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With a slender six-point lead over Ryan Dungey going into the Lites West finale, Lawrence needed a podium finish to clinch the championship for himself and for Yamaha of Troy. Lawrence started the 15-lap race in fourth, with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Broc Hepler, returning from a thumb injury early in the season, right behind. He moved into second behind Dungey on lap five and rode smart and steady in that position to secure the championship. Hepler likewise did a great job by passing Brett Metcalfe for the final podium position near the end of the race to put two Yamaha YZs on the podium. “I am glad to see Jason achieve his goal by winning the championship,” said Supercross team manager Jim Perry. “It was an awesome season for the entire Yamaha of Troy team.”
The 20-lap Supercross final was among the most dramatic of the year. Riding well despite a cracked shoulder blade, Reed won his heat race and got to the first turn near the inside – right where he wanted to be. But the gravelly surface caught him out and he landed on the ground with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Josh Hill also involved. While Hill quickly recovered, the L&M Racing star had to get up, right his bike and then speed after the pack. With the championship on the line Reed passed rider after rider as rival Windham also suffered a misfortune while leading – snagging a tough-block cover and then having to stop to pull it off his machine. Windham regained the lead on lap 18 but by then Reed had charged to fourth – and then rode dramatically into second on the last lap. “I think that Chad put in probably one of his best rides of the season,” Perry added. “Coming from lying on the ground in the first corner and fighting back to finish second, just a few seconds behind Windham, was truly incredible.”
Ben Bostrom Victorious in AMA Supersport
It would be hard to imagine a more thrilling AMA Supersport battle than the one that raged between Graves Motorsports’ Ben Bostrom and Josh Herrin, and rival Jake Zemke, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. on Sunday, April 27. Or a better outcome for Yamaha when, after multiple lead changes, Bostrom took his second win of the season by just .08 sec. over Zemke with Herrin also making the podium in third. Better still, the YZF-R6 teammates are now 1-2 in the points standings after three rounds of the 2008 season. Also over the weekend, in the Superbike class Eric Bostrom locked in fifth- and sixth-place finishes while Jason DiSalvo finished eighth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday aboard their Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1s.The weekend started fortuitously for Herrin, who garnered his first career AMA Supersport pole on Saturday, destroying the track record in the process. He and Bostrom jumped to the early lead in the race before a crash involving Martin Cardenas and Tommy Hayden temporary stopped the event. At the restart Zemke took the lead followed closely by Herrin and Bostrom. And then the fun began. The three frontrunners traded positions frequently throughout the 16-lap event – with every rider looking to gain the upper hand. But Herrin ran wide in a turn late in the going, leaving “B Boz” and Zemke to wage the final battle. Bostrom seized his chance at the start of the last lap, using his R6’s power to zap past Zemke on the straightaway and then leading the rest of the way.
“At first I considered following Jake on the last lap because the R6 has an incredible motor and I knew I could slipstream past him at the flag,” Bostrom said later. “But when the opportunity presented itself earlier I took it, and I thought, ‘Now I am going to control the infield.’ So I slowed the pace down and then put in a fast last few corners and got away. I had a really balanced bike, and when you believe in your bike you ride like you believe you can.” Road racing team manager Tom Halverson added, “Ben and Josh are both focused on the championship and driving each other up to the front. Today Josh was smart – after running wide he took his licks and hung back for third instead of throwing it on the ground.”
Bill Ballance Takes First 2008 GNCC ATV Win
Yamaha’s Bill Ballance won his first GNCC XC1 Pro ATV race of the 2008 season in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. on Saturday, April 26, raising him to third in the championship after five rounds of the series. But the YFZ450 rider wasn’t alone in scoring victories for Yamaha as Donnie Ockerman took the XC2 Pro Am class aboard his own YFZ450, while Jennifer Albright added a third-place finish and points leader Traci Cecco finished seventh in the Women’s class. The wins continued for Yamaha in Sunday’s motorcycle classes with Thad Duvall scoring his fourth XC2 Pro Lites win of the year on his WR250F ahead of Yamaha-mounted Josh Weisenfels. Likewise, Mandi Mastin took her fourth straight win in the Women’s motorcycle class ahead of Yamaha-mounted Leeann Bange.The 12-mile course at Loretta Lynn’s famous racing facility and campground started on the motocross track before breaking into the open fields and then through steep hills and woods. With recent rains moistening the dirt and reducing dust, conditions were perfect. In the afternoon XC1 Pro race, Ballance got his YFZ450 out front early in the four-lap, two-hour contest, leading the first lap before ceding to points leader Adam McGill on lap two. But the cagy Ballance retook control on lap three as McGill ultimately faltered and dropped out, then cruised in for a narrow four-second win after another battle with Chris Borich.
Ockerman’s XC2 Pro Am victory was his fourth in five starts this year, and he now firmly controls the XC2 points chase over competitor Brian Wolf. Spencer Dickerson jumped to the early lead on the first of four laps, with Ockerman close behind. The Yamaha pilot then roosted past his rival to take the lead on lap two as Dickerson eventually faded to third. Ockerman then got into a terrific scrap with Kyle Martin on the last lap before regaining the lead with under a mile to go. “The Yamaha always gives me a good start – I’m almost guaranteed to get going in the top five,” he praised afterwards. “Then as the track breaks down I can excel over the other guys because of the suspension. In fact I always want the track to break down because I can shine over that stuff.”
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