2011 Houston AMA Supercross Results
2011 AMA / FIM World Championship Supercross series round 6,
Houston, TX race recap.
Millsaps 4th in Houston as
Stewart out of luck
JGR Yamaha's Davi Millsaps scored his best result of the season so
far on the YZ450F as he claimed fourth position at the Reliant
Stadium in Houston for the sixth round of seventeen in the 2011 AMA
Supercross series. At the same meeting, watched by over 45,000
spectators, San Manuel Yamaha's James Stewart could not stretch his
run of wins to three main events after two incidents in the frantic
20 lap sprint meant he could rise no higher than fifteenth.
The 2009 champion was undone in the tight first turn after contact
between several riders saw a group of bikes hit the ground, one of
which was the '7' of the Floridian. Coming back through the field
the 25 year old then had a collision with Jason Thomas after the
latter elected not to jump a section and the result for Stewart was
a broken front brake which hindered his second attempt to gain
positions across a track difficult for overtaking. Electing to
grasp as many points as possible he crossed the line a lap behind
winner Trey Canard.
Nearer the front Millsaps had seen team-mate Justin Brayton also
fall in the first corner chaos but kept a strong rhythm to hold
third place until losing the slot to Ryan Villopoto before the
flag. The Georgian was able fend off the challenge from Andrew
Short. "I've felt fast for quite a few rounds but it just hasn't
been coming together," he said. "I just need to keep getting decent
starts and things should be good. Luckily, the series is heading
east soon, and that's my kind of dirt, so I'm hoping for even
better rides than this coming up."
Stewart is now second in the standings to Villopoto with a nine
point difference between the pair. Brayton and Millsaps are
currently eighth and ninth. Round seven, at the Qualcomm Stadium in
San Diego, will haul the championship back to California for the
final time before the trek east across the country.
Dungey back on the podium at
Houston Supercross
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey raced back to a podium
position by taking second place at Saturday night's AMA/ FIM World
Championship sixth round at Houston in Texas.
After gating fifth, the Florida rider moved to second and closed on
leader Trey Canard (Honda) half-way into the 20-lap Main Event,
held in front of a packed audience of almost 46,000: The pair ran
wheel-to-wheel, but Canard kept the advantage to the flag.
"Overall, we had a real solid day," said Dungey. "The bike felt
great all day. I really owe a lot to Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki
because they worked hard. We need to keep pushing and start winning
these races. I'm really thankful for the day - coming off of last
weekend was a real tough one for the whole team and myself, but
this is a step in the right direction and we'll keep building from
here. It will be good to get a good solid week in and show up in
San Diego with my RM-Z450 ready to go."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Brett Metcalfe rode a solid practice and
carried that momentum into his heat race with a fourth-place
finish. A strong start in the Main Event put him into third place
on the first lap. He rode a consistent race and maintained a
top-five position until the last lap when a small mistake put him
on the ground in the first whoops section, but he remounted to
finish in eighth place.
"I'm happy with the way I rode tonight," said Metcalfe. "The team
made some good changes this week. We made some big improvements to
the engine and I have to thank Yoshimura for all their help and
everybody on the team. I think myself and Ryan both got great
starts. I came out strong in the heat race and the Main Event was
going good right until the end. I made a couple mistakes; a couple
guys got me at the end there and I threw it away in the whoops
trying to get a position back on the last lap. I'm happy for next
week because San Diego is close to home. I should have a good week
riding and each week my riding has been improving. We just need to
improve the result."
The 2011 Rockstar Makita Suzuki team's next event is Saturday,
February 19th, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
Short, Roczen and Alessi
Shine on the 350 SX-F at Houston SX
The three Red Bull/KTM riders made history when they crossed the
checkered flag at the sixth round of the AMA Supercross Series each
finishing inside the top ten aboard their KTM 350 SX-F race
machines.
It could be the orange mohawk, his hometown crowd or more
experience on the bike, but one thing is for sure, something
clicked for Red Bull/KTM's Andrew Short at the sixth round of the
series in Houston, TX.
