The "Foreign AMA" Supercross round is upon us, as the Toronto Supercross - round 11 of the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Championship - got started this afternoon, with practice inside the covered Rogers Centre stadium.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's
Timmy Ferry made his return to the track after a few weeks off recovering from internal injuries suffered in a practice crash at home before round nine in Indianapolis.
Troy Adams also returns to the fray tonight in Toronto after missing a round with an injury.
The track on the floor of Rogers Centre is extremely soft. Apparently, much of the dirt was frozen as they brought it into the stadium to build the track, and the dirt itself is hard to describe. It's sandy, yet it ruts up really, really quickly, and it's taking a lot of track maintenance - so much that it's anticipated that the show tonight will be significantly longer than normal. With the track in such a condition, the first practice was very slow, as riders learned to deal with the soil conditions. However, Ferry made good on his return to the track by being fastest in the second seeded 450cc qualifying session.
San Manuel Yamaha's
Chad Reed had a relatively minor getoff in the second practice session, but still ended up second fastest.
In his first visit to Canada, Torco Racing Fuels Honda's
Kevin Windham commented that it "felt like a European race" in the pits, since most of the riders are just parked side-by-side in the hallway outside of the track. He was third fastest in the second practice and looked really comfortable.
Honda Red Bull Racing's
Andrew Short was fastest in the first, slower qualifying session, but he seemed comfortable in the weird soil.
Cernic's Kawasaki's
Jeff Gibson was fastest in the unseeded practice.
DNA Energy/Butler Bros. Honda's
Kyle Cunningham was fastest in the Lites qualifying. Most of the Butler Bros. team is up here racing, but very few other team riders made the trek.
Tune in tonight for what may be a very long edition of the SupercrossLive.com internet show starring Jim Holley and Jason Weigandt at 7 p.m. EST.
