Sign Of The (Lap) Times: Orlando

March 20, 2007 1:05pm

We now have three different winners in four East Coast Lites races, and you don’t have to be the fastest rider to win. PPG/Motoworldracing.com Yamaha’s Branden Jesseman recorded the third-fastest lap time of the night on lap four, passed SoBe No Fear/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Billy Laninovich two laps later, and held off the charge of Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi for the fifth win of his AMA Supercross career. The victory was probably a surprise to many, but for those who know Jesseman, it’s long overdue. “Brando” has a work ethic that’s second to none, and all the pieces fell into place on Saturday night.

Mike Alessi is finding his groove indoors

As for the rider with the fastest time, it was once again Ben Townley on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki with a 51.673, but Mike Alessi was thisclose with a 51.686.

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
7	51.673	Ben Townley	Kawasaki
4	51.686	Mike Alessi	KTM
1	51.786	Branden Jesseman	Yamaha
5	51.896	Billy Laninovich	Honda
3	51.929	Darcy Lange	Kawasaki
2	52.046	Ryan Morais	Yamaha
6	52.353	Justin Brayton	Yamaha
11	52.673	Tommy Hahn	Honda
10	52.791	Tucker Hibbert	Yamaha
8	52.794	Robert Kiniry	Kawasaki
19	53.048	Broc Tickle	Yamaha
9	53.105	Jeff Alessi	KTM
12	53.190	Ricky Renner	Honda
18	53.269	Kelly Smith	Suzuki
16	53.310	Matt Goerke	Yamaha
14	53.891	Travis Sewell	Suzuki
15	53.972	Eric Nye	KTM
13	54.127	Greg Schnell	Honda
17	54.445	Daryl Ecklund	Honda
20	55.205	Yoshihide Fukudome	Honda

And to emphasize again that speed must be matched with consistency to win in supercross, current points leader Ryan Morais was only sixth fastest with a 52.046, but he rode smart and steady for second, and now has a six-point cushion over Townley’s Kawasaki teammate, Darcy Lange. And while Darcy hasn’t been consistent, he has been consistently fast. If he gets all of his momentum pointed the right way this weekend, the former two-time AMA National Arenacross Champion and reigning BooKoo AX Champion could get his first win—and Canada’s—and reel in the Yamaha of Troy-mounted leader.

This East Coast is going down to the wire!

AMA Supercross

The race of the season went down on Saturday night, with Stewart and Carmichael battling it out in RC’s last professional supercross race. Stewart managed to take the win, along with laying down the fastest time of the night on Lap 5. Coincidentally, Carmichael’s fastest lap of the night came on the same lap! As for Chad Reed, the San Manuel Yamaha rider was again third fastest on his way to third place. Tim Ferry was fourth fastest, and Langston was fifth.

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	48.481	James Stewart	Kawasaki
2	48.758	Ricky Carmichael	Suzuki
3	49.530	Chad Reed	Yamaha
5	50.444	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
6	50.503	Grant Langston	Yamaha
4	50.732	Ivan Tedesco	Suzuki
8	51.138	Kevin Windham	Honda
7	51.156	David Vuillemin	Honda
19	51.533	Davi Millsaps	Honda
11	51.574	Paul Carpenter	Kawasaki
10	51.730	Josh Summey	Honda
9	51.899	Heath Voss	Honda
20	52.068	Jeff Gibson	Kawasaki
13	52.481	Keith Johnson	Yamaha
12	52.662	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
15	52.846	Kevin Johnson	Yamaha
16	52.888	Jason Thomas	Honda
18	52.907	Jacob Saylor	Honda
21	52.934	Ryan Clark	Honda
14	52.960	Brock Sellards	Honda

After missing the first half of the season with a collarbone injury, Yamaha's Grant Langston is firing on all cylinders now.

With Carmichael racing cars this weekend, it will be curious to see how fast Stewart goes—he’s never won Indy, so he has that motivation, but he was over a second faster than Reed last weekend.