Toronto, Canada – JDR/J-Star/KTM rider Malcolm Stewart had an up and down night to eventually finish 13th overall at the sixth round of the AMA East Lites Supercross Series.
Stewart started the day well with one of his best qualifying times of the season. He qualified 4th fastest out of the combined practice sessions and had a good gate pick in the first Lites Supercross heat.
Unfortunately, his teammate PJ Larsen, did not have as much luck and suffered a bad crash in a rhythm section during practice. He landed on his feet as he fell from the crash which caused some damage to his foot and knee. He was unable to compete in the night show and will return to his home in California for further evaluation on Monday.
Stewart lined up at the start of the heat race ready to earn the good results he’s been hunting for this season. He got a great start and was sitting in a good position within the top five. Throughout the six lap race he was able to reel in fellow KTM rider Ken Roczen and make a pass for 2nd place before the checkers flew to earn a great gate pick for the main event.
In the main event, Stewart got off to a mid-pack start and was sitting in 10th around the first corner. He quickly began to charge but made a mistake halfway through the first lap where he ran off the track. He recovered quickly but had to reenter the course in 19th position. He went to work right away and moved up two positions before the end of the next lap. By the halfway point he had already charged back up to 11th and was closing in on the top ten. Unfortunately on the tenth lap, he made another mistake and crashed. He picked up his bike and returned to the action in 15th position. With four laps left he was able to make up two more positions and take 13th overall at the finish.
“I am bummed with my race results today,” remarked Stewart. “I felt really good all day and it was unfortunate that I had two crashes in the main event that cost me a lot of positions. I feel we have made a lot of good changes to our set-up over the past few weeks and I should be a podium contender at the final races.”
Next Event: Houston Supercross – March 31, 2012
Overall Results Lites SX Class:
- Justin Barcia
- Ken Roczen – KTM
- Blake Wharton
- Jake Canada
- Darryn Durham
- Alex Martin
- Tommy Weeck
- Justin Bogle
- Matt Lemoine
- Jeff Gibson
- AJ Cantanzaro – KTM
- Shane Sewell – KTM
- Malcolm Stewart – KTM
- Tyler Bowers
- Blake Baggett
- Dakota Tedder
- Lance Vincent – KTM
- Kyle Peters
- Shawn Rife
Phil Nicoletti
