Friday Night Wrap Up at the US Open
To all accounts, this year’s Supercross series will be one of the hottest contested in a long time. No one is going to run away with a record-breaking string of wins. It’s going to be a dogfight all the way. Reed and Carmichael started things off last night at the Maxxis US Open. RC took the hole shot but after four laps Reed took over and was never seriously challenged. But that doesn’t mean RC was slow. Carmichael never let Reed get away, and at times was all over his rear wheel. Reed had a triple out of turn five that seemed to be the difference for most of the early part of the race. RC finally did the triple at about the halfway point. By then, Reed’s lead was too great.
After the race Carmichael didn’t seem to be bothered too much by the second place finish. Or could that just be the seasoned veteran setting things up for tonight? Reed, on the other hand, was glad to get a win over Ricky. "It’s nice to finally be ahead of that guy. I’ve been following him all summer in the outdoors," says Reed.
A couple of other vet’s made notice. Mike LaRocco took third after taking the last six months off. "I’ve got a lot of work to do before Anaheim," says Mike. Sebastian Tortelli was a surprising 10th place. Many expected him to do much better in this field. However, Decoster tells us that Sebastian has been spending most of his time on the new RMZ450, getting ready for the Supercross season. Going back to the RM250 just before the Open, Sebastian was not up to his usual race pace.
Here are the finals for last night in the 250 class:
250 MAIN: 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Suz); 3. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 4. Heath Voss (Yam); 5. Nick Wey (Hon); 6. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 7. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 8. Jason Thomas (Hon); 9. Damon Huffman (Hon); 10. Sebastian Tortelli (Suz); 11. Josh Hansen (KTM); 12. Keith Johnson (Yam).
In the 125 class it was all Greg Schnell. From hole shot to finish no one seemed to bother the vet rider, with the exception of a few laps at the beginning. Davi Millsaps passed Schnell on lap four only to give up the position a few laps later. Millsaps continued to fall back in the pack and finished 9th. Troy Adams came from a mid-pack start and just kept moving up to finish on the podium in the third spot. New guy Thomas Hahn hung in there to take second. Still, Schnell’s performance sets him up nicely to take the overall tonight.
125 MAIN: 1. Greg Schnell (Hon); 2. Thomas Hahn (Hon); 3. Troy Adams (Kaw); 4. Brett Metcalfe (Yam); 5. Josh Summey (Yam); 6. Josh Demuth (Yam); 7. Michael Blose (Yam); 8. Cole Seibler (Suz); 9. Davi Millsaps (Suz); 10. Josh Grant (Hon); 11. Tiger Lacey (Hon); 12. Branden Jessemen (Hon).
Thanks to Rick Johnson’s Supercross.com for the great photos. Go to his site for more great shots.
I will post results and thoughts after each race.
