Kawasaki's James Stewart has continued his winning form by taking victory in a crash filled opening round of the
Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross series at Angels Stadium, Anaheim, California, last Saturday night. Honda's Andrew
Short took the top spot as the Supercross Lites Western Region class kicked off the 2006 season.
"I rode a great race after I got a horrible start", Stewart said. "I just wanted to stay up for the first three
laps and put myself in a position to win the race. I knew around lap ten that all the work me, my trainer DJ and
my mum and dad have been putting in was working. I just want to go out there and stay consistent. I am not going
to push myself, just put myself in positions to win". he added.
45,500 fans watched perennial holeshot winner Kyle Lewis once again take the holeshot but he was quickly overtaken
by Team Honda's Ernesto Fonseca, whilst the 'name' riders where buried back in the pack. Chad Reed, who crashed
in his heat and had to work hard to qualify directly, was best placed of the regular winners as he rounded the
first lap in fourth place, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart where buried in mid pack.
As the race settled Fonseca lead Makita Suzuki's Ivan Tedesco and Honda's Mike Larocco, Larocco starting an
incredible 18th season. Reed quickly put the veteran behind him and on lap six the Australian threw down the
fastest lap of the race with a 56.59, two seconds faster than any other rider at that stage, and began to
apply the pressure for second.
Reed took second shortly before Tedesco stalled and allowed Carmichael easy passage to the rear of Reeds
Factory YZ450F. With crashes being the order of the day on a tough Anaheim track Fonseca kept the theme
going by laying his 450 down, this handed the lead to Reed and set up a mirror of the Canadian World rounds
as Carmichael and Stewart followed - just in a different order.
By lap seven the leaders were already hitting lapped traffic and with the top three within two seconds of
each other real estate became hard to come by. Reed made a small bobble and lost two seconds of his lead
which allowed Carmichael to demote him to second. Carmichael's moment of glory was short lived though as he
came to grief through the whoops, allowing Reed back into the lead whilst Carmichael found himself 28 seconds
back in fifth.
"I got by Chad and tried to get a good run through the hoops and I just missed one and went down, from that
point it was just survival and try to get back up on the podium, I felt terrible out there", Carmichael
explained after the race.
By lap nine Stewart had worked his way up to Reed after the initial flurry of nerves had settled. Within
the same lap Stewart took what is becoming a familiar spot at the head of the field and would remain there
for the remainder of the race. Carmichael rallied to make it back to third after passing a very impressive
Larocco in the closing laps.
Reed was pretty upbeat about his second place and is in a lot better frame of mind than the Canadian rounds.
"I felt good on the bike this weekend" Reed said. "I felt like I had a good rhythm. It was fun for to get
out there and get out of what i was in in Canada. and it shows that things are on the upside for us".
For Stewart he clearly has the speed and it's up to the others to catch him. "I knew I was strong, I knew it
was a long race, 20 laps. I felt good coming up through the pack", he said.
Supercross Lites
Team Honda's Andrew Short has taken opening points in the Supercross Lites Western Region class after he overcame
holeshot winner and supercross debutant Ryan Villopoto (Monster,Pro Circuit,Kawasaki). Carnage broke out as many
of the big names all took soil samples in the first lap. Grant Langston, Brett Metcalfe, Mike Alessi and Nathan
Ramsey to name a few.
Villopoto, who only made the main through the LCQ, was outstanding in the opening laps as he held of two time
Arenacross champion Darcy Lange and fellow rookie Andrew McFarlane, the Australian also making it through the
last chance qualifier.
Whilst Villopoto controlled the race for the first nine laps Short had worked his way through the field from his
opening lap position of 11th in a methodical manner and after disposing of third placed SoBe/Samsung/Honda's
Billy Laninovich quickly passed the 16-year-old for the lead.
Gant Langston, who was 22nd on the opening lap, showed that he is still one of the main contenders when he
put on a powerhouse ride to come back to fourth.
"My start was horrible I didn't even know I was in the lead when I got by Villopoto" said race winner Andrew
Short. "Every one has first race jitters including me. I will be a lot better from here on out as will
everyone else and I know we are not going to be so lucky with Langston and Ramsey I expect them to be
really tough for the rest of the season, they are going to be there so I can't get a bad start like I
did tonight", he added.
The next round will take place next week in Phoenix Arizona.
