Ricky Carmichael has won the opening round of the 2005 THQ World Supercross GP championship at Toronto's SkyDome – marking his first victory since signing for Suzuki.
Carmichael, who missed the entire 2004 Supercross season with a knee injury, edged out Honda's Kyle Lewis for the holeshot award in the main event - but was quickly passed by Lewis.
However, at the end of lap one Carmichael retook the lead and rode to his first THQ World Supercross GP win on a Suzuki.
Honda's Mike LaRocco and Lewis battled until lap six when Lewis crashed over the finish line jump. LaRocco held on for second while Yamaha's Tim Ferry made a late charge to secure third.
"I have a good head start on the competition," said Carmichael afterwards. "This race is important to me and the THQ World Supercross GP title is very important. I am going to continue to train and ride as hard as I can. It's great to be back after missing the entire season last year."
In the supporting 125cc class, Nathan Ramsey made an instant impact on his KTM race debut – by taking the holeshot and then leading all 15 laps on his way to victory. Honda's Bobby Kiniry finished second after chasing Ramsey for the entire race.
"My bike was great out of the gate," said Nate. "Once I had the holeshot, it was all about riding smart. There were a lot of lappers tonight. On lap five, I ran into my first lapper and had to play it smart."
Results - Toronto THQ World Supercross GP:
1. Ricky Carmichael, Suzuki
2. Mike LaRocco, Honda
3. Tim Ferry, Yamaha
4. Heath Voss, Yamaha
5. Nick Wey, Honda
6. Tyler Evans, Suzuki
7. Keith Johnson, Yamaha
8. Jason Thomas, Honda
9. Damon Huffman, Honda
10. Doug Dehaan, Honda
