Sign of the (Lap) Times: Toronto

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel made no mistake that he deserved the 2009 Eastern Regional SX Lites championship in Toronto by putting in a dominant performance to clinch his first AMA title with one race left to go. It’s been a few races since we’ve seen Pourcel’s name atop the fastest-lap-time chart, but he was the fastest Lites rider in Toronto with a 51.736—which would’ve put him third fastest in the AMA Supercross class! His teammate Austin Stroupe was second quickest (52.337), followed by Division 7/Star Racing Yamaha’s Broc Tickle (52.744), Canidae/Motosport Kawasaki’s Branden Jesseman (53.037), and Suzuki City’s Matt Goerke (53.128). In fact, Tickle would’ve been sixth-fastest overall, behind only the two riders who beat him in the Lites main, and the podium finishers in the 450cc class.

Biggest surprise? Honda privateer Vince Friese, who had the eleventh fastest time and finished eighth. Check out the rest of the field’s fastest lap times below.

Finish	Best Lap	Rider	Bike
1	51.736	Christophe Pourcel	Kawasaki
2	52.337	Austin Stroupe	Kawasaki
3	52.744	Broc Tickle	Yamaha
4	53.037	Branden Jesseman	Kawasaki
7	53.128	Matt Goerke	Suzuki
5	53.194	Matt Lemoine	Yamaha
11	53.398	Nico Izzi	Suzuki
6	53.899	Wil Hahn	KTM
17	54.002	Darryn Durham	Yamaha
10	54.172	Blake Wharton	Honda
8	55.040	Vince Friese	Honda
13	55.569	Kyle Keylon	Honda
12	56.016	Jason Thomas	Honda
9	56.249	Daniel Blair	Honda
19	56.323	Tyler Wharton	Honda
18	56.363	Fred Karrle	Suzuki
16	56.436	Jacob Saylor	Yamaha
15	56.687	Steven Clarke	Suzuki
14	56.885	Kevin Johnson	Yamaha
20	58.181	Brady Sheren	Suzuki

Division 7/Star Racing Yamaha's Broc Tickle
photo: Steve Cox

AMA Supercross
Regardless of the soft, rutted surface riders were faced with in Toronto, San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart was still the fastest man on the planet Saturday night, locking in the fastest lap of the night (50.941) on lap two. Chad Reed was second fastest on his Rockstar/Makita Suzuki, recording a 51.143 on lap four, followed by Josh Hill (52.739), Kevin Windham (53.033) and Josh Grant (53.206).

Biggest surprise? Rockstar/Hart & Huntington Honda’s Matt Boni, who recorded the eighth fastest time en route to his season-high eighth-place finish. Check out the rest of the AMA Supercross class below.

Finish	Best Lap	Rider	Bike
1	50.941	James Stewart	Yamaha
2	51.143	Chad Reed	Suzuki
3	52.739	Josh Hill	Yamaha
6	53.033	Kevin Windham	Honda
4	53.206	Josh Grant	Yamaha
5	53.353	Ivan Tedesco	Honda
9	53.656	Andrew Short	Honda
8	53.676	Matt Boni	Honda
7	53.702	Davi Millsaps	Honda
10	53.837	Ben Coisy	Honda
17	53.866	Broc Hepler	Yamaha
11	54.243	Mike Alessi	Suzuki
19	54.729	Tommy Hahn	Kawasaki
12	54.748	Nathan Ramsey	Yamaha
19	54.993	Tyler Bowers	Honda
13	55.024	Kyle Chisholm	Yamaha
14	55.439	Paul Carpenter	Kawasaki
15	55.445	Nick Wey	Yamaha
18	55.904	Jake Marsack	Honda

Rockstar/Hart & Huntington's Matt Boni
photo: Steve Cox