On the Chase...
By TMX Archives on 16th Jan 08
IT was back to business as usual at round two of the 2008 AMA Supercross Series at Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday. A week after the wet weather turned the Anaheim series opener into a lottery, the covered Chase Field Arena allowed for dry conditions and the results that many have come to expect in supercross over the past year – namely a James Stewart win and an absolute corker of a Lites main.
That Stewart, the reigning champion and undoubted title favourite, would bounce back from his first turn Anaheim fall to register his first win of the season over Chad Reed and Kevin Windham was of no surprise to anyone, but that Jake Weimer bounced back from a failure to even qualify at Anaheim to win the Lites class over Ryan Dungey and Brett Metcalfe certainly opened a few eyes.
The Phoenix track was as usual fast, slick and not espcially technical, but this played into the favour of close racing and this was particulalry the case in the Lites class, which produced one of the best races in recent memory and saw the top six all cross the line within 10-seconds of each other.
From the drop of the gate the race was on and Weimer grabbed the holeshot aboard his Torco Racing Fuel Honda with Anaheim victor Dingey and Hepler right in his wheel tracks.
Weimr only held the lead for the opening lap before Dungey and Hepler broke through, leaving him to fight off the attentions of Brett Metcalfe and Jason Lawrence, but Weimer remained in contact as the lead pair continually swapped places.
The decisive moments of the race came on laps 10 and 11 when first Dungey was forced back it down and roll a tripple after he and Hepler got a little too cles for comfort, allowing Weimer to move back into second spot, and then a lap later Hepler tipped over in a turn, gifting Weimer a lead he would not relinquish.
Dungey regrouped to push Weimer all the way to the line but the Honda man held strong to register his first ever AMA win with Metcalfe coming home third to ease the pain of his no-score the previuos week, with Hepler recovering the fourth, Lawrence fifth and Justin Brayton sixth.
The second place finish has allowed Dungey to already open-up a healthy nine point lead over Lawrence in the points standings.
On a dry track, and without dropping it at the first turn, James Stewart was always going to be hard to beat in the Supercross class, but despite a valiant race-long push from Anaheim winner Chad Reed, Stewart had the edge this time.
Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot in the main aboard the Makita Suzuki but was quickly passed by Stewart and Reed as he caught a tuff-block which scattered into the track and sent both Davi Millsaps and Tim Ferry down. The 450 class supercross rookie was forced to ride with the blae cover flapping from his foot peg the rest of the night.
Up front, Stewart held his ground despite early pressure from Reed and as the race wore down he began to strectch his lead inch by inch.
In the end he cruised home victorious by just over two-seconds with third place Kevin Windham crossing the line some 20-seconds back, with fellow Honda riders Andrew Short and Ivan Tedesco fourth and fitth with Alessi regrouping for sixth.
The series returns to Anaheim again this weekend for a special retro themed night based around the classic 1986 battle between David Bailey and Ricky Johnson. Hopefully the rain will hold off and hopefully the fans will bear witness to another race like that incredible night way back when.
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES
Rd 2 – Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
SUPERCROSS: 1 James Stewart (Kaw), 2 Chad Reed (Yam), 3 Kevin Windham (Hon), 4 Andrew Short (Hon), 5 Ivan Tedesco (Hon), 6 Mike Alessi (Suz), 7 Nathan Ramsey (Yam), 8 Joshua Hansen (Yam), 9 Charles Summey (Yam), 10 Timmy Ferry (Kaw), 11 Joshua Hill (Yam), 12 Paul Carpenter (Hon), 13 Heath Voss (Hon), 14 Davi Millsaps (Hon), 15 David Vuillemin (Suz).
Series Standings after 2 (of 16) rounds: 1 Stewart 47 points, 2 Reed 47, 3 Windham 36, 4 Ferry 31, 5 Short 31, 6 M Alessi 30, 7 Ramsey 24, 8 Tedesco 22, 9 Millsaps 21, 10 Grant Langston (Yam) 19.
SUPERCROSS LITES: 1 Jake Weimer (Hon), 2 Ryan Dungey (Suz), 3 Brett Metcalfe (Kaw), 4 Broc Hepler (Yam), 5 Jason Lawrence (Yam), 6 Justin Brayton (KTM), 7 Wil Hahn (Yam), 8 Daniel Reardon (Hon), 9 Kyle Cunningham (Hon), 10 Billy Laninovich (KTM), 11 Michael Lapaglia (Suz), 12 Jeff Northrop (Hon), 13 Eric Mccrummen (Hon), 14 Thomas Hahn (Kaw), 15 Christopher Gosselaar (Hon).
Series Standings after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Dungey 47 points, 2 Lawrence 38, 3 Brayton 35, 4 Reardon 31, 5 Hepler 28, 6 Weimer 25, 7 W Hahn 25, 8 Metcalfe 22, 9 T Hahn 22, 10 Lapaglia 18.
Next Round: Jan 19 – Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA.
For full report and pictures see T+MX News, January 18, 2008