Sign of the (Lap) Times: Anaheim 1
Precipitation can change a lot of things when it comes to racing dirt bikes. Underdogs suddenly become viable contenders and vice-versa. But what we saw in Anaheim Stadium on Saturday night was that the pre-race favorites still performed well, as the cream really does always rise to the top. So let’s take a look at the fastest lap time recorded in each class.
Finish
|
Best Lap Time
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
2
|
55.661 |
Kawasaki
|
|
1
|
56.353 |
Yamaha
|
|
15
|
57.031 |
Honda
|
|
4
|
57.742 |
Yamaha
|
|
3
|
57.924 |
Kawasaki
|
|
5
|
58.053 |
Honda
|
|
7
|
58.949 |
Honda
|
|
6
|
59.159 |
Suzuki
|
|
8
|
59.245 |
Honda
|
|
9
|
59.279 |
KTM
|
|
16
|
59.835 |
Yamaha
|
|
13
|
1:00.349 |
Honda
|
|
14
|
1:00.543 |
Honda
|
|
11
|
1:00.627 |
Yamaha
|
|
12
|
1:00.676 |
Eric Sorby
|
Honda
|
10
|
1:00.805 |
David Vuillemin
|
Suzuki
|
20
|
1:01.007 |
Yamaha
|
|
17
|
1:01.079 |
Honda
|
|
19
|
1:01.836 |
Honda
|
|
21
|
1:02.132 |
Kawasaki
|
|
18
|
1:02.941 |
Bryan Johnson
|
Honda
|
22
|
1:03.774 |
Honda
|
In the AMA Supercross class there’s no surprise that it was James Stewart setting the fastest time of the main event on his Monster Energy-backed Kawasaki with a 55.661. Second fastest: Chad Reed, with a 56.353. Of course Reed won, after Stewart hit those ruts in the first turn, went down in a heap and was never able to challenge the winner.
|
Yamaha’s Grant Langston showed some good speed on the rutted course, logging the fourth fastest time and leading a few laps, and Monster Energy’s Tim Ferry used both speed and consistency to climb up on the podium.
Fastest non-factory rider? Atomic Racing’s Paul Carpenter, who had the 12th fastest time with a 1:00.349.
Finish
|
Best Lap Time
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
2
|
57.993 |
Yamaha
|
|
1
|
58.159 |
Suzuki
|
|
11
|
59.606 |
Yamaha
|
|
5
|
59.647 |
Kawasaki
|
|
3
|
59.662 |
KTM
|
|
6
|
1:00.242 |
Kawasaki
|
|
19
|
1:00.261 |
Kawasaki
|
|
4
|
1:00.625 |
Honda
|
|
8
|
1:00.774 |
Andrew McFarlane
|
Kawasaki
|
18
|
1:00.935 |
Yamaha
|
|
9
|
1:01.309 |
Suzuki
|
|
10
|
1:01.476 |
Yamaha
|
|
7
|
1:02.013 |
Honda
|
|
17
|
1:02.666 |
Honda
|
|
13
|
1:04.860 |
Michael LaPaglia
|
Suzuki
|
12
|
1:05.052 |
Jeff Northrop
|
Honda
|
14
|
1:05.665 |
Michael Blose
|
Suzuki
|
15
|
1:06.011 |
Honda
|
|
16
|
1:06.967 |
Suzuki
|
|
20
|
1:07.551 |
Eric McCrummen
|
Honda
|
21
|
1:08.153 |
Shaun Skinner
|
Honda
|
The Lites class was similar to the premier class in which the rider with the fastest lap time in the main event finished second, and the third fastest rider had a dismal main event. In this case the fastest rider was Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy’s Jason Lawrence, who recorded a 57.993. Main event winner Ryan Dungey wasn’t too far off of that with a 58.159, followed by 11th-place finisher Hepler, who was over a second back with a 59.606. Rookie Austin Stroupe was fourth fastest, followed by MDK KTM’s Justin Brayton.
Biggest surprise: Fun Center Suzuki’s Chris Blose, who was 11th fastest.
Now it’s on to Phoenix, which is guaranteed to be drier and much faster!
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