Chris steps into the Lite
By TMX Archives on 1st Apr 09
IN the 15-lap AMA Supercross Lites event, Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Christophe Pourcel had a fantastic start and made his way to the front of the pack to claim his first victory of the championship. It feels great to come to America and achieve so much success in my first full season, said Pourcel who, after an accident in 2007, wasn't sure if he would ever walk again, let alone race.
I've worked really hard all season and so has my team. Tonight I got a good start and had a really good first lap. I'm really proud to win my first championship. It's been a really great season.
Second on the night was taken by Austin Stroupe who had to work hard as Broc Tickle, who claimed the holeshot, was hot on his heals to take an impressive third.
James Stewart claimed his ninth win of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and FIM World Championship in front of nearly 37,000 fans at Toronto's Rogers Centre.
As the 20-lap main event started, it was Rockstar/ Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi who claimed the holeshot and headed the pack with Stewart in second and Chad Reed down in fifth. However, by the end of the first lap, the two series leaders had made their way to the front with Stewart first, ahead of Reed. Reed remained on Stewarts tail for the first half of the race before settling into second place to take the runner-up points. Meanwhile, Factory Yamaha's Josh Hill rode to a season's best finish in third.
Every week it's 100 per cent, said Stewart. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while but it's a long championship and there's gonna be drama all the way to the end. I went too far inside on the start but it worked out and then I turned it on. I want to thank all my guys at San Manuel. We've been working hard all week to get here. At the end of the day, I know me, my team, and everyone involved are giving 100 per cent and that's all we can do.
The win sees Stewart gain much needed points to close the gap on Chad Reed to eight points and, with just four rounds remaining, the championship battle is set to go all the way to the final round.
Round 14 of the series will be held for the first time at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on Saturday, April 4.
AMA & WORLD SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 13 Rogers Centre, Toronto, CANADA
SUPERCROSS MAIN: 1 James Stewart (Yam), 2 Chad Reed (Suz), 3 Josh Hill (Yam), 4 Josh Grant (Yam), 5 Ivan Tedesco (Hon), 6 Kevin Windham (Hon), 7 David Millsaps (Hon), 8 Matt Boni (Suz), 9 Andrew Short (Hon), 10 Ben Coisy (Hon), 11 Mike Alessi (Suz), 12 Nathan Ramsey (Yam), 13 Kyle Chisholm (Yam), 14 Paul Carpenter (Kaw), 15 Nicholas Wey (Yam), 16 Tyler Bowers (Hon), 17 Broc Hepler (Yam), 18 Jacob Marsack (Hon), 19 Thomas Hahn (Kaw), 20 Jason Lawrence (Kaw).
SERIES STANDINGS after 13 rounds: 1 Reed 293 points, 2 Stewart 285, 3 Short 209, 4 Grant 190, 5 Tedesco 179, 6 Windham 173, 7 M Alessi 170, 8 Millsaps 166, 9 Villopoto 165, 10 Hill 128, 11 T Ferry 100, 12 Boni 78, 13 H Voss 74, 14 Wey 70, 15 Coisy 66,
SUPERCROSS LITES MAIN: 1 Christophe Pourcel (Kaw), 2 Austin Stroupe (Kaw), 3 Broc Tickle (Yam), 4 Branden Jesseman (Kaw), 5 Matthew Lemoine (Yam), 6 Wil Hahn (KTM), 7 Matthew Goerke (Suz), 8 Vince Friese (Hon), 9 Daniel Blair (Hon), 10 Blake Wharton (Hon), 11 Nico Izzi (Suz), 12 Jason Thomas (Hon), 13 Kyle Keylon (Hon), 14 Kevin Johnson (Yam), 15 Steven Clarke (Suz), 16 Jacob Saylor (Yam), 17 Darryn Durham (Yam), 18 Fred Karrle (Suz), 19 Tyler Wharton (Hon), 20 Brady Sheren (Suz).
SERIES STANDINGS (Lites East) after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Chris Pourcel 156 points (CHAMPION), 2 Stroupe 128, 3 Izzi 112, 4 B Wharton 102, 5 Jesseman 91, 6 W Hahn 83, 7 M Goerke 82, 8 M Lemoine 82, 9 D Blair 75, 10 Clarke 71, 11 Durham 64, 12 M Davalos 57, 13 B Tickle 46, 14 L Kilbarger 43, 15 V Friese 42,
NEXT ROUND: April 4 Jacksonville Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida.