We knew prior to the Atlanta Supercross that the Eastern Region Lites class was going to be wild, but it’s doubtful that anyone expected this. Three different winners in four races, and each winner has suffered at least a DNF or a DNQ—and the highest a winner is in the point standings is third!
We’ve been hearing many whispers of how the 2007 season is so similar to the Eastern Region series that took place exactly 10 years ago. Well, in 1997 the series saw a supercross rookie riding the wheels off of a Mitch Payton-tuned Kawasaki. Ten years ago that was
Ricky Carmichael, of course; this year it’s Ben Townley—who’s training with RC! A decade ago the championship went to the rider who, although he didn’t win a race, he put in strong, consistent finishes every weekend—
Tim Ferry. This season the current points leader has yet to win a race, but he has finished in the top five every weekend and enjoys a six-point lead. That is
Ryan Morais. And Darcy Lange, the multi-time arenacross champion, hasn’t won yet either, yet he’s a close second.
Let’s take a look at the top five riders in the standings to see how inconsistent they all have been. We also included Makita Suzuki’s
Ryan Dungey and Team Honda’s
Tommy Hahn, as they both had at least one good finish, but also some bad ones. Check out the “Richter scale” of the East below:
 |
|
Click to enlarge | | |
