Bridgestone Maintains Perfect Winning Record
NASHVILLE, TN – Bridgestone riders remained unbeaten in 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross competition by winning both the Supercross and Supercross Lites events Saturday at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. Through four event weekends, riders on Bridgestone tires have won all the main events in the two series.
James Stewart (Team San Manuel / JSE Yamaha), who captured the AMA Motocross championship last summer on Bridgestone tires, collected his third Supercross victory in as many weekends with a dominant Houston win of nearly 10 seconds over Chad Reed (Rockstar / Makita Suzuki). Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki) made it a podium sweep for Bridgestone by finishing third.
Reed, the 2008 AMA Supercross champ, retains the ’09 points lead. His 86 points are nine better than Stewart and fellow Bridgestone rider Josh Grant (JGRMX / Toyota Yamaha).
The AMA Supercross Lites division conducted its first Eastern Regional event of ’09 at Houston. Bridgestone’s Christophe Pourcel (Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki) took first place and fellow Bridgestone rider Nico Izzi (Rockstar / Makita Suzuki) claimed third.
“I was happy with my Bridgestone tires at this track,” said Pourcel. “My M603 80/100-21 front tire worked well, but maybe the 90/100-21 size would have been better for the flat turns in this soil.”
Pourcel’s win followed Bridgestone victories in Supercross Lites Western Regional competition at the first three event weekends. Pourcel leads the Supercross Lites Eastern Regional point standings, with Bridgestone rider Ryan Dungey (Rockstar / Makita Suzuki) heading up the Western Regional chase.
Doug Schopinsky, who oversees Bridgestone tire development for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, said, “The Houston soil is deceiving when it comes to traction. We adjusted air pressures as the lines and conditions changed throughout the day. Starts were critical with this track layout, the Bridgestone tire-shod riders gated well and got out front early on their way to the podium.“
About Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is a business unit of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. Reporting into the BATO business unit are the company's Latin American tire operations, the U.S. and Canadian consumer tire businesses and the U.S. and Canadian commercial tire businesses. BATO develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The business unit is focused on retail, wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its customers in the Americas. In addition, through its Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions unit, retreading customers have access to industry-leading research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales expertise, providing them with a total tire solution.