In practice, Short put together his best showing all season. He
qualified sixth fastest just a second off the pace of James Stewart
who turned the fastest lap. Ken Roczen, in his first-ever SX class
race, turned the 9th fastest time and Mike Alessi rounded out the
group in 13th.
Short was up first in heat number one. The start of this race was
quite tricky as it was a very short straightaway followed by a
tight left hand turn. Short picked the very inside gate for his
heat. He actually didn't get a great jump but as everyone pushed to
the outside around the first corner he snuck his KTM right up the
inside and came out 4th around the turn. Short turned up the heat
within the first few corners quickly moving into 2nd position
behind early leader Ryan Dungey. Short held his pace and chased
Dungey the entire 8 lap heat to qualify 2nd overall.
Roczen and Alessi were up next in heat number two. Roczen picked
the same gate Short had while Alessi was lined up about five more
in toward the box. When the gate dropped Alessi came out swinging
in 4th place with Roczen a few spots back in 7th. On the first lap
Roczen collided with Ivan Tedesco but managed to stay on two
wheels. "When I hit Tedesco I jammed my foot hard and it hurt the
same heel I had injured earlier in the season. It was hard to ride
but I knew I needed to keep going to qualify to the main," remarked
Roczen. Alessi stayed in 4th position for the first two laps before
dropping briefly to 5th. Meanwhile Roczen picked up the pace and
moved forward. He was able to overtake Alessi with two laps to go
to qualify into his first-ever SX main event with a 6th place
finish. Alessi finished right behind him in 7th place.
All three Red Bull/KTM riders lucked out at the start of the SX
main event by avoiding the first turn pile up. Short came around
the first turn in 6th, Roczen was running about 9th and Alessi
managed to work his way up to 10th at the end of the first lap
after being pushed off the track in turn one.
From lap one to the finish all three KTM riders remained inside the
top ten. Short held 6th throughout the majority of the race. On the
final lap he began to close in on the 5th place ride of Brett
Metcalfe. After the first rhythm section past the finish, Short was
able to make the pass on Metcalfe and move into the top five. He
went on to finish 5th overall. "I was so excited to get 5th today.
It was my goal to break into the top five at this race and I am
so
happy to have achieved that in front of my hometown crowd. We made
huge progress with the bike this week and everything feels like it
is coming together right now. I was also able to move up in points
today," mentioned Short after the race. Short now sits 6th in
overall points.
His teammate, Roczen also turned some heads aboard the bigger bike.
Roczen started in 9th position and moved up to 8th on the third
lap. He held that position throughout the remainder of the race and
was able to capitalize on Metcalfe's crash at the end to finish
7th.
"I was not thinking very positive before the main event because my
heel was still hurting me from the heat. But it was not bad in the
main and I forgot about the pain when I was riding. I am so excited
to finish inside the top ten. I was more nervous than I had ever
been going into this race. The guys in the SX class have been my
heroes for a long time and it was pretty cool to get to race with
them. I am very happy to have raced this event and hope to do a few
more," stated the happy 16 year-old after his impressive 7th place
finish.
Helping the team make history by being the third KTM 350 SX-F in
the top ten was Mike Alessi. He came around the first lap in 10th
position and rode a strong consistent race maintaining his position
through the end of the race to mark his first top ten of the
season.
"The last two weeks I have made some changes to my program and am
slowly gaining back some confidence. My goal was to get inside the
top ten and now I just want to remain consistent and hopefully back
it up in San Diego. I am really pumped for the team tonight. To
have all riders finish inside the top ten is great for the Red
Bull/KTM team and especially the 350 SX-F," stated Alessi after the
main event.
All three riders will pack their bags and head back to California
for the 7th round of the series to be held at Qualcomm Stadium in
San Diego, CA next weekend. Short and Alessi will return to action
in the SX class while Roczen will step back onto his Lites bike to
race the fifth round of the West SX Lites Series.
PJ Larsen Shows his Speed
before a Crash Ends his Night
JDR/J-Star/KTM rider PJ Larsen proved why he's a two-time
Australian National Champion after turning a top qualifying time
and earning 2nd overall in his heat before a crash ruined his night
at the opening round of the AMA East Lites Supercross Series in
Houston, TX.
