The 2011 AMA Supercross series is going down to the wire in what many are describing as the best championship in recent memory. San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart won his second Main Event in succession last Saturday at a cold and damp Qwest Field in Seattle in front of more than 52,000 spectators. The former champion’s recent spurt of good form means that four riders are split by just nine points at the top of the standings with just two rounds from the seventeen remaining.
Stewart controlled the vast majority of proceedings on a rough and tricky track after overtaking holeshotter Ivan Tedesco and also Australian Chad Reed in the opening exchanges. The success gave the Floridian his 60th podium finish from 76 starts in the category, increased his career win tally to 42 and bumped Yamaha’s up to 166. Stewart lapped more than half the field to give Yamaha their first win in Seattle this century.
“It was coming easy for me. I had some good lines through the whoops and once I got a lead, you know, I just kind of backed it down and just kept the gap like it was,” he commented. “I felt good all day. The bike was working fantastic, really good. I knew the ruts…you know, the track was going to get technical. I was trying to just play it smart and I was able to get a good lead and make it happen after that.”
Stewart’s team-mate Kyle Regal completed a decent weekend for the crew by taking his best finish of the season so far with 7th position. Davi Millsaps notched another top ten by crossing the line in 8th and Tommy Hahn was the fourth YZ450F rider in the first half of the leader-board in securing 9th.
Stewart’s unbeatable speed has come at a crucial time with a maximum of 50 points still left up for grabs and he lies fourth in the table behind Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey and Reed, nine points adrift of first place. Behind the headline-grabbing scrap for the title Millsaps and Justin Brayton currently hold 8th and 9th for Yamaha.
For the first time this year the AMA series (also an FIM World Championship) will take a break next week before the first of two tense back-to-back meetings at Salt Lake City and then Las Vegas.
2011 AMA-SX United States
Qwest Field 17/04/2011 20 Laps
race I
1 James Stewart Yamaha USA 18’39.046
2 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0’02.670
3 Chad Reed Honda AUS 0’05.625
4 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 0’15.221
5 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0’20.066
6 Mike Alessi KTM USA 0’47.400
7 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 0’53.537
8 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 1’00.220
9 Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA -1Laps
10 Andrew Short KTM USA -1Laps
11 Michael Byrne Suzuki AUS -1Laps
12 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA -1Laps
13 Fabien Izoird Kawasaki FRA -1Laps
14 Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA -1Laps
15 Jason Thomas Suzuki USA -2Laps
16 Vince Friese Yamaha USA -2Laps
20 Austin Stroupe Yamaha USA -20Laps
AMA-SX World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 15 of 17
1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 293
2. Chad Reed Honda AUS 287
3. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 286
4. James Stewart Yamaha USA 284
5. Trey Canard Honda USA 255
6. Andrew Short KTM USA 196
7. Kevin Windham Honda USA 187
8. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 156
9. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 141
10. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 134
11. Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 129
12. Mike Alessi KTM USA 113
13. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 107
14. Chris Blose Kawasaki USA 87
15. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 86
16. Fabien Izoird Kawasaki FRA 63
18. Austin Stroupe Yamaha USA 55
19. Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 53
21. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 46
22. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 45
27. Vince Friese Yamaha USA 17
38. Jeff Alessi Yamaha USA 3
39. Antonio Balbi Yamaha BRA 2
