Stewart back on track with eighth win
By TMX Archives on 17th Mar 09
James Stewart took his LandM San Manuel YZ450F back to the top of the podium for his eighth victory of the 2009 AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship) at the Superdome in New Orleans for round eleven of seventeen.
Almost 37,000 spectators saw the 23 year old recover from a disappointing outing at Daytona last week when he finished 7th to again beat main title rival Chad Reed and reduce the deficit he faces in the championship standings from 11 to 8 points.
"I've just got to keep on winning and trying," said Stewart who lapped everyone up to Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Grant in 7th place. "He (Reed) has got seven second-places in a row and it's not going to change now. All I can do is my best, and I was able to do that tonight. I'm happy to get the win, but we've still got a long way to go."
It was Yamaha's 5th win in New Orleans and Stewart's first in the premier class at the venue. The event was also significant for marking Yamaha's Broc Hepler's first podium finish with 3rd position. Hepler -who broke his collarbone at Anaheim 1 - aped Daytona 'podiumee' Jason Lawrence who was not riding in Louisiana after injuring his ankle two days before the race.
Stewart is again playing catch-up to Australian Reed after he DNF-ed the opening race in Los Angeles and worked down a margin of 23 points to front the series. After his slip in Florida seven days before New Orleans, Stewart again has to look towards victory each week to overhaul the reigning champion with just six meetings remaining.
Round twelve takes place at the Edward Jones Bowl in St Louis next Saturday.
2009 AMA-SX Louisiana, LA 15/03/2009
Race 1 - 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 James Stewart Yamaha USA 17'32.497
2 Chad Reed Suzuki AUS 0'5.543
3 Broc Hepler Yamaha USA 0'28.030
4 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'31.576
5 Andrew Short Honda USA 0'38.336
6 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 0'40.464
7 Josh Grant Yamaha USA 0'41.443
8 Justin Brayton KTM USA -1Laps
9 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA -1Laps
10 Matt Boni Honda USA -1Laps
11 Josh Hill Yamaha USA -1Laps
12 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA -1Laps
13 Ivan Tedesco Honda USA -1Laps
14 Tyler Bowers Honda USA -1Laps
15 Nathan Ramsey Yamaha USA -1Laps
19 Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA -2Laps
Rider Standings 14/03/2009
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Chad Reed Suzuki AUS 246
2. James Stewart Yamaha USA 238
3. Andrew Short Honda USA 179
4. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 165
5. Josh Grant Yamaha USA 152
6. Ivan Tedesco Honda USA 148
7. Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 146
8. Kevin Windham Honda USA 146
9. David D Millsaps Honda USA 139
10. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 102
11. Tim Ferry Kawasaki USA 100
12. Heath Voss Honda USA 70
13. Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 64
14. Matt Boni Honda USA 56
15. Benjamin Coisy Honda FRA 55
16. Broc Hepler Yamaha USA 49
18. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 45
26. Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 22
33. Nathan Ramsey Yamaha USA 6
34. Sean Hamblin Yamaha USA 3
Manufacturer Standings 14/03/2009
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Yamaha 269
2. Suzuki 246
3. Honda 206
4. Kawasaki 178
5. KTM 56