Sign Of The (Lap) Times: Indianapolis

March 27, 2007, 10:12am

AMA Supercross class

James Stewart kept his streak of being the fastest rider in tact in Indianapolis, and his fastest time came on lap 11, when he finally had a clear track to chase down Chad Reed, who pulled the Progressive Direct holeshot and tried to sneak away with the win. Stewart started in 19th, and stalked down Reed and made the pass for the lead on lap 14. Reed’s fastest time was a little over a half-second off of #7, and Team Yamaha’s Grant Langston had the third fastest time in the SX class. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Tim Ferry was fourth fastest, and Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps was fifth.

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	44.015	James Stewart	Kawasaki
2	44.894	Chad Reed	Yamaha
4	45.724	Grant Langston	Yamaha
3	45.788	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
6	46.048	Davi Millsaps	Honda
5	46.319	Ivan Tedesco	Suzuki
9	46.785	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
7	46.824	David Vuillemin	Honda
8	46.962	Andrew Short	Honda
16	47.080	Heath Voss	Honda
10	47.198	Josh Summey	Honda
15	47.602	Paul Carpenter	Kawasaki
14	47.833	Keith R. Johnson	Yamaha
11	47.932	Cole Siebler	Honda
13	47.934	Eric Sorby	Kawasaki
17	47.943	Kevin W. Johnson	Yamaha
18	48.040	Joe Oehlhof	Kawasaki
12	48.079	Jeff Gibson	Kawasaki
19	48.324	Brock Sellards	Honda
20	49.347	Tyler Evans	Suzuki

#7 jumps past #8

Biggest surprise: Langston looked fast all night in Indianapolis, and it’s a bit surprising as this is only his third race back to competition after injuring his collarbone early this season. Look for Langston to shave some more time off his laps as he gets more comfortable on the YZ450F. And outdoor fans have to be stoked knowing that the former world and national champion is moving up to the 450 class in Toyota AMA Motocross too.

AMA Supercross Lites

Finally, the fastest lap time of the Lites main came from a rider that wasn’t on a green-colored bike! Last week’s winner in Orlando—PPG/Motoworldracing.com Yamaha’s Branden Jesseman—was again on pace in Indy, and set the fastest lap time of the Lites main event on Lap 3. He rode smooth but couldn’t seem to reel in the leaders, and settled for third-place. Meanwhile, the rider with the fastest times throughout practice and qualifying was Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, who led every lap in the main and kept Ben Townley at bay for his second win of the season. The top three finishers all had lap times in the 46-second range, which puts them in the top 10 of the Supercross class, as well.

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
3	46.429	Branden Jesseman	Yamaha
1	46.475	Ryan Dungey	Suzuki
2	46.505	Ben Townley	Kawasaki
4	47.059	Ryan Morais	Yamaha
7	47.152	Matt Goerke	Yamaha
5	47.355	Justin Brayton	Yamaha
6	47.465	Mike Alessi	KTM
8	47.494	Tommy Hahn	Honda
9	47.783	Darcy Lange	Kawasaki
12	48.141	Billy Laninovich	Honda
11	48.170	Matt Boni	Kawasaki
10	48.379	Broc Tickle	Yamaha
15	48.595	Robert Kiniry	Kawasaki
13	48.772	Kelly Smith	Suzuki
14	48.847	Justin Sipes	Kawasaki
20	48.907	Zach Ames	Honda
18	49.089	Zach Osborne	KTM
17	49.703	Brad Ripple	Kawasaki
21	49.761	Travis Sewell	Suzuki
16	50.768	Jimmy Albertson	Suzuki

Ryan Dungey and Ben Townley congratulate each other after the main event

Biggest surprise: From a spectator’s point of view, the Indianapolis track didn’t look that bad. It wasn’t really rutted or slick and the whoops didn’t even look that tall, so what’s up with some of the pre-season favorites barely cracking the top 10 in both finishing position and lap times? Looking at these lap times, one would assume that riders like Billy Laninovich, Tommy Hahn and even Darcy Lange would have times near the top of the list, but rather they’re just middle of the road. Also, of the six fastest riders of the night in the Lites class, four of them were aboard Yamahas! (And that’s without Team Yamaha’s pre-season title hopeful Broc Hepler in the mix.) Looks like the blue bikes are on the rise.