Sign of the (Lap) Times: A1
Since almost everyone probably caught Anaheim 1 live on SPEED or listened to it on the live webcast, there’s really not much to talk about, results-wise. It was a green sweep of both classes, and it looks like we could be in for a lot of green on the podium in ’07. Nonetheless, let’s now take a look at the top ten lap times in each class to see if anything stands out.
Supercross Class
|
Pos.
|
Best Lap Time
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
|
1
|
56.402 |
Kawasaki
|
|
|
2
|
56.953 |
Suzuki
|
|
|
3
|
58.265 |
Yamaha
|
|
|
4
|
58.608 |
Kawasaki
|
|
|
5
|
58.750 |
Honda
|
|
|
6
|
58.897 |
David Vuillemin
|
Honda
|
|
7
|
58.938 |
Yamaha
|
|
|
8
|
59.523 |
Honda
|
|
|
9
|
59.670 |
Suzuki
|
|
|
10
|
59.862 |
Honda
|
In the Supercross class, after seeing Bubba scrub his way past Ricky Carmichael in the main event, it comes as no surprise that the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider laid down the quickest time of the night with a 56.402. That was a little over a half-second faster than Carmichael, who failed to add an Anaheim 1 to his impressive supercross resume.
But a big surprise came when Chad Reed laid the third-fastest time in the Supercross class, broken shoulder blade and all. In fact, Reed was only able to gut out the 14th fastest time in the timed practice on his San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Yamaha, and it appeared that he may be struggling for a top-ten finish, but he put in a valiant performance, as those were probably the 20 most hard-earned points of his career.
|
Biggest surprise:
SoBe/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Travis Preston, who finished in fourth, logging the fifth-fastest lap time. But looking at the lap times of third through tenth, you could throw a blanket over those guys. Some of the best racing of the season will be for third and fourth place.
Supercross Lites
|
Pos.
|
Best Lap Time
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
|
1
|
57.771 |
Kawasaki
|
|
|
2
|
58.516 |
Kawasaki
|
|
|
3
|
58.558 |
Yamaha
|
|
|
4
|
59.079 |
KTM
|
|
|
5
|
59.283 |
Honda
|
|
|
6
|
59.331 |
Kawasaki
|
|
|
7
|
59.369 |
KTM
|
|
|
8
|
59.913 |
Yamaha
|
|
|
9
|
1.00.351 |
Suzuki
|
|
|
10
|
1.00.676 |
Kawasaki
|
Poulsbo, WA’s pride, Ryan Villopoto, seems to have picked up where he left off in 2006, as he took a decisive victory in the Lites class. His 57.771 lap time was tops in the Lites, and it would’ve given him the third-fastest time in the Supercross class as well! His teammate, France’s Christophe Pourcel, racing his first professional AMA supercross, was the second fastest, with Yamaha of Troy’s Jason Lawrence posting the third-fastest time. Red Bull KTM’s Josh Hansen had the fourth-fastest time, and SoBe/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Jake Weimer was fifth; that’s also how the five of them finished in the main event.
|
Biggest surprise:
Star Racing/Bobby J’s Yamaha’s Matthew Lemoine. The Texan was racing his first professional supercross, and after a solid heat race, he was able to finish seventh in the main event, posting the eighth-fastest Lites time of the night.
