Daytona, FL – JDR/J-Star/KTM riders Malcolm Stewart and PJ Larsen finished 8th and 16th respectively at the fourth round of the AMA Supercross Series held at Daytona Speedway under horrible riding conditions.
The course went from dry to completely soaked throughout the evening as rainfall continued to pour into the evening hours. Larsen was first to challenge the muddy race course in the first heat. He had a pretty clean start and managed to quickly break into the top five. After six laps he moved into 4th and easily transferred to the main.
Stewart was placed in the next heat. He had a decent jump off the start but went down early. “After I crashed, my goggles filled with so much mud I had to get rid of them,” remarked Stewart. “After that my eyes filled with so much dirt I couldn’t see and I had to pull off.” Stewart didn’t finish the heat race and quickly returned to the pits to prepare for the LCQ.
Stewart earned a 3rd place start in the LCQ and quickly moved into qualifying position. He finished the race in 2nd place taking the final transfer spot to the main.
Despite having last gate pick in the main event, Stewart pulled off a decent start. He came around the first corner mid-pack and quickly moved into the top ten. He managed to stay upright the entire evening despite the conditions that were causing many riders to get stuck in mud holes or crash in the deep ruts. Meanwhile, Larsen had suffered a crash off the start and was sitting in last position. He climbed up as high as 15th before he slid out in another incident and dropped back to 17th. He was able to climb up one more position before the checkers to earn 16th. Stewart held on to finish 8th overall for the night.
“Considering the conditions, I am pretty happy to finish and not have any major issues,” remarked Stewart. “I would have liked to finish inside the top five but it was hard to make progress on the riders that got out front early. I am happy to earn some points and hope to keep improving next weekend.”
Next Event: Indianapolis, IN – March 17, 2012
Overall Results SX Lites Class –
1. Justin Barcia
2. Blake Baggett
3. Darryn Durham
4. Ken Roczen – KTM
5. Blake Wharton
6. Jake Canada
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Malcolm Stewart – KTM
9. Cole Thompson
10. Tommy Weeck
11. Les Smith – KTM
12. Shane Sewell – KTM
13. Alex Martin
14. Tyler Bowers
15. Justin Starling – KTM
16. PJ Larsen – KTM
17. Kyle Peters
18. Justin Bogle
19. Jeff Gibson
20. Phil Nicoletti
Overall Point Standings SX Lites:
1. Justin Barcia – 100
2. Darryn Durham – 76
3. Ken Roczen – 75
4. Blake Wharton – 72
5. Blake Baggett – 62
6. Jake Canada – 56
7. Justin Bogle – 46
8. Malcolm Stewart – 42
9. Kyle Cunningham – 42
10. Cole Thompson – 32
