Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath rode to victory in Round 1 of the AMA Supercross series in Anaheim, California last night. McGrath showed his rivals they will have to work to take his championship. After losing to Kevin Windham (Suzuki) in his heat race, McGrath found another gear to pull away from his pursuers in the main event. Honda’s Ezra Lusk convincingly won his heat race and finished second in the main event in an impressive comeback from a year of injury. Kawasaki’s Ricky Carmichael finished third.
There were two big surprises in the 250 class. Seventeen year old Travis Pastrana (Suzuki) was, at times, the fastest rider on the track. He charged to second place in his heat race, and finished fifth in the main event. This kid is for real. The other surprise was David Vuillemin’s (Yamaha) poor showing in the main event, where he finished sixth. Vuillemin took the hole shot and proceeded to lose positions to one rider after another.
In the 125 class, Ernesto Fonseca seemed to confirm the worst nightmares of Yamaha’s competitors by riding the YZ250F four-stroke to a convincing victory. Not surprisingly, Fonseca seemed to have the edge over the two strokes on corner exits, where the punch of the bigger four-stroke was a clear advantage. An inspired Danny Smith (Suzuki) fought with Fonseca valiantly, but ultimately faded to a distant second place. The Yamaha of Justin Buckelew finished third.
125 Final Race Results (Top 10)
1. Ernesto Fonseca #25 YAMAHA 2. Danny Smith #29 SUZUKI 3. Justin Buckelew #38 YAMAHA 4. David Pingree #46 KTM 5. Ivan Tedesco #42 HONDA 6. Shae Bentley #1 KAWASAKI 7. Rodrig Thain #32 SUZUKI 8. Tyler Evans #47 HONDA 9. Casey Lytle #57 KAWASAKI 10. Andrew Short #79 KAWASAKI
250 Final Race Results (Top 10)
1. Jeremy McGrath #1 YAMAHA 2. Ezra Lusk #11 HONDA 3. Ricky Carmichael #4 KAWASAKI 4. Mike LaRocco #5 HONDA 5. Travis Pastrana #199 SUZUKI 6. David Vuillemin #934 YAMAHA 7. Stephane Roncada #21 KAWASAKI 8. Kevin Windham #14 SUZUKI 9. Nicholas Wey #23 YAMAHA 10. Mike Craig #39 HONDA
