Newly-crowned AMA Motocross Champion Ricky Carmichael has once again made AMA Motocross history by winning the twelfth and final round of the 2005 series, held at Glen Helen Raceway - to complete a third undefeated season!
The Makita Suzuki rider, racing in a special Motocross of Nations colour scheme, won the opening 30-minute plus two lap race by 16-seconds from Honda’s Kevin Windham and the second by seven seconds from another Honda rider, Ernesto Fonseca.
The victory was Carmichael's 27th win in a row, dating back to July of 2003, extending the longest winning streak in AMA Motocross history: He became the first rider ever to go undefeated in the series in 2002, repeated the feat in 2004 (again with Honda) and now again this year with Suzuki.
"I had a great season," said Carmichael, the all-time wins leader in AMA Motocross. "Makita Suzuki stepped up to the plate and delivered. We came into the year with an unproven motorcycle and we were able to be successful. Helping this team come back to prominence makes me feel like I really accomplished something."
Windham gave Carmichael a bit of a race in the first moto before slipping off the pace, although he still finished well ahead of the third place finisher, Yamaha’s David Vuillemin, who in turn finished race one ahead of series rival Ernesto Fonseca - the two factory riders having gone into the Glen Helen round tied for third place in the points standings.
In the second moto, Fonseca got into second with Windham third and Vuillemin fourth. Fonseca held Windham at bay, though Windham did not seem to be too concerned about passing his fellow Honda rider, knowing that if he had, it would jeopardise Fonseca's finish in the series.
Fonseca went on to finish second in the moto, take third overall on the day and third in the series. Windham finished second overall and second in the championship, while Vuillemin finished fourth and fourth in the series.
