Double Wrap!
By TMX Archives on 16th May 05
Well that's that then. Ricky Carmichael just wrapped up two more titles the 2005 THQ AMA Supercross Championship and the '05 THQ World Supercross GP title. Well that's that then. Ricky Carmichael just wrapped up two more titles the 2005 THQ AMA Supercross Championship and the '05 THQ World Supercross GP title. World SXGP was the only major American title he had yet to win at this stage in his career, mainly because this was the first year he raced the beginning rounds a requirement for consideration. And while that extra notch on his post may have been sweet, his THQ AMA SX title had to be particularly sweet.This season saw Carmichael in an unfamiliar position that of the underdog. In January, few gave him much of a chance. And while this certainly bothered RC after all, he had won the series three times before the reluctance to make him the pre-season favourite is understandable.Chad Reed had taken his indoor game to a new level, looking more and more McGrath-like every day. But the real spoiler was James Stewart, the flashy phenom who was set to storm the 250 ranks and make a little bit of history of his own.The other factor going against Ricky was his new team. Suzuki had not won a 250 supercross title since Mark Barnett did the deed back in 1981. With the squad's glory days long past, few thought RC could be competitive aboard the yellow RM250. And while he had survived a team switch before, that was from Kawasaki to the Honda freight train. Honda to Suzuki merely looked like a step backwards.That said, I can't think of anyone who was rooting against Suzuki here. Headed by a true hero of the sport, the irreplaceable Roger DeCoster, the team was due some success. They wanted a title and with the ever-widening gap between the contenders and the pretenders, they knew what had to be done. Bringing in a proven champion, they had a chance to show what their machines could really do.And this is where full credit goes to the consistency and quality of both rider and machine. When Carmichael clinched the second of his '05 SX titles at Houston with one round remaining in the series he was the only rider to finish on the podium in all 15 rounds to that point. It takes a lot of effort to pull off a feat like that and Suzuki and Carmichael were 100 per cent up for it.That consistency brings to mind another talking point of this season the fact that Carmichael has truly learned to contain himself on the track. The Floridian has brought us some astounding crashes throughout his career, most of which could be attributed to his on-the-ragged-edge riding style.I've seen him flipped over the bars and rag-dolled off the back of his bike on several occasions but those all seem like distant memories now. The Ricky Carmichael of 2005 is calm and cool and knows his limits. And once he grabbed that points lead, he started riding within them even if that meant not winning the race.That counts for more than you might think. Anyone who has followed RC's career can tell you that he's a born winner. It's all he wants to do. And like most winners, for him, losing is practically torture. That drive to win every race at all costs is what gave him his wild intensity in years past. Having for now, at least conquered that side of his personality, he was able to rein it in just a bit when the time came.With competition as intense as this, one mistake can wipe out your entire season. Don't believe me? Ask Chad Reed how he feels about that 16th place finish in the Anaheim mud at the season opener. If he'd had those extra 20 or so points, the big picture in April and May would have looked much, much different.So congratulations to Ricky, Roger and everyone at Team Makita Suzuki. You guys have waited a long time for this, so enjoy it. As for the competition, there is great hope.Although Chad Reed failed to win the title this year he can attribute some of that to bad luck in the January mud. And while I'm sure that's no consolation to him, a quick glance at the results sheet should help. Speedy Reedy finished in the top three 13 times to RC's 15, the only exceptions being a fourth at Seattle and that sloppy 16th. He won four Main Events leading up to the Las Vegas finale and he was rarely more than one spot away from Carmichael at the end of the 250 main. It's so close Chad can taste it. If he continues to improve and keeps his spirits up, he'll win one again sooner or later.Then there's The Future. It may be too early to call James Stewart the future of American supercross but I just did it. No going back now. His injury before the second round of the series was a massive disappointment for Bubba but he showed his quality the second he returned.His post-comeback 3-4-1-1-1 finishes should make Kawasaki feel very good about themselves and I'm sure someone back at the Kawi HQ is clearing off some shelf space in the trophy room. Stewart came back to the races and blasted through the pack for three straight wins, bringing crowds to their feet and bringing to a close the season known as the Perfect Storm.Back in grammar school, a teacher once asked our class to play a little word game. She would throw out an adjective say, 'big' and we would respond "bigger, biggest". This went on for some time until the final word "perfect". After every possible answer was rejected, we were stumped. The teacher said, "It's a trick question! Nothing can be more than perfect." Well, with a little luck, the 2006 SX season may just prove her wrong.Words by Jeff Kocan courtesy of RacerX | photo by www.hoppenworld.com | Steve cox