Sign Of The (Lap) Times: Atlanta
Supercross Lites
It was the first race of the season for a lot of riders this past weekend as the Eastern Regional Lites opened their season in Atlanta. But judging by their lap times and performance, it appeared as if they’ve been racing the entire series so far.
Finish
|
Best Lap Time
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
22
|
47.473 |
Ben Townley
|
Kawasaki
|
1
|
47.767 |
Suzuki
|
|
2
|
47.868 |
Darcy Lange
|
Kawasaki
|
3
|
48.134 |
Yamaha
|
|
5
|
48.148 |
Branden Jesseman
|
Yamaha
|
9
|
48.155 |
Honda
|
|
4
|
48.334 |
Yamaha
|
|
6
|
48.406 |
Yamaha
|
|
21
|
48.430 |
KTM
|
|
18
|
48.552 |
Honda
|
|
14
|
48.561 |
Kawasaki
|
|
7
|
48.862 |
Zach Osborne
|
KTM
|
11
|
49.018 |
Sean Collier
|
Yamaha
|
12
|
49.043 |
Honda
|
|
8
|
49.130 |
Kawasaki
|
|
13
|
49.188 |
Jeff Alesi
|
KTM
|
19
|
49.244 |
Yamaha
|
|
15
|
49.528 |
Honda
|
|
17
|
50.796 |
Greg Schnell
|
Honda
|
16
|
50.854 |
Zach Ames
|
Honda
|
The fastest of the Lites was again a Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider as Ben Townley—a supercross rookie—set the quickest time in the main event. Unfortunately for “BT101,” an engine failure cost him a finish and some valuable points. But the eventual winner, Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, was not that far off of Townley’s best time, and Townley’s teammate Darcy Lange was third fastest. In fact, Lange surprised many earlier on Saturday after he set the fastest practice time, showing what he could do on a Mitch Payton-tuned machine….
|
So what happened to some of the other pre-race favorites? Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi’s fastest lap time in the main was only ninth best before popping his shoulder out of joint and crashing, and Team Honda’s hopeful, Tommy Hahn, was tenth fastest. SoBe No Fear/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Billy Laninovich, after a first-lap crash, could only muster the 15th fastest lap in the main event.
Supercross class
James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael finally got what they wanted—a supercross race back east on some terra-firma that they’re familiar with. And both riders seemed very comfortable on the soft Georgia clay, as both of their best lap times were over a second faster than Chad Reed’s. Stewart was again the fastest on his KX450F, but you got to give credit to RC, who after taking several weeks off, he still had the second-fastest time of the night!
Finish
|
Best Lap Time
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
1
|
45.687 |
Kawasaki
|
|
2
|
45.814 |
Suzuki
|
|
3
|
46.885 |
Yamaha
|
|
6
|
47.291 |
Kawasaki
|
|
4
|
47.477 |
Suzuki
|
|
5
|
47.646 |
Honda
|
|
12
|
47.901 |
Honda
|
|
8
|
48.471 |
David Vuillemin
|
Honda
|
16
|
48.489 |
Yamaha
|
|
18
|
48.493 |
Honda
|
|
9
|
48.745 |
Honda
|
|
11
|
48.860 |
Tyler Evans
|
Suzuki
|
7
|
49.075 |
Bryan Johnson
|
Honda
|
14
|
49.183 |
Suzuki
|
|
10
|
49.265 |
Kawasaki
|
|
17
|
49.362 |
Kevin Johnson
|
Yamaha
|
13
|
49.890 |
Honda
|
|
15
|
50.368 |
Brock Sellards
|
Honda
|
20
|
50.601 |
Kawasaki
|
|
19
|
51.943 |
Eric Sorby
|
Kawasaki
|
And in his first race back since breaking his femur, Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps had the tenth-fastest time in the 450 main. Give Davi some time, he’ll be up there soon enough (and that new No Fear retro gear looked awesome!)
|