Yamaha YZ450F and YZ250F motorcycles were present on both podiums at a well-populated Dodgers Stadium near downtown Los Angeles for the third round of seventeen in the AMA Supercross series, also an FIM World Championship. 35, 741 spectators saw JGRMX’s James Stewart pick up his first trophy of the season with third position while Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne continued to build his speed and momentum on the SX circuit and scored his first career rostrum finish with third place in the West Coast Lites class.
Stewart had spent time after the second round in Phoenix last week honing his starts and the work paid off as he rounded the first turn and initial jumps in the top four. The Main Event in a cold LA had to be restarted after a crash involving Trey Canard and Ryan Morais and Stewart hunted the rear wheel of Chad Reed at the second time of asking. A close race was brought to a halt on the eleventh lap when a small mistake clipping the last obstacle of the timing section saw the former champion drop his machine in the following corner.
Stewart was able to remount and although his chances of victory had gone he still had to fight hard to defend his position from Ryan Villopoto. “We had a rough practice session but my starts were great so I have to give it up to the team,” he said. “This result is a confidence builder for sure. I was ‘there’ and we’ll go for it [the win] next week for sure. I always try my best and always go hard out there. We’ll get better. I made one mistake and just couldn’t bring it back.”
In the championship standings Stewart is fifth while team-mate Davi Millsaps – who was sixth in LA – holds tenth place.
In his penultimate race before heading back to focus on the FIM MX2-GP World Championship Zach Osborne scored a fantastic podium finish with his YZ250F. The American started well and held second place for much of the fifteen lap main event and although he was passed by Dean Wilson, pushed on to the chequered flag to guarantee third place. “This is unreal,” he said. “A lot of people have worked so hard for us to be here and this result means so much. After four years in Europe it is great to come back in this way. I can’t say enough about my bike; it got me right up there from the start. Oakland will be my last supercross this year and I’ll look to build on this.”
Round four will take place next Saturday at the Overstock.com Stadium in Oakland.
2012 AMA-SX United States
Dodger Stadium 23/01/2012 20 Laps
race I
1 Chad Reed Honda AUS 18’45.084
2 Ryan Dungey KTM USA 0’02.968
3 James Stewart Yamaha USA 0’08.503
4 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 0’09.113
5 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 0’22.881
6 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 0’24.509
7 Josh Hansen Kawasaki USA 0’28.304
8 Broc Tickle Kawasaki USA 0’34.226
9 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0’39.082
10 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 0’40.558
11 Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 0’47.698
12 Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki USA -1Laps
13 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA -1Laps
14 Andrew Short Honda USA -1Laps
15 Weston Peick Yamaha USA -1Laps
20 Ryan Morais Yamaha USA -20Laps
AMA-SX World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 3 of 17
1. Ryan Dungey KTM USA 67
2. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 63
3. Chad Reed Honda AUS 63
4. Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 48
5. James Stewart Yamaha USA 48
6. Kevin Windham Honda USA 43
7. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 38
8. Josh Hansen Kawasaki USA 36
9. Andrew Short Honda USA 36
10. Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 28
11. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 28
12. Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki USA 25
13. Justin Brayton Honda USA 25
14. Broc Tickle Kawasaki USA 22
15. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 21
16. Trey Canard Honda USA 16
19. Ryan Morais Yamaha USA 7
21. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 6
Circuit Length:
unknown
Crowd:
35, 741
Weather:
Dry
Last Years Winner:
Ryan Villopoto
Manufacturer Standings
23/01/2012
1 KTM 67
2 Kawasaki 65
3 Honda 65
4 Yamaha 48
5 Suzuki 40
