James Stewart lost considerable ground to Ricky Carmichael in the 2006 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series championship chase after coming away with an eighth place finish at Anaheim III, the fifth round of the series held at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. Stewart fell in the first turn, leaving him in dead last after the start, and then fell two more times within the next two laps on the slippery, hard-packed track, putting him hopelessly out of the hunt for a podium finish.
Meanwhile, Carmichael moved past Kyle Lewis for the lead on lap one and then rode a calculated race for the win.
Carmichael’s Team Makita Suzuki teammate Ivan Tedesco held off Chad Reed for second place for 11 laps before giving way to the Team Yamaha rider and then settled into a solitary third for the remainder of the race.
After regaining his composure, Stewart cut fast lap times but was so far down after his series of crashes that an eighth place finish was all the Team Kawasaki rider could manage.
Mike LaRocco moved his Sobe/Samsung/Mobile/Honda into fourth by the end of the 20 lap main, while Travis Preston held off a last turn pass attempt by his Team Honda teammate Ernesto Fonseca to take fifth.
Carmichael now holds a 13-point lead in the series standings over Reed, 117 to 104, with Stewart dropping to third overall with 103.
After a disastrous race in San Francisco last weekend, Langston retook the Lites series points lead with a win in the main event at Anaheim III. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider passed Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi on lap two and steadily pulled away for the win.
Team Honda’s Andrew Short passed Alessi on lap 12 of the 15-lap main to finish second overall and sits just one point behind Langston in the overall standings, with Alessi holding on to take his second-straight podium of the series.
Red Bull KTM’s Nathan Ramsey, the Lites points leader coming into the Anaheim event, fell on lap two while running in third place and ended the night in 13th.
With three rounds remaining on the Lites schedule, Langston leads Short by a single point (94-93), while Team Honda’s Billy Laninovich holds down third, another four points back. Ramsey dropped to fourth overall in the race for the title.
SX MAIN (20 laps):
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
4. Mike LaRocco (Hon)
5. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
6. Travis Preston (Hon)
7. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
8. James Stewart (Kaw)
9. David Vuillemin (Hon)
10. Nick Wey (Hon)
SX LITES MAIN (15 laps):
1. Grant Langston (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Mike Alessi (KTM)
4. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
5. Brett Metcalfe (Yam)
6. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
7. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
8. Ryan Morais (Suz)
9. Darcy Lange (Kaw)
10. Sean Collier (Yam)
