Rockstar Makita Suzuki San Diego Race Report
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Vuillemin Celebrates Best Finish of the Season in San Diego SX; Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Dungey brings home sixth-place result
Round 6 – AMA Supercross Series
San Diego, CA
Qualcomm Stadium
Feb. 9, 2008
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s David Vuillemin celebrated his best result of the 2008 AMA Supercross season with a seventh-place finish at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Saturday night. The Frenchman got a good start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and charged hard through the 20-lap main to bring home a top-10 finish. Vuillemin’s Supercross-class teammate Mike Alessi, unfortunately, experienced a nasty crash and broke his collarbone on the right side during practice and was unable to race.
In the Supercross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey is preparing for the last few rounds of the West Coast events. On Saturday night, the young rider was again blisteringly fast in his heat race and took the win. He had some bad luck in the main, however, and fell a few times and had to work his way up from the back of the pack on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250. In spite of this, Dungey still finished in sixth position.
David Vuillemin:
“We have been working on bike set-up at the track and making the bike better in practice. I did pretty well in practice and that really helped my confidence. I didn’t do quite as well in my heat race because I got a bad start and couldn’t pass anyone. But I got a much better start in the main, and I felt like I rode 20 strong laps, and my lap times on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 were really good. I ended up seventh, which is the best I’ve done all year. And it felt really good to get that result, especially after all the injuries and bad luck of the last two months. I’m looking at this as a good stepping stone to better results for the rest of the season.”
Ryan Dungey:
“This is the third week in a row where things haven’t really gone our way. At the same time, I’ve been riding fast, I’ve been riding strong and I’ve been riding consistent, but I’ve been making some small mistakes here and there in the main and that’s costing me. I just need to relax and stay focused on riding smart in these last few rounds. We’re only a few points behind in the championship and that’s the goal that we’re working toward.”
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at Texas Reliant Stadium in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008.