Phoenix Report and Results - Round 2 of the AMA Supercross.
Sunday 16 January: Round 2 at Phoenix Arizona it's a beautiful day of sunshine and warm temps at the 'Valley of the Sun'. Whilst early days yet , Messrs Stewart and Reed have shown their hand for Stewart has responded with a convincing win in Phoenix.
Edited copy courtesy of Denny Hartwig for Feld Motor Sports.
Fastest qualifier in the Supercross Class was James Stewart with a 48.4 second lap time. Next was Ryan Villopoto, Trey Canard, Ivan Tedesco, Ryan Dungey, Justin Brayton, Austin Stroupe, Kevin Windham, Josh Grant, Thomas Hahn, and Chad Reed.
A huge crowd filled Chase Field on Saturday night for the second race of the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season. After finishing third at the season opener one week ago, San Manuel/Red Bull Yamaha's James Stewart took his first win of the championship. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Josh Hansen, captured his second Supercross Lites Western Regional Championship in as many races.
As the gates dropped on the Supercross Open Class main event, it was Stewart who grabbed the holeshot with GEICO Honda's Kevin Windham and Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey following closely. However, Stewart went on to win with a wire-to-wire victory despite a tough challenge from week one winner Ryan Villopoto.
"I really wanted to pull that holeshot,” said Stewart. "This track was tough tonight but I haven't won in over a year so I really wanted this one. I was even a little nervous out there but I want to thank everyone on my team for giving such an awesome bike. This feels great.”
On Lap 9, Villopoto, who was mere bike's length behind Stewart, fell but was able to remount in second and carry it to the finish.
"That section has been tough all night,” said Villopoto. "All the riders were pushing the limit on it all night and it got me. I was pushing James and I awaiting a mistake, but I ended up being the one (to make one). I still was able to do what I came here to do and leave with some valuable points. Now it's on to Dodger Stadium.”
Supercross class rookie and American Honda rider Trey Canard finished third.
In the SupercrossLites Class, it was another strong night for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Broc Tickle raced to the holeshot with Rockstar Energy Suzuki's Ryan Morais and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Josh Hansen in tow. Tickle led for seven laps, but made a costly mistake by tipping the bike over in a turn. Hansen, who had moved into second at the time, took advantage of it and never looked back. Tickle remounted in third, but battled back for his second runner-up effort of the season with Morais rounding out the podium in third.
"I'm really stoked,” exclaimed Hansen. "I didn't get the start I needed to, but I tried my best to be patient and it worked out for me. I want to thank everyone on my team for helping me out and giving me a good bike and all these fans (in Phoenix) for coming out tonight.”
From Moto-Media:
Of interest to us Kiwis in the Open was how Tye Simmonds went. He qualified 3rd in Group C and in the Combined was 27th overall. He did a 52:403 and 20th was a 51:885 so he's not far off breaking into a Qualifying spot. That gave him a spot in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) in which he was 7th.
What happened to Ken Roczen, the 16 year old from Germany, riding for Red Bull KTM ? Roczen crashed in the first 250 Lites heat. He appeared to have a right ankle injury and it was being iced before the LCQ. He wins the holeshot an wins the four lap LCQ - getting him into the 250 Lites Main Event. In that 15 lapper he's running 4th and at lap 8 he is pulling off the track towards the start line. After the flag Roczen is officially scored 19th.
I have since read on RacerXonline: "Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen was fast in practice again, although Hansen edged him for the top qualifying spot. Roczen crashed hard after casing a triple in his heat race, then won the LCQ and battled with the lead pack for a few laps in the main. But he crashed hard in the sand section and unfortunately took out DNA/Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham with him. Roczen never got going again, while Cunningham fought hard to maintain a tenth place finish.
Here is the YouTube video of Roczen's crash, it's a big hit:
