Kawasaki/Racer X Race Report: Toronto
The term, “If this is any indication of what the rest of the season will be like, we’re in for a great series” is often overused in motorsports, but perhaps we can dust that term off and bronze it this time. The Toronto Supercross, round one of the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, will go down as one of the wildest and craziest nights in recent supercross memory, and there are now way more questions after the race than there even were before it.
Many of
those questions can’t be answered at this point, as third-place finisher James
Stewart—the title favorite—ended the race with a solid result but also a
possible injury, and he could not leave the track under his own power. And this
was the second controversy for Stewart today, after his run in with Ivan Tedesco
during practice that left Tedesco with his own injury. And Stewart ended up
hurt, and in third, due to a wild chain of events that had the Chad Reed had speed, and he won on a wild, crazy night.
In this race, the actions during the race on the track don’t tell the whole story, but we’ll give you the story of the race anyway. First, in practice, Tedesco and Stewart came together as they jumped a dragon back before a left had turn. Tedesco was on the outside and Stewart on the inside, and—depending on who you talk to-Stewart either landed on IT or the two came together as incidental contact. Either way, Tedesco appears to have a broken hand and will have a specialist look at the injury on Monday. Also, Suzuki filed a grievance with the FIM for rough riding on Stewart. No word on how that will turn out.
Anyway,
that afternoon incident may have set the stage for a wild night show. Ricky
Carmichael and Stewart won the heat races, but it was Xyience/MDK Honda’s Nick
Wey grabbing the Progressive Direct Holeshot in the main. Reed and Carmichael
had good starts while Stewart was buried about mid pack. Carmichael was soon
all over Wey trying to get into the lead, but by lap two Reed had caught fire
and was all over Ricky Carmichael went down on lap two but came all the way back for second.
Stewart was
on a charge through the pack, and he moved into second with plenty of time to
catch Reed. But the Australian was on his game and looked much sharper than he
did a year ago in
Each rider
had his strong and weak points on the track as they went back and forth.
Stewart passed Reed in a bowl turn and shut off his line, preventing Reed from
jumping onto a table top. Reed grabbed a handful and got him right back a few
turns later. They raced around for another lap and Stewart passed Reed in the
same turn. But this time Reed was able to jump onto the table and got a good
drive into the next corner. He tried to get inside of Stewart, but Stewart had
the line covered and instead they touched tires just as they approached the
finish line jump. Then all hell broke loose. James Stewart ended the race injured and in third. No word is yet available on his condition.
The bump was just enough to send Stewart flying off the track. Reed rolled the finish but took the lead, and then, as Stewart was coming back on, he collided with Sobe/Samsung Honda’s Travis Preston, who had just been lapped. They hit hard and went down. Reed looked over his shoulder and then saw he had victory in hand.
Stewart got
up but appeared hurt, as he cruised through the final laps slowly. Amazingly, Wey (27), Reed (22) and Carmichael (4) battled in the early stages, and Reed would escape with the lead.
Reed crossed the line with an emotional win. The 2004 AMA Supercross Champ has had a rough few months, but the win and the speed he showed there proved that he may be able to climb all the way back to the top. So all eyes were focused on the #22 as he circulated the stadium celebrating his win. It seems like no one noticed what happened when Stewart came across in third.
Somehow,
the
At this
point that’s all anyone seems to know. Again, there are more questions than
answers after this one. But suffice to say, if this is any indication, it could
be a wild season.
In the Lites class, the action wasn’t nearly as intense. Red Bull KTM’s Martin Davalos pulled a huge holeshot and checked out. Star Racing rookie Broc Tickle worked his way through the pack to finish second in his first real supercross, while another rookie, Zach Osborne, took third. Troy Adams was in the battle on his Rockstar/WBR Suzuki but collided with Osborne, which knocked him off of the podium. All of these riders expect for Tickle will also be racing next weekend in Vancouver Supercross Lites winner Martin Davalos looked strong in his Red Bull KTM debut.