Makita Suzuki’s Dungey Wins Supercross Lites in Indy
Tedesco Cards Top-Five Supercross Finish
Round 12 – Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
Indianapolis, IN
RCA Dome
March 24, 2007
Team Makita Suzuki Racing’s Ryan Dungey won his second Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross race of the year at Indianapolis’ RCA Dome on Saturday night. Teammate Ivan Tedesco finished an impressive fifth place in the Supercross main event in front of more than 54,000 screaming fans.
“Overall, it was a good day,” said 17-year-old Dungey after the victory. “I’ve got to thank the Makita Suzuki team, my mechanic Tim McAdams and my mom and dad for getting me to this point. This was a huge win for me. I’ve had some bad luck lately, and to pick up this win is huge for me and my team, who’ve been behind me all year. I have to use this as momentum for next weekend in Dallas.”
As usual, the evening’s festivities kicked off with heat races. In the Supercross class, Tedesco had a tough time in his heat race but rallied on his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and won the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) and advanced to the main.
"I kind of struggled all day,” admitted the former AMA Supercross and Motocross Lites Champion. “In the first practice session, I felt like a fish out of water but it got better throughout the day. My heat race was terrible, I went down twice and didn’t qualify and had to go to the LCQ. I just tried to hold my head together in the LCQ because I knew there wasn’t going to be too much pressure and I could go out there and win it and look for some lines and pull it all together for the main.”
The 20-lap Supercross main saw Tedesco get a good jump off the gate but a mishap resulted in a mid-pack start. In spite of this, he charged hard on his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and reeled in the competition.
“I started way outside,” said Tedesco. “I was the last guy on the gate, but I got a killer jump on my Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and went for it again like last week. But I kind of got bumped into the haybales and had to stand it up and let everybody do their thing. I was around 10th on the first lap and just tried to pick off as many guys as I could and ended up in fifth. Fourth place was right in front of me at the end, but I just ran out of time. I need to work on putting myself up front at the beginning of the race. That’s the thing I need to do to get my pace up there, my speed up there, and put myself in a better position. When you’re mid-pack, a lot of bad stuff happens. But I did what I could with the start I got; I’m happy with the way I rode, but not happy with the result.”
In the Supercross Lites class, Dungey won his six-lap heat race hands down. This came as no surprise to the team, considering Dungey and his Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 had been setting a blistering pace during the day’s practice sessions.
“Practice went well,” said Dungey. “We were fastest in the first practice and second-fastest in the second practice, and then we were only off by a few 100ths of a second. I knew we had it, I knew we could get the holeshots and put ourselves in good positions all night. The heat race was good and we got what we had to get done.”
In the 15-lap main event, Dungey again was untouchable. The Minnesota rider got the holeshot and led the entire race.
“The main was good, we got a great holeshot,” he said. “During the whole race, Ben (Townley) was pressuring me, but I told myself it was just another day of riding and to ride like I do at the practice track. That’s what I felt like I did. The Indy track was good and the Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 worked great everywhere on the track.”
Team Makita Suzuki Racing will return next week for round 13 of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series at Texas Stadium in Dallas, TX, on Saturday, March 31, 2007.
Ivan Tedesco, Team Makita Suzuki Racing RM-Z450, #9
5th Place – Supercross class, Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
6th Place – Overall Championship Points Standings
Ryan Dungey, Team Makita Suzuki Racing RM-Z250, #62
1st – Supercross Lites East, Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
9th Place – Overall Championship Points Standings
Supercross Class Top 10 Finishers:
1. James Stewart, Kawasaki
2. Chad Reed, Yamaha (holeshot)
3. Tim Ferry, Kawasaki
4. Grant Langston, Yamaha
5. Ivan Tedesco, Team Makita Suzuki Racing
6. Davi Millsaps, Honda
7. David Vuillemin, Honda
8. Andrew Short, Honda
9. Michael Byrne, Suzuki
10. Josh Summey, Honda
Supercross Lites Class Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ryan Dungey, Team Makita Suzuki Racing (holeshot)
2. Ben Townley, Kawasaki
3. Branden Jesseman, Yamaha
4. Ryan Morais, Yamaha
5. Justin Brayton, Yamaha
6. Mike Alessi, KTM
7. Matt Goerke, Yamaha
8. Thomas Hahn, Honda
9. Darcy Lange, Kawasaki
10. Broc Tickle, Yamaha