Más emoción no se puede pedir al campeonato AMA de Supercross. James Stewart ha ganado en Seattle, y se mantiene cuarto en la clasificación provisional, a sólo nueve puntos del todavía líder Ryan Villopoto.
Sólo quedan dos carreras por disputarse y el campeonato AMA de Supercross está abierto a todas las opciones. En Seattle James Stewart ha repetido victoria, dando un importantísimo paso adelante en sus aspiraciones al título. Kevin Windham fue el más rápido en la salida, pero desde la segunda vuelta Stewart se puso en cabeza, por delante de Windham y Reed, mientras que Dungey y Villopoto arrancaban mal. El de Yamaha se mantuvo todo el tiempo delante, con Reed en una desesperada caza, hasta que en las últimas vueltas cometió un error y bajó al tercer puesto, viendo como Stewart y Windham se le escapaban. Stewart concluyó las veinte vueltas sin agobios, sumando otra victoria que le permite recortar diferencias con respecto al líder Villopoto. El veterano Windham, siempre planteándose su retirada temporada a temporada, volvía a subir al podio y terminaba segundo.
La lucha por la tercera posición emparejó a Reed y Villopoto, que había protagonizado una gran remontada, pero el de Kawasaki se cayó en la última vuelta, dejando libre el camino a Reed para ser tercero, aunque Villopoto se pudo levantar rápidamente y concluir cuarto, un resultado que le permite conservar el liderato, con seis puntos de ventaja sobre Reed, cinco sobre Dungey, que fue quinto en Seattle, y nueve sobre Stewart. No se puede pedir más para el final de un campeonato: dos carreras y cuatro pilotos con opciones al título.
James Stewarts small mistakes at Indy prevented him from gaining the upper-hand on Ryan Villopoto.
James Stewart made it two in a row in Seattle and trails the series leader by nine points with just two rounds left.
Under brisk weather and brutal track conditions, San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart pulled off a major win at Seattle’s Qwest Field in the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. His fifth win of the season, Stewart now trails by nine points in the series. Meanwhile, Geico Honda’s Kevin Windham and TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed nabbed second and third, respectively. The West Coast Lites series returned with Lucas Oil TLD Honda’s Cole Seely pulling the victory ahead of Geico Powersports Honda’s Eli Tomac and Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle. Tomac now leads by just two points ahead of Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen with two rounds left in the championship.
Supercross
Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco snagged credit for the holeshot, with a confusing clutter at the first turn that included a pileup for some riders. Windham got an awesome start in the main, much to the pleasure of Seattle fans, with Reed taking an outside line battling Windham. Stewart also battled up front, with Tedesco and Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi all running in the top-five. Washington’s own Ryan Villopoto had a poor start and was running down in 10th, as Stewart worked up to the front and began opening his lead. Defending champ, Ryan Dungey, crashed early and was running 11th during the opening laps.
On Lap 3 Alessi began putting pressure on Reed. Windham used the opportunity to quickly move past Alessi and into third while RV continued making up ground back in seventh. On Lap 5 the top-nine order was: Stewart,
Kevin Windham - Houston Supercross
Kevin Windham scored his first top-five result of the season.
Reed, Windham, Alessi, Kyle Regal, RV, Tedesco, Tommy Hahn and Dungey. Shortly after, RV broke into the top-five and Dungey managed to move up to eighth just a lap later. Up front Stewart was running away with the contest and leading by more than eight seconds.
Alessi nearly hit the deck in the last half of the race when he ran off the track. The incident gave fourth to Villopoto while Dungey took over fifth just behind. On Lap 12 Dungey went down for the second time, dropping to sixth.
Windham continued to chase the frontrunners and capitalized on a big crash by Reed with just a few laps remaining. The incident allowed Windham to take over second as Reed recovered in third with RV right behind. On the last lap the two became caught in an intense feud for the final podium position. They traded paint with RV eventually crashing in the whoops.
Stewart secured a monumental victory that puts him one step closer to winning the championship.
“Tonight was awesome,” said Stewart. “I had fun all day. I thought the track was awesome, it was so tough. I was just trying to stay consistent because I knew it was going crazy behind me. You can look out there and see how rough it is, but my San Manuel Yamaha was working awesome. I’m looking forward to Salt Lake City.”
Windham proved that with age comes wisdom by claiming second in the difficult conditions. Despite his crash, Reed moved up to second in the standings just six points from Villopoto, who still leads the series after finishing fourth.
Seattle AMA Supercross Results:
1. James Stewart (Yamaha)
2. Kevin Windham (Honda)
Chad Reed - San Diego 2011
Chad Reed suffered a crash late in the main but held on to finish on the podium and move up to second in the series.
3. Chad Reed (Honda)
4. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)
5. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)
6. Mike Alessi (KTM)
7. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)
8. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)
9. Tommy Hahn (Yamaha)
10. Andrew Short (KTM)
11. Michael Byrne (Suzuki)
12. Nick Wey (Yamaha)
13. Fabien Izoird (Kawasaki)
14. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)
15. Jason Thomas (Suzuki)
2011 AMA Supercross Championship Points:
1. Ryan Villopoto, 293
2. Chad Reed, 287
3. Ryan Dungey, 286
4. James Stewart, 284
5. Trey Canard, 255
6. Andrew Short, 196
7. Kevin Windham, 187
8. Davi Millsaps, 156
9. Justin Brayton, 141
10. Ivan Tedesco, 134
Michael Byrne - Seattle Monster Energy Supercross 2011
Seattle AMA Supercross Lites Results:
1. Cole Seely (Honda)
2. Eli Tomac (Honda)
3. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki)
4. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)
5. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)
Hondas Eli Tomac finished second at A2 behind Josh Hansen.
Eli Tomac is just seven points behind in the West Coast Lites Championship after finishing second in Seattle.
6. Josh Hansen (Kawasaki)
7. Ryan Morais (Suzuki)
8. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)
9. Travis Baker (Honda)
10. Gared Steinke (Kawasaki)
11. Ben Evans (Kawasaki)
12. Topher Ingalls (Honda)
13. Nick Paluzzi (Yamaha)
14. Tommy Weeck (Honda)
15. Preston Mull (Kawasaki)
2011 AMA Supercross Lites Championship Points:
1. Broc Tickle, 145
2. Josh Hansen, 143
3. Eli Tomac, 138
4. Cole Seely, 113
5. Ryan Morais, 110
6. Tyla Rattray, 96
7. Kyle Cunningham, 89
8. Ken Roczen, 83
9. Martin Davalos, 82
10. James Decotis, 67
