Sign of the (Lap) Times: Seattle

This year’s Seattle track was quoted by one rider as being “the driest, muddiest track they’ve ever seen.” After every practice session the Dirt Wurx crew was on the course spreading lime and filling ruts, doing their best to give the riders what they wanted. As the night wore on, the track looked more like Daytona than Seattle, and clinching the AMA Supercross championship wasn’t going to be as easy as everyone thought for James Stewart.
 

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	50.171	James Stewart	Kawasaki
2	50.794	Davi Millsaps	Honda
6	51.311	Chad Reed	Yamaha
4	51.867	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
3	51.918	Kevin Windham	Honda
5	52.566	Andrew Short	Honda
13	52.771	Ivan Tedesco	Suzuki
12	53.208	Grant Langston	Yamaha
11	53.260	Paul Carpenter	Kawasaki
7	53.444	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
10	53.558	Jeff Gibson	Kawasaki
8	53.605	David Vuillemin	Honda
9	53.684	Josh Summey	Honda
15	54.429	Robbie Reynard	Honda
19	54.710	Jacob Saylor	Honda
14	55.056	Brock Sellards	Honda
17	55.193	Kevin Johnson	Yamaha
16	55.429	Joe Oehlhof	Kawasaki
18	55.507	Bryan Johnson	Honda
20	55.957	Kyle Lewis	Honda

But once again the Monster Energy rider prevailed. One would think that he would’ve adopted a conservative approach to secure the championship. Well, it appeared he did. And even though he rode conservatively, number 7 still managed to log the fastest main event lap time on his way to his first-ever AMA Supercross championship.

Stewart’s 50.171 was the fastest time of the night, and Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps was second with a 50.794. San Manuel Yamaha’s Chad Reed was third with a 51.311, and Tim Ferry was fourth with a 51.867. Third-place finisher Kevin Windham had the fifth fastest time of the night with a 51.918.

Team Honda's Davi Millsaps was on the gas in Seattle to take second place--his best career SX finish.

Biggest surprise: The sudden resurgence of Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps. Prior to Seattle, Davi’s highest ranking in the lap chart was in Dallas, where he logged the fourth-fastest time in the SX class. And then you give him one of the roughest circuits that these riders have seen all year, and he’s within a half-second of James Stewart. This was a very good sign for the outdoor nationals.

SX Lites

The rough and rutted course definitely leveled the playing field between the 450s and the 250Fs. On the east coast we’ve been seeing a difference of at least a second from the fastest lap times in each class, but this week Ryan Villopoto was fastest, and his time was within a second of Stewart’s. SoBe No Fear/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Josh Grant was the second-fastest Lites rider with a 51.525.

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	50.914	Ryan Villopoto	Kawasaki
20	51.525	Josh Grant	Honda
3	51.589	Josh Hill	Yamaha
2	51.860	Jason Lawrence	Yamaha
4	52.966	Jake Weimer	Honda
5	53.364	Chris Gosselaar	Kawasaki
8	53.433	Dusty Klatt	Yamaha
22	53.705	Matt Lemoine	Yamaha
6	53.897	Mike LaPaglia	Yamaha
10	54.048	Josh Hansen	KTM
9	54.128	Kyle Cunningham	Yamaha
19	54.131	Joaquim Rodrigues	Kawasaki
7	54.135	Troy Adams	Suzuki
11	55.482	Adam Chatfield	Yamaha
21	55.669	Chris Blose	Yamaha
13	55.741	Vernon McKiddie	Yamaha
14	55.751	Gray Davenport	Honda
15	56.219	Michael Willard	KTM
12	56.358	Ryan Grantom	Yamaha
18	57.352	Tyler Keefe	Kawasaki

But it’s very interesting to note that the fourth fastest rider in the Lites class, Jason Lawrence, had a 51.860, which was faster than the fourth fastest finisher in the Supercross class—Tim Ferry.
 
All things considered, we are all in for a treat Saturday in the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout.

Josh Hill scored third overall in the Western Regional Lites series as a rookie

Biggest surprise: Team Yamaha’s Josh Hill gets the nod in the Lites class. After a superb heat-race win, Hill finally led his first supercross lap as a pro and went on to finish third in Seattle, giving him third overall in his rookie season. This is a bright spot in Team Yamaha’s very bleak season thus far.