Larsen got the crowds attention at the start of the day when he
tied Blake Baggett for the fastest lap time in the first timed
practice. Larsen maintained his pace in the second timed practice
finishing 6th overall within one second of the top five. "I didn't
expect everyone to be so close in practice. It's going to be a
close race tonight and the start is going to count big, so I am
crossing my fingers to be out front early," remarked Larsen after
practice.
In his heat, Larsen pulled a 4th place start off the line. He
quickly passed Jason Anderson to move into 3rd. Once inside the top
three he began to close in on the front two riders, Darryn Durham
and Dean Wilson. While the top two battled out front Larsen closed
the gap and with two laps to go jumped over Durham to push his way
into 2nd place. Wilson maintained the lead while Larsen applied
heavy pressure. On the final lap, Larsen pushed hard and finished
in 2nd right on the rear tire of Wilson.
"I was happy with my heat race result. I didn't get that great of a
start but I was able to make up for it within the first few laps. I
was glad to run with Wilson and am looking forward to the main
event," stated Larsen.
Larsen, who had pulled some impressive starts while racing in
Australia for his team earlier this year, appeared as if he might
duplicate that off the start of the Lites main. Larsen nearly
grabbed the holeshot coming together with Malcolm Stewart as they
crossed the first jump side by side. Larsen settled for 2nd off the
start and immediately began to pressure Stewart. As they made their
way to the back half of the track, Stewart cut hard under Larsen
taking both riders to the ground and a few more riders behind them.
Larsen was slow to come up but eventually remounted and returned to
the track in 17th.
"When I recovered from the crash with Stewart, I realized real
quick that my rear brake lever had been smashed in the crash. I
tried to ride a few laps before pulling off the first time to fix
it," stated Larsen. He pulled into the mechanics area on the fifth
lap. He was able to kick his brake pedal back toward its normal
position and then returned to the racing action approximately one
lap down. A few laps later, Larsen's brake pedal broke off and he
had to finish the race without any rear brakes. "It was so hard to
ride without the brakes but I wanted to stay out there as long as I
could to try to salvage any extra points possible."
Larsen eventually finished the main event in 18th. "I'm definitely
disappointed that I crashed in the beginning of the race, but its
all part of racing and now I am just looking forward to redeeming
myself at the next round."
Larsen's teammate, Tye Simmonds, also had a day of bad luck.
Simmonds, who competes in the SX class, came down with bronchitis
earlier in the week. "I have been incredibly sick the past five
days and was not able to ride at all this week," remarked the
JDR/J-Star/KTM rider. Simmonds struggled throughout the day as he
tried to push past his sickness. "I feel horrible today but I am
doing my best to rest during the week and am really hoping this
disappears by next week so I can have better luck in San
Diego."
Simmonds will return to California to race the seventh round of the
series in San Diego, CA next weekend while Larsen will have a two
week break before returning for the second round of the East Lites
SX at the Atlanta Supercross on February 26th.
2011 Houston AMA Supercross Results
1. Trey Canard
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Davi Millsaps
5. Andrew Short
6. Chad Reed
7. Ken Roczen
8. Brett Metcalfe
9. Ivan Tedesco
10. Mike Alessi
11. Thomas Hahn
12. Nick Wey
13. Justin Brayton
14. Weston Peick
15. James Stewart
16. Kyle Regal
17. Vince Friese
18. Chris Blose
19. Kevin Windham
20. Jason Thomas
2011 Houston AMA Supercross Lites Results
1. Justin Barcia
2. Dean Wilson
3. Blake Baggett
4. Ryan Sipes
5. Ian Trettel
6. Blake Wharton
7. Jason Anderson
8. Lance Vincent
9. Matt Lemoine
10. Alex Martin
11. Chris Gosselaar
12. Shawn Rife
13. Gannon Audette
14. Malcolm Stewart
15. Nick Izzi
16. AJ Catanzaro
17. Taylor Futrell
18. PJ Larsen
19. Levi Kilbarger
20. Darryn Durham
