Stewart Takes All at A1, Short Takes Lites ANAHEIM, Calif. (January 7, 2006) – Kawasaki’s James Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., won his third Amp’d Mobile Supercross before a sellout crowd of 45,050 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. Honda’s Andrew Short opened the Western Region AMA Supercross Lites series with a main event win.
Honda’s Kyle Lewis, of Henderson, Nev., got the holeshot to start the 20-lap main event but it was Honda’s Ernesto Fonseca that jumped into the early lead. Fonseca, of Murrieta, Calif., led until a fourth lap crash removed him from the top spot, leaving the battle to series contenders Chad Reed, Ricky Carmichael and Stewart.
The race would tighten as the trio of riders pulled away from the pack, with Reed, of Dade City, Fla., gaining the early advantage aboard his Yamaha. Carmichael, of Havana, Fla., would push his Suzuki into the lead on lap seven, but a crash two turns later would return the lead to Reed, who was later passed by Stewart two laps later.
Once in the lead, Stewart never looked back and went to capture the win. Reed finished second while Carmichael ended up in third.
“I felt like I rode a great race,” said Stewart, who adds the Anaheim win to two previous victories in the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP. “I knew I was strong when lap 10 came around. I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work at home with my trainer. I want to stay consistent and I want to take the season slow.”
“I wanted to get a good drive through the whoops section, but I missed one of them (whoops) and crashed,” said Carmichael. “But I rebuilt myself after the crash and I can’t believe I made it to the podium. These guys are making me work hard and we have to be up here (on podium) every weekend.”
AMA National Arenacross Series champion Darcy Lange, of San Jacinto, Calif., grabbed the holeshot on a Kawasaki to start the AMA Supercross Lites main event, but was quickly passed by Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., by the end of the first lap. Villopoto, who made his professional supercross début tonight, held the lead until Short, of Murrieta, Calif., got by on lap nine. Short, who picked up the third win of his career, pulled away for the victory. Villopoto was second followed by Honda’s Billy Laninovich, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.
Last year’s Eastern Region AMA Supercross champion Grant Langston, of Murrieta, Calif., got caught up in a first turn pile up but put in an inspired ride to finish fourth.
“My start was horrible and I didn’t even know I was in the lead when I passed Villopoto,” said Short. “I couldn’t be happier right now. I want to thank Jeremy McGrath for all of his help in the off season. He is a huge help in the off season.”
“I had a bad heat race and when I went to the gate for the main event I wanted to get a good start, and that’s what I did,” explained Villopoto.
Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP Season Standings
James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Kawasaki, 75 Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Suzuki, 64 Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha, 62 Ivan Tedesco, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki, 54 Michael Byrne, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki, 46 Nicholas Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Honda, 45 Jason Thomas, Melrose, Fla., Honda, 37 Jeff Gibson, Westerville, Ohio, Honda, 36 Justin Buckelew, Riverside, Calif., Honda, 33 Kyle Lewis, Henderson, Nev., Honda, 29 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series Event Results, Anaheim 1
James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Kawasaki Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Suzuki Mike LaRocco, Corona, Calif., Honda Ivan Tedesco, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki Ernesto Fonseca, Murrieta, Calif., Honda Nicholas Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Honda Travis Preston, Hesperia, Calif., Honda Michael Byrne, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki David Vuillemin, Corona, Calif., Honda Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series Season Standings
James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Kawasaki, 25 Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha, 22 Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Suzuki, 20 Mike LaRocco, Corona, Calif., Honda, 18 Ivan Tedesco, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki, 16 Ernesto Fonseca, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 15 Nicholas Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Honda, 14 Travis Preston, Hesperia, Calif., Honda, 13 Michael Byrne, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki, 12 David Vuillemin, Corona, Calif., Honda, 11 Amp’d Mobile Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites Event Results
Andrew Short, Murrieta, Calif., Honda Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki Billy Laninovich, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda Grant Langston, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki Darcy Lange, San Jacinto, Calif., Kawasaki Paul Carpenter, Ithaca, N.Y., Honda Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Honda Brett Metcalfe, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha Mike Alessi, Apple Valley, Calif., KTM Eric Sorby, Murrieta, Calif., Honda Amp’d Mobile Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites Season Standings
Andrew Short, Murrieta, Calif., Honda Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki Billy Laninovich, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda Grant Langston, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki Darcy Lange, San Jacinto, Calif., Kawasaki Paul Carpenter, Ithaca, N.Y., Honda Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Honda Brett Metcalfe, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha Mike Alessi, Apple Valley, Calif., KTM Eric Sorby, Murrieta, Calif., Honda KTM Junior Supercross Challenge Results
Jeremy Crookshank, Moreno Valley, Calif., KTM Jose Brambila, Hawthorne, Calif., KTM Reid Haughton, Haleyville, Ala., KTM Jacob Jackson, Lake Forest, Calif., KTM Kyle Gaines, South Lyon, Mich., KTM Brent Foley, Oro Valley, Ariz., KTM Michael Pentoney Jr., Moreno Valley, Calif., KTM Anthony Johnson, Oceanside, Calif., KTM Sweet Pea De La Mora, Santa Barbara, Calif., KTM Jacob Johnson, Fremont, Calif., KTM Angus Hunt, Powder Springs, Ga., KTM Logan Crawford, Escondido, Calif., KTM JC Harvilla, Bel Alton, Md., KTM Harrison Needham, Norco, Calif., KTM Pete Bischoff, Payson, Utah, KTM Tonight’s race will air on CBS Sports tomorrow, January 8, at 12:30 p.m. EST.
For more information about the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, please log on to www.supercross.cc.com. For media requests, please contact Denny Hartwig at 630-566-6305/e-mail at dennyhartwig@livenation.com or Tony Gardea at 949-365-5750/e-mail tony@nextlevelsportsinc.com.
About Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP™/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP is a 17-round global off-road motorcycle stadium racing circuit. Riders must compete in the international rounds to be eligible to win the world championship. In 2005-2006, the 17-event Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP will be comprised of two international events and 15 of the 16 events that are conducted in major cities throughout the United States as a part of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series. Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series is a 16-event series solely conducted in the United States. The other Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series event held in Daytona Beach, Fla., is independently produced by the International Speedway Corporation and is not a part of the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP. An Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series rider will be crowned as the national champion for the series of events conducted in the United States only.
The FIM, Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme, is the body that globally governs motorcycle sport at the world level. Among other matters, the FIM groups together 85 affiliated National Federations relating to the sport of motorcycle racing. AMA Pro Racing is the National Federation representative that sanctions motorcycle-racing events in the United States. Dorna Off Road S.L. is an internationally recognized sports management group established in 1988 with an emphasis on major international motor sports events. Dorna is headquartered in Madrid, Spain with branch offices in Barcelona, London and Tokyo. In addition to its involvement with Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, Dorna manage the rights to MotoGP. For more information on Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/ Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, log on to www.supercross.cc.com.
About AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.
