Carmichael takes 7th win in St Louis

Makita Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael has taken his 7th win of the season as the AMA/THQ Supercross series headed back to his ideal conditions at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO. Carmichael lead from start to finish as the 25-year-old reveled in the rutted conditions. Monster Energy/Pro Circuits Grant Langston stretched his points lead as he took his second win the 125 East series. After Carmichael took the early mental victory when he clocking in a full second faster lap time in his heat race than Reed did in his, things looked decidedly in Carmichaels favour as the two heat winners went head to head for the ninth time of the year in the 20 lap final. When the gate dropped Carmichael bolted into the lead whilst Reed got caught up behind Honda's Ernesto Fonseca. In previous weeks Reed has mounted a strong come back, but with the rutted sticky track suiting Carmichael and Reed taking a lap to get by Fonseca this round would turn into a formality as Reed could not account for Carmichaels speed and consistency. "The start was important tonight," Carmichael said I knew that I had to get a good start. I really just put a lot of emphasis in that start, that‰Ûªs where it was at." "Chad keeps me working every weekend and its me and him and I really enjoy it and as I get older I have a lot of fun and I can appreciate what I do and I think that‰Ûªs helping my results" Reed seemed to struggle in the early laps and at one stage was locked in a dog fight with Windham for second. It seemed to take around six laps for the Factory Yamaha rider to hit his straps - by which time Carmichael had opened up a seven second gap. Reed did close the gap down to 6 seconds but apart from a mechanical failure or crash Carmichael never looked in danger of losing. "Ernesto got in between us and I needed to be there and go with the leader but he just got away from me. It's a drag just to be there by yourself in second and have to ride laps," Reed said. Asked about his and Carmichael's domination Reed added, "We have our game on and everything is falling into his corner a little more than mine at the moment he is riding great, I can just look forward to the next couple of races and I am motivated more than ever to get back and do the best I can". Whilst Reed and Carmichael are certainly the only real two front runner at the moment, third placed Kevin Windham is moving back into form and showing some of the speed that won him the opening round. "I feel pretty good about my ride tonight," he said. "It‰Ûªs a step in the right direction. I got third last week and those two guys up front just blew me away, but tonight I think it was a respectable ride and a step in the right direction". The battle for the minor placings seems to be where all the action is and once again Fonseca, David Vuillemin and Tim Ferry battled for the firs half of the race. Mike Larocco made his way through the group at one stage only to crash and lose his momentum. Vuillemin would ultimately prevail to take fourth while once again Sebastian Tortelli worked his way from the back of the pack to grab fifth. Carmichael now holds a 35 point lead in the series as riders now head to the outdoor track of Daytona for the 10th round. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Grant Langston survived a heat race crash and an 18th pick at the gate to back up last weeks win in the 125cc East coast series to mirror Carmichaels' feat in the 250's by taking a wire to wire win. It has been a long road back to the top for the former World Champion. "I just nailed the start it was one of the best starts I have every had," said Langston "I got a bit tight towards the end but it was a good win, i felt a lot better than I did in the first race". "My plan was to get a good start and if I got out front try and pull away, I got the great start the last seven or eight laps I was able to just maintain a pace and just keep it steady". Second placed Millsaps did it the hard way as round one's winner had to fight his way back from 15th on the first lap to make the podium. "I am so tired of bad starts," Millsaps said. "I am 180 pounds trying to get of the line with a guys that are 20 pounds lighter than me so I guess that's a bit of a disadvantage right there, I guess I just gotta go home and work harder on my starts" Third placed Josh Hansen, who ran second for most of the race was positive about his night. "I am going to look forward and take baby steps". This weekend was a little better than the last couple of weeks, there is not much to say other than I pulled my head out of my rear end this weekend". he added.