At the third round of the THQ World Supercross GP Series, and the season opener for the AMA Supercross Series, one thing became clear – Ricky Carmichael has company.
Travis Pastrana was the first to challenge the defending champ’s dominance as he briefly passed Carmichael in their heat race, only for the two to come together with Pastrana on the unpopular losing end of the exchange. The fans booed Carmichael throughout the rest of the night, and then cheered both times he fell in the main.
But Carmichael’s falls may not have mattered at all, as Chad Reed got out front early and pulled away, and at the end of the race he enjoyed a huge lead and a fastest lap that was a full second faster than that of runner-up Carmichael’s, who came through the pack masterfully.
Pastrana and Mike LaRocco were running close to each other up front until LaRocco went down in a heap and Pastrana had nowhere to go but into the fallen Honda pilot. They would both get up, but Pastrana and Micheal Byrne, who was also involved in the crash, would pull out of the event. This marks the second year in a row that Pastrana didn’t finish the season-opening supercross.
Reed won by a large margin over Carmichael, with Tim Ferry coming through from a horrible start to take third. Then came David Vuillemin, who also suffered a horrible start, and Sebastien Tortelli. The final finishing positions are also the current AMA points order, as this was that series’ opener. Although there are no official World Supercross points available just yet, Reed took over that series lead as well with his win.
In the 125cc class, most thought Kawasaki’s James Stewart Jr. would be the man to beat, completely discounting the man who owns the number-one plate in the division, Travis Preston. Preston got out front early while Stewart was stuck near the back off the start, and Preston pulled out to a lead that Stewart couldn’t overcome.
Stewart still got second with an awesome ride through the pack, and it remains that, in four tries, he hasn’t been able to win a single race at Edison International Field. Andrew Short put in a solid ride for third ahead of Chris Gosselaar and Danny Smith.
As far as the points are concerned, the same applies to the 125s. The order they got in the main is the order they sit in the points with seven rounds to go.
250cc Results:
1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 3. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 4. David Vuillemin (Yam); 5. Sebastien Tortelli (Suz); 6. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 7. Ryan Clark (Yam); 8. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 9. Heath Voss (Yam); 10. Stephane Roncada (Suz).
125cc Results:
1. Travis Preston (Hon); 2. James Stewart Jr. (Kaw); 3. Andrew Short (Suz); 4. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 5. Danny Smith (Suz); 6. Billy Laninovich (KTM); 7. Matt Walker (Kaw); 8. David Pingree (Suz); 9. Craig Anderson (Yam); 10. Kevin Johnson (Yam).
