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Stewart series leader after Seattle drama PDF Print E-mail
Written by Alex Asigno   
Monday, 20 April 2009 00:00
With just two rounds to go in the 2009 AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship) LandM San Manuel Yamaha's James Stewart has moved to the top of the standings after scoring the runner-up position last Saturday at the Qwest Field in Seattle. The Floridian recovered from a poor start to run through the field and scoop 22 points for his 13th rostrum appearance so far in the seventeen-race schedule.

Stewart's night of hard work and decent race-craft on the YZ450F across a sandy and rough track on the west coast was further buoyed by the news that main title rival Chad Reed could only take 7th place - his worst finish of the season - after a first turn tumble. The 23 year old gained nine positions in fifteen laps after being held up around a tight opening corner.

"They told me how far I was back - fifteenth or something like that - and it was crazy," he recalls. "I bent my clutch lever as soon as I got hit in that first corner, and it was just like, 'Man, just try to stay up.' The first couple laps were carnage, with guys trying to pass each other. I'm pretty stunned that I was able to come up and get second because I saw how far ahead those guys were."

Stewart had trailed the Australian by five points coming to Seattle but the classification from Saturday evening mean that the pair have swapped positions at the top of the championship standings and the Yamaha rider has a 3 point advantage with only trips to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas in the next two weeks left to run.


"We've had 15 races and I've been in the points lead twice now," said Stewart who is still hoping to be the first rider to give Yamaha 11 victories in one season (he currently has 10 and a career total of 35). "At the end of the day, it's for the championship. It's all about the championship right now. I've won a lot of races this year, and I always found myself in second place in the points - always catching up - so it feels good to be in the points lead, but we've got a long way to go still."

Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Grant took 6th position on his YZ450F and is 4th in the points table.

The penultimate round of the 2009 campaign will take place next Saturday at the Rice Eccles Field in Salt Lake City.

Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 50, 016
Weather: Dry
Last Years Winner: Kevin Windham
2009 AMA-SX Seattle, WA 19/04/2009
Race 1 - 20 Laps
Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time
1     Ryan Villopoto     Kawasaki     USA     18'28.902
2     James Stewart     Yamaha     USA     0'07.873
3     David D Millsaps     Honda     USA     0'09.359
4     Mike Alessi     Suzuki     USA     0'10.735
5     Andrew Short     Honda     USA     0'23.027
6     Josh Grant     Yamaha     USA     0'29.702
7     Chad Reed     Suzuki     AUS     0'38.537
8     Paul Carpenter     Kawasaki     USA     0'43.705
9     Ivan Tedesco     Honda     USA     0'47.632
10     Kevin Windham     Honda     USA     0'52.394
11     Nicholas Wey     Yamaha     USA     0'54.538
12     Heath Voss     Honda     USA     1'06.764
13     Thomas Hahn     Kawasaki     USA     -1Laps
15     Jason Thomas     Honda     USA     -1Laps
16     Kyle Chisholm     Yamaha     USA     -1Laps

Rider Standings     18/04/2009
Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points
1.    James Stewart    Yamaha    USA    332
2.    Chad Reed    Suzuki    AUS    329
3.    Andrew Short    Honda    USA    241
4.    Josh Grant    Yamaha    USA    208
5.    Kevin Windham    Honda    USA    204
6.    Mike Alessi    Suzuki    USA    203
7.    Ivan Tedesco    Honda    USA    199
8.    Ryan Villopoto    Kawasaki    USA    190
9.    David D Millsaps    Honda    USA    188
10.    Josh Hill    Yamaha    USA    146
11.    Tim Ferry    Kawasaki    USA    100
12.    Heath Voss    Honda    USA    95
13.    Matt Boni    Suzuki    USA    83
14.    Nicholas Wey    Yamaha    USA    80
15.    Kyle Chisholm    Yamaha    USA    79
18.    Broc Hepler    Yamaha    USA    70
20.    Jason Lawrence    Yamaha    USA    43
30.    Nathan Ramsey    Yamaha    USA    15
38.    Sean Hamblin    Yamaha    USA    3

Manufacturer Standings     18/04/2009
Pos.     Manufacturer     Points
1.    Yamaha    363
2.    Suzuki    333
3.    Honda    280
4.    Kawasaki    235
5.    KTM    73