The 2012 AMA Supercross series was launched in front of a capacity 45,000 crowd at the Anaheim stadium in Los Angeles last weekend and Joe Gibbs Racing’ James Stewart took his YZ450F to sixth position in the opening main event of seventeen on the U.S. calendar.
The former Champion endured a dramatic first evening of the season. He had marked the fastest lap-time in the second qualifier but was undone at the beginning of the 20 lap sprint when a poor start left him deep in the pack. Behind runaway leader and winner Ryan Villopoto Stewart worked up to third position and then enjoyed a tight battle with 2010 champion Ryan Dungey.
The Floridian made a small mistake on the approach to a table-top jump and hit the hay bales at the side of the track, causing a crash and some light damage to his motorcycle. He was hit in the stomach by his handlebar but had no other problems. By the time he could rectify his radiator plastic shroud and regain his composure he had lost several places and needed to push again to reach sixth.
“James showed a lot of patience out there tonight,” said JGR/Toyota Yamaha team manager Jeremy Albrecht. “He didn’t get the best of starts, but he did a really good job of being patient and catching the leaders without taking too many risks. But the track was changing a lot throughout the night and he just got caught out over there and landed in the Tuff Blox. He was missing a radiator shroud when he got up, and the front end was kind of tweaked, but he still made the most of it. Championships are won on your bad days, and this wasn’t a good day, but he still salvaged sixth place. That’s pretty good.”
Ryan Morais and Davi Millsaps filled 15th and 16th places under the Anaheim lights. Ryan Sipes (5th spot) and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne – completing several West Coast events as warm-up for the FIM MX2 World Championship – (9th) posted finishes on the YZ250F in the Lites division.
Round two takes place next weekend at Chase Field in Phoenix.
2012 AMA-SX United States
Angel Stadium 09/01/2012 20 Laps
race I
1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 21’19.553
2 Chad Reed Honda AUS 0’12.223
3 Ryan Dungey KTM USA 0’13.577
4 Justin Brayton Honda USA 0’30.470
5 Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 0’31.416
6 James Stewart Yamaha USA 0’39.904
7 Andrew Short Honda USA 0’40.786
8 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0’41.883
9 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 0’43.686
10 Josh Hansen Kawasaki USA 0’45.695
11 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 0’53.764
12 Broc Tickle Kawasaki USA 0’56.214
13 Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA -1Laps
14 Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki USA -1Laps
15 Ryan Morais Yamaha USA -1Laps
16 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA -1Laps
AMA-SX World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 1 of 17
1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 25
2. Chad Reed Honda AUS 22
3. Ryan Dungey KTM USA 20
4. Justin Brayton Honda USA 18
5. Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 16
6. James Stewart Yamaha USA 15
7. Andrew Short Honda USA 14
8. Kevin Windham Honda USA 13
9. Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 12
10. Josh Hansen Kawasaki USA 11
11. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 10
12. Broc Tickle Kawasaki USA 9
13. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 8
14. Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki USA 7
15. Ryan Morais Yamaha USA 6
16. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 5
Crowd:
45,050
Weather:
Dry
Lap Record:
0’44.601
(Ricky Carmichael , 1/1/2006)
Last Years Winner:
Ryan Villopoto
Manufacturer Standings
09/01/2012
1 Kawasaki 25
2 Honda 22
3 KTM 20
4 Yamaha 15
5 Suzuki 12
