Makita Suzuki Unadilla Report
Team Makita Suzuki’s Tedesco Brings Home
Top-Five Finish at Unadilla; Makita Suzuki teammate Dungey podiums in MX Lites
Round 6 – AMA Toyota Motocross Championship Series
New Berlin, NY
Unadilla Valley Sports Center
July 14 – 15, 2007
Team Makita Suzuki Racings Ivan Tedesco picked up his best AMA Toyota Motocross finish of the season so far. The former AMA Motocross Lites Champion rode his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 to a fourth-place finish in the first moto and a fifth-place finish in the second moto, earning him an impressive fifth-place overall result. Tedesco spent much of the AMA Supercross and AMA Motocross season sidelined due to injury and only returned to racing within the last three rounds. Makita Suzuki teammate Ricky Carmichael did not race at Unadilla because he is running an abbreviated race schedule this season.
“This weekend has been a lot better than it has been the last couple of races. I started out pretty good on Saturday, and then on Sunday I struggled a little bit in the first practice. By the second practice, though, I felt pretty good. In the first moto, I rode really well and I was glad to get up front and battle with the lead guys. I still have some work to do -- I need to work on my first five laps or so. The lead guys are really good at sprinting and my speed just isn’t quite there. Other than that, I’m stoked to be in the top five and battling up there and not back in the pack like I was last weekend. Overall, I’m happy with how I rode and I’m happy with the Makita Suzuki RM-Z450. We made some changes from the last race at Red Bud and that helped me with my comfort level on the bike. I just need to work on my speed and I think I can get up there.”
In the Motocross Lites class, Team Makita Suzuki Racing’s Ryan Dungey returned to racing with a bang, also picking up his best AMA MX Lites result of the season, thanks to two second-place moto finishes for a second-place overall result. This is even more impressive when you consider that Dungey sat out the last round of AMA Motocross after sustaining a concussion when he crashed in practice. The 17-year-old rider bounced back at Unadilla and rode his Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 to his third podium of the season.
Ryan Dungey:
“I took a week off, got my head checked out and the MRIs came back good. I got back to riding my Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 and I was a little nervous coming into this race after bumping my head. But I knew I had the speed, and I felt 100 percent coming into the race too. Coming into this race like that gave me a little bump, and I knew I had to put in good lap times, get a good gate pick and get a good start. I just tried to keep pushing and focus on what was ahead of me and ride a good race. I’ve been training really hard, and the work is paying off. I’m just happy with the ride I had, this is the best result I’ve had in the Outdoors.”
Team Makita Suzuki Racing will race next at Thunder Valley Motocross Park in Lakewood, CO, the weekend of July 12 – 22, 2007.
