last week we had these flat little berms.”
Supercross Qualifying
1. James Stewart Yamaha YZ450F 51.818 2. Trey Canard Honda CRF450R 52.947 3. Chad Reed Honda CRF450R 53.053 4. Ryan Dungey Suzuki RMZ450 53.340 5. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX450F 53.523 6. Kevin Windham Honda CRF450R 53.661 7. Justin Brayton Yamaha YZ450F 53.664 8. David Millsaps Yamaha YZ450F 54.283 9. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki KX450F 54.332 10. Austin Stroupe Yamaha YZ450F 54.496 Supercross
Lites East Qualifying
1. Ryan Sipes Yamaha YZ250F 53.045 2. Dean Wilson Kawasaki KX250F 53.238 3. Justin Barcia Honda CRF250R 54.072 4. Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX250F 54.629 5. Matthew Lemoine Kawasaki KX250F 54.659 6. Malcolm Stewart Suzuki RMZ250 55.200 7. Gannon Audette Yamaha YZ250F 56.071 8. Blake Wharton Honda CRF250R 56.140 9. Jason Anderson Suzuki RMZ250 56.400 10. PJ Larsen KTM 250SXF 56.417
