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WARD STILL THE FAVORITE IN AMA SUPERMOTO // jeudi 10 mai 2007
Par DeVoTee*, jeudi 10 mai 2007 à 22:20 :: USA - Supermoto-AMA
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (May 10, 2007) Jeff Ward continues to defy the odds. Common knowledge would say that a racer of 45 would not be on the top of his game still winning championships against riders half his age. Yet as the 2007 AMA Supermoto Championship season approaches, Ward, the defending and two-time champ with Team Troy Lee Design Honda Red Bull, is still considered the rider to beat despite the fact that he will turn 46 in June.
Ward heads the list of top riders expected to make a run for this years premier class, the AMA Red Bull Supermoto. The series kicks off on May 19 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis and concludes on Nov. 11, with the Duel at the Docks in Long Beach.
Ward, who won his first Supermoto title in 2004, earned back the title last year over Doug Henry of Graves Yamaha by a margin of 36 points (429-393). Ward lost the 2005 title in the final round to Jurgen Kunzel. Chris Fillmore finished 2006 ranked third with 356 points. Fillmore will ride for Monster Energy/Litz Racing/Kawasaki in 2007.
2006 will be a year Ward wont soon forget. In August last year he became the oldest male gold medalist in X Games history when he won the Moto X event. After that Ward was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame. His AMA Supermoto title was icing on the cake.
Motocross has been my life and its always going to be my life, and Supermoto is a part of it now too, helping it grow, Ward said after winning the title last year in Long Beach. My oldest son (Brandon) runs it well and he might be able to have a career over here if it takes off big enough. And my other son (Ayrton) wants to go road racing and this is a perfect venue to start that with small bikes and the pavement. Its a good sport and I want to see it get bigger and bigger.
Wards Troy Lee Designs teammate Cassidy Anderson, who won last years AMA Supermoto Lites title, will step up and join Ward in the premier Supermoto class. Anderson, of Provo, Utah, had an outstanding 2006 in Supermoto Lites. He won seven of the 10 rounds, opening the season with five-straight wins. He built a large lead in the series halfway through the year and held it to the final race. He will now face Ward and the rest of the Supermoto regulars head to head for the first time.
Mark Burkhart will uphold Yamaha honors in Supermoto with the Graves Yamaha squad. Burkhart has been a leading competitor in the class and hes hoping to find the consistency that will bring him a championship. The Ohioan was the Lites champion in 2005.
HMC KTM will be a powerful squad again this year in the Supermoto class with British rider Kurt Nicoll and Australian up-and-comer Troy Herfoss.
Ben Carlson won the AMA Supermoto Unlimited Championship last year and now joins Factory Aprilia Rip It Racings Darryl Atkins riding the twin-cylinder Aprilia SXV. This year marks the first season the high-tech Aprilia 450cc V-Twin will be allowed to race in the Supermoto class and Carlson and Atkins should be factors, especially on tracks that feature bigger road racing sections. The duo will race Aprilia 550s in the AMA Supermoto Unlimited class as well.
David Baffeleuf will run under the LA Fuel GP Husqvarna banner. Micky Dymond is back riding for All Access Honda. Cary Hart and Tyler Evans have teamed up to form the all new Team Rockstar Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co., along with other premier class top riders including Steve Drew and Mike Metzger.
Sadly, there will be a big hole in the starting grids of this years races. Multi-time AMA Champion Doug Henry will not race due to serious injuries suffered in a Supermoto accident on March 4, during Daytona Bike Week activities. Henry is one of the premier stars of the series and his presence on the track will be sorely missed.
The AMA Hot Wheels Supermoto Lites class promises to be wide open this year with last years runner up Brandon Currie the pre-season favorite back with the Graves Yamaha team. David Pingree impressed everyone with his Lites victory in Long Beach last year and it earned him a coveted ride with Team Troy Lee Designs Honda Red Bull, where hell ride alongside team owner Troy Lee. Dalton Dimick and Matt Abbott will race for the newly formed Monster Energy/Litz Racing/Kawasaki team.
