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Motocross Illustrated http://www.mximag.com
Motocross Illustrated http://www.mximag.com
06/02/2007 - 07:00 PM
Englishtown, New Jersey
Graves Yamaha's Mark Burkhart rebounded from his disappointing fourth-place finish at the AMA Supermoto Championship opener to win round two at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. (Photo: Scott Rousseau, MXi) » More Photos
After finishing a disappointing fourth at the AMA Supermoto Championship in St. Louis, Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Mark Burkhart came back strong during round two at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, this afternoon, to post his first win of the 2007 AMA season.
With a light but steady rain pouring down, Burkhart battled back and forth with defending AMA Supermoto Champion Jeff Ward in the 14-lap feature for the 450cc machines. The 27-year-old Ohioan took the lead in the early going after Ward's Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull Honda teammate Cassidy Anderson grabbed the holeshot and then slid out in the first turn of the first dirt section on the track. Burkhart tried to get away from Ward, but Ward, a multi-time AMA National MX, Supercross and Supermoto Champion, had something to say about that, and he stole the lead away from Burkhart on the inside of the long left-handed sweeper in the first dirt section on lap five.
Graves Yamaha's Mark Burkhart and Troy Lee Designs Honda's Jeff Ward (Photo: Scott Rousseau, MXi) » More Photos
When it was Ward's turn to set the pace, he laid down some pretty quick laps, running in the 1-minute, 9-second range – almost five seconds slower than his best qualifying lap but fast enough to pull a gap of two to three seconds on Burkhart. Ward couldn't keep it up, however, as his rain tires started to give way about the time that he began to hit lapped traffic. Burkhart easily caught back up to Ward, and when Ward slipped and drifted just a bit wide in the left-hander that led to the Parts Unlimited urbancross finish line jump, Burkhart stuffed his factory Yamaha YZ450F underneath Ward to steal the lead away with just two laps to go. Burkhart had an easy time pulling clear of Ward after that, and he went to win the race by a margin of 4.368 seconds.
"That's a lot better than fourth at St. Louis," Burkhart said. "I just tried to ride smart. He put a lot of time on me there, but I stayed smart. I don't know if his tires started going away or what, but my Graves Yamaha was working good."
HMC KTM's Troy Herfoss also rode much smarter and placed much better than he had at St. Louis, the Australian piloting his KTM 450SX-F across the line third, almost 25 seconds behind Burkhart. Fourth off the start, Herfoss passed Mach 1 Motorsports/Xcyto Yamaha's Steve Drew on lap two and pulled away while Drew led a freight train of riders that included LA Fuel/GP Husqvarna's David Baffeleuf, Fredericktown Yamaha's Jason Conlon, Mach 1 Motorsports/Xcyto Yamaha's Danny Casey, All Access/Parts Unlimited Honda's Micky Dymond and Rockstar Energy/Hart & Huntington Honda's Tyler Evans. Dymond, who crashed out of his heat race and had to qualify for the main through the LCQ, diced his way through the group and passed Drew on lap 10 to take over fourth place, which he held to the finish. Drew was fifth, followed by Conlon, Baffeleuf, Casey and Evans. Rip It Energy Aprilia's Benny Carlson rounded out the top 10.
Benny Carlson dominated the Supermoto Unlimited feature at Raceway Park, scoring his second win in as many rounds. (Photo: Scott Rousseau, MXi) » More Photos
Benny Carlson didn't leave the track without a trophy however, as he completely
"That bike works so good!" Carlson said. "I had no idea how far ahead I was. I just put my head down. I've been doing a lot of Friday night motocross races, and I think that has been helping me a lot. I just have to keep it going and have fun. That's what it's all about."
Sixth after lap one, Lewis had to battle his way past Supermoto Depot/Ironclad Husqvarna's Gary Trachy, LA Fuel/GP Husqvarna's David Baffeleuf and BP Racing/Troy Lee Designs KTM's Josh Chisum to make his way to third, behind Nicoll, who kept him at bay for the last several laps to secure the runner-up spot. Baffeleuf finished fourth, 11 seconds behind the pair, while Rockstar Energy/Hart & Huntington Honda's Travis Marks finished fifth, another 14 seconds behind Baffeleuf.
Brandon Currie (left) held off David Pingree (101) for the Supermoto Lites win at Raceway Park. Currie is now two for two in Lites competition in 2007. (Photo: Scott Rousseau, MXi » More Photos
Like Carlson, Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Brandon Currie extended his national win streak to two, backing up his St. Louis Supermoto Lites victory with another one in Englishtown. Only this time Currie started on the pole, grabbed the holeshot and led every lap over his Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull Honda rival David Pingree, who charged from fifth place to second place in just two laps. Pingree remained within striking distance of Currie after that but was unable to get enough of a drive to make a pass attempt. Currie eked out a 1.683-second margin of victory by the end of the 12-lap race.
"It was a good race," Currie said. "I knew I needed a good start so that I didn't have to follow Pingree around. I knew it would be either me or him. I just tried to get off the line as best I could. He was faster than me in the dirt, and I was faster than him on the asphalt. It was just a good race overall."
Monster Energy/Mountain Adventures Kawasaki's Matt Abbott inherited third place after Mach 1 Motorsports/Xcyto Yamaha's Jamie Siever and LA Fuel/GP Husqvarna's Adam Cini collided in the dirt section on lap 11. Cini managed to get going again and finish eighth, while Siever dropped out and was credited with 13th. Abbott's finish marked the first podium finish for the Mountain Adventures Kawasaki team, which started contesting the AMA Supermoto Championship during the 2006 season.
The series heads west to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, for round three, June 23-24.
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