Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's James Stewart turned in a stellar qualifying session before taking a win in his heat race at round seven of the AMA/ FIM World Supercross Championships in Arlington, Texas on Saturday night.
But as the Yoshimura Suzuki rider was poised to fight for the win in the 450 class Main Event he suffered another bout of bad luck, when a clutch issue forced him to miss the main event.
After turning the most blisteringly-hot laps in the first practice session and qualifying second fastest for the day, Stewart got a great start in his heat race. He slotted into second place and stalked the leader, making a smooth pass around Ryan Villopoto, the nights main event winner, at the half-way point of the eight-lap race to take the win.
But, in between the heat race and the Main Event, although no changes had been made to the RM-Z - the bike experienced a mystery clutch issue and Stewart was unable to start.
"The day went pretty good and we had some good practice times," said an upbeat and optimistic Stewart at the end of the night. "The heat race was awesome.
"I got a good start on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450. We changed some stuff up during the week and it was great. And I was feeling confident and really great - I hadn't felt that great since I was 16.
"I was sitting at the gate, ready to go and we had something happen with the clutch. I tried to see what we could do to fix it but it was internal." Stewart explained.
"Health wise, I feel really great and now we'll go to The Atlanta and get it done," the two time AMA 450SX champion concluded.
Top Image: James Stewart was on pace all night winning his heat race before his night turned pear shaped just before the main
Credit: Suzuki Racing