Ben Carlson will be back defending his AMA PPG Supermoto Unlimited presented by M&R Products No. 1 plate, but this year riding a twin-cylinder Aprilia. Im looking forward to riding with Aprilia, said Carlson. Im sure theres going to be some great competition in the class.
Team HMC KTM will be a powerhouse in AMA Supermoto Unlimited class with Troy Herfoss, Kurt Nicoll and young gun John Lewis. Gary Trachy and David Baffeleuf are slated to run the big bikes for Husqvarna.
The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis will host the AMA Supermoto Championship season opener on May 19. For more information visit www.stlouissupermoto.com.
About AMA Racing
AMA Racing is the competition arm of the American Motorcyclist Association and is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its professional properties include the Ampd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, the AMA Supermoto Championship and the AMA Pro ATV Championship. In amateur and pro-am competition, AMA Racing sanctions over 4000 events in 24 different disciplines and supports over 110 thousand active members. For more information about professional racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access an on line Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. For amateur racing information visit www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/amasports.asp.
2007 AMA SUPERMOTO SCHEDULE REVISED // mercredi 9 mai 2007
Par DeVoTee*, mercredi 9 mai 2007 à 12:29 :: USA - Supermoto-AMA
2007 AMA SUPERMOTO SCHEDULE REVISED
Hartford, Oklahoma City and Galveston added to 10-race schedule
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (May 8, 2007) AMA Racing announced today that the 2007 AMA Supermoto Championship schedule has been revised, adding events in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Sept. 9) and Galveston, Texas (Nov. 3) and moving the Hartford, Conn., event to a new date (Aug. 25) and location.
Each venue will welcome their inaugural AMA Supermoto Championship race. Stafford Motor Speedway near Hartford, Conn., will now host Round 5 of the series, Oklahoma Motorsports Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla., will host Round 7 and one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the nation, the Lone Star Rally in Galveston will host Round 9. Both the Denver stop at Invesco Field and Connecticuts round at MotoTown USA have been removed from the schedule due to local ordinance issues.
The AMA Supermoto Championship is one of the most exciting series in two-wheel racing, with both dirt and pavement sections that form a race course combining the attributes of supercross, flat track and road racing.
The series kicks off on May 19, with a first-time visit to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in St. Louis, and culminates on Nov. 11 at Troy Lee Designs Duel at the Docks in Long Beach.
We are very excited about the addition of the latest events to the national schedule, said AMA Supermoto Director, Joel Grover. We are working hard with each event promoter to ensure the most successful series so far.
Combing the United States, the AMA Supermoto Championship will showcase some of the most talented motorcycle racers in the world, including racing legend and current AMA Supermoto Champion, Jeff Ward, as well as two young-gun support class Champions in Cassidy Anderson (AMA Supermoto Lites) and Ben Carlson (AMA Supermoto Unlimited).
Last year, Ward, who has also enjoyed success in AMA Supercross/Motocross and IRL Racing, claimed his second AMA Supermoto title. Ward, who has a combined nine AMA National championships, won his first Supermoto title in 2004.
Below is a listing of the entire 2007 AMA Supermoto Championship schedule:
2007 AMA SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
ROUND DATE VENUE LOCATION
1 May 19 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis, MO
2 June 3 Raceway Park Englishtown, NJ
3 June 23 Miller Motorsports Park Salt Lake City, UT
4 July 8 Waterford Hills Road Course Detroit, MI
5 Aug. 25 Stafford Motor Speedway Hartford, CT
6 Sept. 1 Music City Motorplex Nashville, TN
7 Sept. 9 Oklahoma Motorsports Complex Oklahoma City, OK
8 Sept. 15 Pacific Grand Prix Seattle, WA
9 Nov. 3 Lone Star Rally Galveston, TX
10 Nov. 11 TLDs Duel at the Docks Long Beach, CA
jF*
