Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael is having the battle of his career in the 2006 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, but the four-time series champ finds himself in the familiar position of leading the standings coming into the San Francisco Supercross this Saturday, January 28, at SBC Park.
Carmichael took over sole possession of the series lead with a victory last weekend at Anaheim II. The win, watched by a national television audience Sunday on CBS, came after a hard-fought, race long battle with Kawasaki’s James Stewart. In the closing stages Stewart slid his front tyre in a turn and fell allowing the closely pursuing Carmichael to slip by for his second straight win in the series.
"I got in behind James and we had a great battle," smiled Carmichael, a two-time winner at SBC Park. "I was just sitting there enjoying the competition. That was one of the most fun races I’ve ever been in. I hated to win it that way with James falling down, but even if I hadn’t won it proved that our team has found the speed to run up front. It’s shaping up to be a great series, one the fans have been waiting for."
Stewart’s minor slip in Anaheim not only dropped him to third in that race, but more importantly cost him the series lead. He now is in third, one point behind Chad Reed and five behind Carmichael.
"I wanted that race to go down to the final lap," said a frustrated Stewart of the Anaheim II race. "It was such a good battle that it’s a shame that it ended the way it did. I saw a lapped rider down in the turn and just lost concentration for a split second. That corner was slick and I washed out my front wheel and I was on the ground before I knew it. It’s a tough series and things like that are going to happen. Fortunately I didn’t lose too much ground in the points and I’ll go to San Francisco hoping to come back strong."
