JGRMX Yamaha’s James Stewart entertained more than 59,000 fans at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis last Saturday as the former champion charged back from a first lap crash to classify fifth in what was the ninth round of seventeen in the AMA SX/FIM World Championship series.
After winning his heat race across a grippy and challenging layout Stewart had high hopes of taking a fifth podium result of the season (and perhaps a second victory after his win in Oakland) but his expectations were dashed with a poor getaway from the line and a slip on the first lap that left him eighteenth from the twenty riders.
At the front of the pack Stewart’s team-mate Davi Millsaps grabbed the holeshot and circulated on the fringes of the top three, eventually being passed by the number ‘7’ and Kevin Windham in the closing stages. Stewart made it all the way up to fifth and collected 16 points.
“Something happened off the gate and I got a really bad start and I fell on the first lap so I was even further back but I was riding really well and got back through the pack up until Davi,” said the Floridian who is third in the standings and 53 points behind reigning champion and winner in Missouri Ryan Villopoto. “I got held up a little bit and kinda ran out of time. We’d been struggling all day but finally seemed to find the right setting. So, another bad start but I’m stoked with how it went after that. You bring your own luck on yourself. The further back I start back the more things that can possibly go wrong. That’s what happening at the moment. We go to Daytona now and it should be good. The track will be a bit longer and you gotta be in shape to ride that one.”
Kyle Cunningham was eighth on the YZ250F in the East Coast Lites series. The AMA Supercross campaign continues onto the Daytona Motor Speedway for round ten next Saturday.
2012 AMA-SX United States
Edward Jones Dome 04/03/2012 20 Laps
race I
1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 17’18.465
2 Ryan Dungey KTM USA 0’02.403
3 Justin Brayton Honda USA 0’07.611
4 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0’10.758
5 James Stewart Yamaha USA 0’14.951
6 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 0’19.059
7 Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 0’26.951
8 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 0’28.639
9 Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 0’43.309
10 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 0’48.253
11 Broc Tickle Kawasaki USA 0’52.309
12 Matthew Goerke Suzuki USA -1Laps
13 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA -1Laps
14 Robert Kiniry Yamaha USA -1Laps
15 Justin Sipes Kawasaki USA -1Laps
AMA-SX World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 9 of 17
1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 205
2. Ryan Dungey KTM USA 192
3. James Stewart Yamaha USA 152
4. Chad Reed Honda AUS 128
5. Kevin Windham Honda USA 123
6. Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 120
7. Justin Brayton Honda USA 116
8. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 113
9. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 109
10. Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 98
11. Josh Hansen Kawasaki USA 87
12. Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki USA 82
13. Broc Tickle Kawasaki USA 69
14. Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 66
15. Andrew Short Honda USA 59
16. Robert Kiniry Yamaha USA 31
30. Ryan Morais Yamaha USA 7
35. Nico Izzi Yamaha USA 3
36. Ben Lamay Yamaha USA 2
Crowd:
59, 742
Weather:
Dry
Lap Record:
0’50.947
(Chad Reed, 2/18/2006)
Last Years Winner:
James Stewart
Manufacturer Standings
04/03/2012
1 Kawasaki 207
2 KTM 192
3 Honda 179
4 Yamaha 160
5 Suzuki 124
