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Round 8 - Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
Atlanta, GA
Georgia Dome
Feb. 25, 2006
More than 70,000 screaming Atlanta fans cheered on Team Makita Suzuki Racing’s Ricky Carmichael as he rode his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 to an exciting Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross victory at the Georgia Dome Saturday night. Teammate Ivan Tedesco finished the night with an impressive fourth place.
For Carmichael, however, the win was bittersweet. On the one hand, the Atlanta race is close to his Florida home and the defending Supercross Champion was racing in front of friends and family. This was his fourth career win at the Georgia Dome and it was also his 100th career Supercross-class start. But all of this came on the heels of the AMA docking Carmichael 25 points for allegedly using illegal fuel at the recent San Diego round, which knocked Carmichael out of the points lead.
“It was a race win,” said Carmichael matter-of-factly after the race. “I don’t have much to say. It’s a shame. Unless a miracle happens, I’m just out here racing to race. I’m disappointed for my team because we put in too much work, too much training and way too much money to sit on the sidelines and watch two other guys go at it for the championship. But life goes on and we’re gearing up for the Outdoors season.”
As usual, the Makita Suzuki riders’ evening began with the Supercross-class heat races. Both riders finished in second place in their respective eight-lap qualifiers, each advancing to the main. In spite of the circumstances, Carmichael put his head down in the 20-lap main and rode his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 for all he was worth. He got a pretty good start and used the first half of the race to move into position to take the lead. Once he was out in front, he rode smoothly and consistently to the checkered flag.
“It was a great race,” acknowledged Carmichael. “I saw James (Stewart) go down in turn one and I saw I could catch Chad (Reed, in the lead). I knew I could get up there. I got into second and put in some good hard laps. When I got around Chad, he was right on my tail. As the track got worn out, it was harder to go faster and harder to pass. I gave it my all and tried to run consistent laps. Even so, no championship for me.”
Meanwhile, Tedesco got a tremendous start and was in second place right off the bat. He held on to that position for the first several laps, before being passed by Carmichael, and settling into third. Eventually, however, he was overtaken by the competition and finished just behind the podium-finishers in fourth.
“I struggled with the track all night, and I’m pretty happy with fourth considering how the weekend went,” admitted Tedesco. “I felt pretty strong at the start and I tried to run a good pace, though it wasn’t good enough for the top three tonight. I’m just looking forward to racing my Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 at Indianapolis next weekend.”
In the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, Carmichael still leads the points chase and Tedesco remains in fourth position overall.
Ricky Carmichael, Team Makita Suzuki Racing RM-Z450, #4
1st Place - Supercross class, Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
3rd Place -- Overall
Ivan Tedesco, Team Makita Suzuki Racing RM-Z450, #9
4th Place - Supercross class, Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series
4th Place - Overall
Supercross Class Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ricky Carmichael, Team Makita Suzuki Racing
2. Chad Reed, Yamaha (holeshot)
3. James Stewart, Kawasaki
4. Ivan Tedesco, Team Makita Suzuki Racing
5. Ernesto Fonseca, Honda
6. Michael Byrne, Kawasaki
7. Nicholas Wey, Honda
8. Mike LaRocco, Honda
9. Ryan Clark, Honda
10. Travis Preston, Honda
Supercross Lites Class Top 10 Finishers:
1. Josh Grant, Honda (holeshot)
2. Davi Millsaps, Honda
3. Martin Davalos, Yamaha
4. Branden Jesseman, Yamaha
5. Matthew Goerke, Yamaha
6. Michael Blose, Honda
7. Teddy Maier, Kawasaki
8. Bobby Kiniry, Honda
9. Chris Gosselaar, Kawasaki
10. Sean Hamblin, Suzuki
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| Makita Suzuki’s Carmichael Wins Atlanta SX, Tedesco in Fourth | Log-in or register a new user account | 0 Comments |
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