Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey finished a close second in an exciting Lites Final at Saturday night's second round of the AMA/ FIM Supercross Championship at Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona.
The RM-Z250-mounted teenager started the 15-lap race in second place behind race winner Jake Weimer but moved into the lead on lap two followed by Broc Hepler and Bret Metcalf.
But with four laps remaining, Weimer worked his way back into the lead, dropping Dungey to second. Dungey held tight and was all over Weimer when the duo crossed the finish line.
With this finish, 18-year-old Dungey continues to lead the Lites class championship points chase.
In the Supercross class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi got a great start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450, taking the holeshot in the main. Unfortunately, shortly after, the 19-year-old rider hit a Tuffblock and rode several laps with a banner attached to his bike. In spite of this, Alessi continued to charge hard in the 20-lap main event and brought home a sixth-place finish.
Teammate David Vuillemin struggled a bit in the Supercross main but still managed to capture as many points as possible.
Ryan Dungey
"I was happy with practice today, I was about a half-second faster than everybody else. I felt good in the races, too, though I had a hard time putting the track together. It got really slick, but I did my best to try and make it work. I made a couple of mistakes, and I think those kept me from winning. But I'm going to work on that and try to not make those mistakes again. The race itself was a great show and it was good to give the fans such an exciting race. It was a dogfight, we were back and forth and everybody was going at it. Overall, it was good to walk away with the points lead. Now, we'll just take it one race at a time and come back stronger next week."
Mike Alessi
"The day started out pretty good -- the Suzuki RM-Z450 was working great, the Bridgestone tyres were hooking up, I felt good and had a good flow. I was pretty happy with the first practice but in the second practice, I hit a hay bale and did a big endo, taking a handlebar to the thigh. It hurt pretty bad so then I just tried to survive the rest of the session. I had a good heat race, finishing fourth, but the main was awesome. I got the holeshot, and ended up running third for a few laps. Then, I hit that same Tuffblock I hit in practice and gave up a lot of spots. I ended up in seventh, made it into sixth and was just inching up on fifth, but couldn't do it in time. Now, I'm just looking for a top-five finish next week or maybe a podium."
David Vuillemin
"This weekend's race was OK. I felt strong in practice and the heat race wasn't too bad, though we still have a few issues that we need to work on. I'm not really happy with my performance because I know that I can do better than this. So we just need to work on some of these areas and do better next weekend."
Supercross Results
- James Stewart (Kawasaki)
- Chad Reed (Yamaha)
- Kevin Windham (Honda)
- Andrew Short (Honda)
- Ivan Tedesco (Honda)
- Mike Alessi (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)
- Nathan Ramsey (Yamaha)
- Josh Hansen (Yamaha)
- Charles Summey (Yamaha)
- Tim Ferry (Kawasaki)
15.
David Vuillemin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)Lites Results
- Jake Weimer (Honda)
- Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)
- Bret Metcalfe (Kawasaki)
- Broc Hepler (Yamaha)
- Jason Lawrence (Yamaha)
- Justin Brayton (KTM)
- Wil Hahn (Yamaha)
- Dan Reardon (Honda)
- Kyle Cunningham (Honda)
- Billy Laninovich (KTM)
