Carmichael in Familiar Spot Coming Into San Francisco
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (January 25, 2006) – Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael is
having the battle of his career in the 2006 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross
Series, but the four-time series champ finds himself in the familiar
position of leading the standings coming into the San Francisco
Supercross this Saturday, Jan. 28, at SBC Park.
Carmichael took over sole possession of the series lead with a victory
last weekend in Anaheim, Calif. The win, watched by a national
television audience Sunday on CBS, came after a hard-fought, race long
battle with Kawasaki’s James Stewart. In the closing stages Stewart
slid his front tire in a turn and fell allowing the closely pursuing
Carmichael to slip by for his second straight win in the series.
Carmichael was thrilled with the race in Angel Stadium.
“I got in behind James and we had a great battle,” said Carmichael, a
two-time winner at SBC Park. “I was just sitting there enjoying the
competition. That was one of the most fun races I’ve ever been in. I
hated to win it that way with James falling down, but even if I hadn’t
won it proved that our team has found the speed to run up front. It’s
shaping up to be a great series, one the fans have been waiting for.”
Stewart’s minor slip in Anaheim not only dropped him to third in that
race, but more importantly cost him the series lead. He now is in
third, one point behind Chad Reed and five behind Carmichael.
“I wanted that race to go down to the final lap,” said a frustrated
Stewart of the Anaheim race. “It was such a good battle that it’s a
shame that it ended the way it did. I saw a lapped rider down in the
turn and just lost concentration for a split second. That corner was
slick and I washed out my front wheel and I was on the ground before I
knew it. It’s a tough series and things like that are going to happen.
Fortunately I didn’t lose too much ground in the points and I’ll go to
San Francisco hoping to come back strong.”
Yamaha’s Chad Reed moved up to second in the standings after scoring
his third straight runner-up finish last weekend. And even though he
moved up a spot in the series, the Australian rider still seemed
disappointed that he is not consistently running up front with
Carmichael and Stewart.
“I want to be up there battling with those guys,” said Reed, the 2004
San Francisco Supercross winner. “I’ve got to figure out a way to get
better starts and to stay up front. That’s my main concern right now.
The team has worked hard to give me a great bike, now I need to go out
there and at least battle hard for the lead.”
After only three rounds of the AMA series, Carmichael, Reed and Stewart
have already separated themselves from the rest the field. Carmichael’s
Suzuki teammate Ivan Tedesco is fourth in the series and heads up a
hotly contest group of riders all jockeying for position inside the top
ten. Among that group is San Francisco-born Jeremy McGrath. The
seven-time champ has scored two top-five finishes coming into San
Francisco and last week made the switch from the 250cc two-stroke to
the Honda 450cc four-stroke and scored fifth. McGrath is certain to be
one of the favorites of Bay Area racing fans on Saturday night.
The AMA Supercross Lites West class has been a wide-open affair that
has had three different winners in the first three rounds. South
African Grant Langston added his name to the list of winners with his
victory on his Monster Energy Drink, Pro Circuit Kawasaki last weekend.
“Everything felt right tonight,” said Langston after winning his first
race of the season. “It all clicked and this was the easiest race that
I have ever won because I felt so comfortable. I was at ease, felt
smooth and rode well.”
Langston moved into a tie with Honda’s Andrew Short atop the Supercross
Lites West standings. Billy Laninovich, the Sobe, Samsung Mobile Honda
ace who won the Lites race in San Francisco last year, is only three
points behind the leaders.
The San Francisco Supercross will receive next-day coverage on CBS 12:00 pm Eastern.
Tickets are available at Giants Dugout Stores, all Tickets.com outlets,
all participating Yamaha Dealers or charge by phone at 415-478-2277.
There is also family fun section available at SBC Park. When ordering
tickets through Tickets.com, request Family Section for an alcohol-free
family atmosphere.