Rick's not so retiring
By TMX Archives on 14th Dec 06
HE may have officially retired' from full-time racing but Makita Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael is still as fast as ever, which he demonstrated with a final World Supercross GP win in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday night in a classic battle with James Stewart that saw the 27-year-old Floridian pressure the Kawasaki rider for the entire race, during the Main, before making a move late in the race for a very popular victory.
Stewart came into the race suffering a badly swollen ankle and on probation following his collision with Travis Preston the week before in Toronto, and while there was not the bizarre action of controversy of the week before, from the drop of the gate in the Main both he and Carmichael were head and shoulders above the rest of the field. They engaged in one of their best battles to date for the win, which RC would eventually claim, as opening World SX round winner Chad Reed finished off the lead pace in third.
In the Lites class, it was new Factory Connection Honda teamster Ryan Sipes who made a winning debut for his new team, in readiness for the AMA Lites championships, with a convincing win over Makita Suzuki's supercross rookie Ryan Dungey and Toronto third place man, Red Bull KTM's Zach Osborne.
The track, built inside Vancouver's BC Place, was constructed from a very loose, stone ridden, silt type soil which broke down quite dramtically to make a rough, demanding track by the time the Supercross class main rolled around and from the drop of the gate, Stewart was gone.
Grabbing the holeshot as the pack exited the sweeping first turn into a rough, mogul field straight, Stewart led WBR Rockster Suzuki newcomer Michael Byrne, teammate Tim Ferry, and Ricky Carmichael through the opening lap but, by the time the race was three laps old, Carmichael was into second and beginning to put the pressure on Stewart.
AMP'D MOBILE WORLD SUPERCROSS GP
Rd 2 - BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
SUPERCROSS: 1 Ricky Carmichael (Suz), 2 James Stewart (Kaw), 3 Chad Reed (Yam), 4 David Vuillemin (Hon), 5 Tim Ferry (Kaw), 6 Nathan Ramsey (Hon), 7 Travis Preston (Hon), 8 Jeff Gibson (Kaw), 9 Nick Wey (Hon), 10 Jason Thomas (Hon).
WORLD SUPERCROSS GP SERIES STANDINGS (After 2 of 17 rounds): 1 Reed 47, 2 Carmichael 45, 3 Stewart 42, 4 Vuillemin 34, 5 Ferry 34, 6 Wey 27, 7 Gibson 40, 8 Heath Voss (Hon) 22, 9 Paul Carpenter (Kaw) 22, 10 Ryan Clark (Hon) 21.
SUPERCROSS LITES: 1 Ryan Sipes (Hon), 2. Ryan Dungey (Suz), 3 Zach Osborne (KTM), 4 Martin Davalos (KTM), 5 Kyle Beaton (Yam), 6 Jimmy Albertson (Yam), 7 Bobby Garrison (Yam), 8 Gray Davenport (Kaw), 9 Dennis Jonon (KTM), 10 Kevin Urquhart (Hon).
Next Round - Jan 6, Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, December 15, 2006.