Rockstar Makita Suzuki Claims Podium and Top Ten Finish at Houston
BREA, CA– Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey put his Yoshimura-equipped Suzuki RM-Z450 back on the box, scoring a second-place podium finish last night during the sixth round of the 2011 AMA/FIM Supercross Championship at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX. Teammate Brett Metcalfe rode a strong race on his Suzuki, scoring an eighth-place finish in the 20-lap main event.
Dungey had a solid day, tallying the second fastest time in qualifying and piloting his Suzuki to a convincing win in his heat race. In the main, Dungey was able to avoid a first turn pile-up and moved from fifth to second over the first eleven laps. His RM-Z450 powered him to the finish for a close second-place finish.
“Overall, we had a real solid day,” said Dungey. “The bike felt great all day. I really owe a lot to Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki because they worked hard. We need to keep pushing and start winning these races. I’m really thankful for the day – coming off of last weekend was a real tough one for the whole team and myself, but this is a step in the right direction and we’ll keep building from here. It will be good to get a good solid week in and show up in San Diego with my RMZ ready to go."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe rode a solid practice and carried that momentum into his heat race with a fourth-place finish on his RM-Z450. A strong start in the main put him into third place on the first lap. Metcalfe rode a consistent race and maintained a top-five position until the last lap when a small mistake put him on the ground in the first whoops section. Metcalfe remounted his Suzuki to finish in eighth place.
“I’m happy with the way I rode tonight,” said Metcalfe. “The team made some good changes this week. We made some big improvements to the engine and I have to thank Yoshimura for all their help and everybody on the team. I think myself and Ryan both got great starts. I came out strong in the heat race and the main event was going good right ‘til the end. I made a couple mistakes, and a couple guys got me at the end there and I threw it away in the whoops trying to get a position back on the last lap. I’m happy for next week because San Diego is close to home. I should have a good week riding and each week my riding has been improving. We just need to improve the result.”
The 2011 Rockstar Makita Suzuki team’s next event is Saturday, February 19th, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA. You can meet the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team riders on Friday, February 18th from 6 to 7 PM at the Escondido Cycle Center, 1415 Montiel Road, Escondido, CA.
Houston Supercross Class Results:
1. Trey Canard
2. Ryan Dungey
4. David Millsaps
5. Andrew Short
6. Chad Reed
7. Ken Roczen
9. Ivan Tedesco
10. Mike Alessi
2011 Supercross Class Standings:
1. Ryan Villopoto – 132
2. James Stewart – 123
3. Trey Canard – 112
4. Chad Reed – 105
5. Ryan Dungey – 101
6. Andrew Short – 80
7. Brett Metcalfe – 80
8. Justin Brayton – 65
9. David Millsaps – 62
10. Kevin Windham – 61
