American Honda’s Ricky Carmichael held off Yamaha’s David Vuillemin in a very strange race of attrition before a near record crowd on the red clay floor of Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. Carmichael led from the start, had a few dodgy moments, then pulled away to win by 8.170 seconds.
“It’s tough out there,” Carmichael said after his fourth win of the year, this one in front of a crowd of 69,471, the second largest in supercross history. “These guys are riding good. For me, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I have to win. I have to do everything that I can and when you’re doing that, unfortunately the way that I ride, I’m going to have my moments.”
Carmichael chipped another three points from Vuillemin’s championship points lead. At the halfway point in the AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series, Vuillemin leads by 20 points, 179 to 159.
Carmichael’s win also means that Vuillemin won’t win the $500,000 Vans Triple Crown Bonus. The pay-off was to go to the winner of the first Anaheim round, Atlanta, and the Las Vegas season finale.
In his best finish of the year, Bud Light Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath finished third, with American Honda’s Sebastien Tortelli also having his best finish of the season in fourth. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki’s Stephane Roncada was fifth.
It was not a good day for Team SoBe Suzuki. Kevin Windham suffered a clean break of his right femur in practice and will be out of action for some time. The bones were stabilized, but no surgery had been scheduled. Teammate Travis Pastrana was so ill with the flu that he considered not coming to Atlanta. In the end, the teen-ager did come and was running a strong second when he pulled off on the eighth of 20 laps. Team manager Roger DeCoster said Pastrana told him he was becoming light-headed and didn’t want to crash. Pastrana’s mechanic, Lee McCullum, also had the flu and didn’t make the trip.
The injuries to both Suzuki riders, along with a few notable clashes, added to the strangeness. Frenchmen Vuillemin and Roncada, long-time friends, tangled in their heat race, won by Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki’s Ezra Lusk. Both pointed fingers at each other with the scrum continuing after the race ended. Vuillemin claimed that Roncada rammed him, Roncada countered by saying that Vuillemin punched him three times.
Roncada’s teammate Lusk, a native Georgian racing before his home crowd, came together with American Honda’s Ernesto Fonseca just before the finish jump on the first lap. Each blamed the other. The end result was an eighth place finish for Lusk, an eleventh for Fonseca.
The attrition allowed some of the steadier privateers to post year best results. Blackfoot Honda’s Heath Voss finished sixth, just in front of MotoworldRacing.com’s Damon Huffman. Then came Lusk and Voss’s teammate Jean-Sebastien Roy, still recovering from a heavy fall last week. Roy said he couldn’t train all week and tired as the race went on.
Unlike their senior brothers, the championship is more clear cut among the riders in the 125cc Eastern Regional series. After a slow start, Australian Chad Reed took the lead from Team Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Michael Brown on the 12th of 15 laps. Once out front, the Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy Racing rider sped to a 5.52 second win, his third out of three tries.
“I got a terrible start and nearly went down,” Reed said. “It’s a little scary those first couple laps, those guys going everywhere. I took a few chances, but none of them put me on the ground. I could see him (Brown). He wasn’t really pulling away so I wasn’t too worried about him. I just put the pressure on him. I want this championship more than anybody.”
Brown, the defending 125cc outdoor champion, said of Reed, “For sure you know he’s got the confidence going on now. I’ve been off and on. My arms got tired. This is not my kind of racing.”
Red Bull KTM’s Steve Boniface was third with early leader Kelly Smith, of Moto XXX Yamaha, fourth, and Team Blimpie Suzuki’s Buddy Antunez fifth.
By winning all three races, Reed has 75 points, 13 more than Brown. Boniface is third at 54.
250cc MAIN: 1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 2. David Vuillemin (Yam); 3. Jeremy McGrath (Yam); 4. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 5. Stephane Roncada (Kaw); 6. Heath Voss (Hon); 7. Damon Huffman (Suz); 8. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 9. Jean-Sebastien Roy (Hon); 10. Nicholas Wey (Yam); 11. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 12. Keith Johnson (Yam); 13. Jason Thomas (Yam); 14. James Povolny Jr. (Hon); 15. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 16. Tyler Evans (Hus); 17. Kevin Crine (Hon); 18. Isaiah Johnson (Suz); 19. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 20. Travis Pastrana (Suz).
AMA/EA SPORTS SUPERCROSS SERIES C’SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 16 rounds): 1. David Vuillemin (179/3 wins); 2. Ricky Carmichael (159/4 wins); 3. Mike Larocco (120/1 win); 4. Stephane Roncada (117); 5. Ezra Lusk (112); 6. Jeremy McGrath (110); 7. Travis Pastrana (96); 8. Nathan Ramsey (87); 9. Damon Huffman (82); 10. Ernesto Fonseca (81); 11. Heath Voss (79); 12. Nicholas Wey (78); 13. Kevin Windham (62); 14. (TIE) Jean-Sebastien Roy/Michael Byrne (56); 16. Kyle Lewis (45); 17. Chad Reed (44); 18. Sebastien Tortelli (31); 19. Keith Johnson (29); 20. Tyler Evans (20).
125cc MAIN: 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Michael Brown (Kaw); 3. Steve Boniface (KTM); 4. Kelly Smith (Yam); 5. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 6. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 7. Larry Ward (Yam); 8. John Dowd (KTM); 9. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 10. Paul Currie (Suz); 11. Justin Buckelew (Suz); 12. Joshua Summey (Yam); 13. Robbie Horton (Hon); 14. Troy Adams (Yam); 15. Steve Andrich (Yam); 16. Grant Langston (KTM); 17. Greg Schnell (Yam); 18. Chase Reed (Yam); 19. Steve Mertens (Hus); 20. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 21. Michael Blose (Suz); 22. Joshua Woods (Suz).
125cc EASTERN REGIONAL C’SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 3 of 8 rounds): 1. Chad Reed (75/3 wins); 2. Michael Brown (62); 3. Steve Boniface (54); 4. Larry Ward (48); 5. Buddy Antunez (47); 6. Kelly Smith (40); 7. John Dowd (33); 8. Greg Schnell (30); 9. (TIE) Robbie Horton/Jeff Gibson (29); 11. Branden Jesseman (28); 12. Grant Langston (27); 13. Paul Currie (24); 14. Joshua Woods (19); 15. Ryan Clark (18); 16. Billy Payne (15); 17. Tyson Hadsell (10); 18. Joshua Summey (9); 19. Keith Johnson (8); 20. Troy Adams (7).
