Team Suzuki
DUNGEY RETAINS SX SERIES LEAD

In spite of soggy conditions, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's Ryan Dungey (pictured right) walked away from this weekend's Supercross Lites race at San Francisco's AT&T Park with a healthy points lead in the championship.

The 18-year-old finished second in his heat race and seventh in the shortened 10-lap main. Although he'd got a good start in the main on his RM-Z250, Dungey hit a downed bike and then went down himself. After restarting his Suzuki, however, he quickly regained his composure and battled his way up to at top-10 finish.

He currently leads the championship by almost 20 points.

In the Supercross class, Mike Alessi did well in his heat race by finishing second. But the weather conditions hurt Alessi in the shortened, 15-lap main. He struggled and finished 15th.

Team-mate David Vuillemin was having a good ride in the main event for the first few laps, but then his knee popped out and he had to pull out of the race.

Ryan Dungey:
“We got a bit of rain and only got one short practice. Going into the heat race, we got second and that was good. In the main, they cut off five laps from that. I got a pretty decent start but made a mistake and went off the track but got back on and was charging hard. I was running in fourth and came across a lapper's bike. I didn't even see it and I doubled right into it. I was just thankful that I got right up. I got seventh but I feel like I rode well, besides those mistakes. I'm just a little bummed about tonight - if we'd had five more laps, I could have maybe gotten a top-five finish. But I'm feeling positive going into Anaheim. We're going to take care of business.”

Mike Alessi:
“We only had one practice and it was OK. It was really muddy and we struggled a bit but we made the bike better for the heat race. I got a great start in the heat race and ran second almost the whole race. At the main, it started pouring down rain and, it's hard to imagine, but it was the worst rain I'd ever seen. The track just became a slop-fest. I got a great jump at the start but then I spun really bad because of the rain and ended up 10th or 11th. Then I made a small mistake and went down. I ended up 15th and that's not where I should have been, I think I should have been third or fourth but things just didn't go my way. But we'll move on and get ready for next week at Anaheim.”

David Vuillemin:
“I wasn't feeling great in practice but the heat race went a lot better and I finished in fifth. Then it started raining a lot for the main event. I was pretty confident because I actually like riding in the rain. I was running in ninth and I popped my knee out in one of the ruts. I stopped and tried to stretch it to pop it back in but I couldn't do it; it was too painful. So I just stopped and came back to the truck. Even so, I had two good starts this weekend and we've made a lot of progress with the bike. I have to thank the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team for all their hard work. I don't think my knee is anything too serious and I hope to be back next weekend.”



Team KTM Racing Report
Photos: S. Giberson

The weather forecast called for rain, and rain came

Meanwhile, MDK KTM Factory rider Nick Wey lined up for Supercross Heat #2. Wey had a 10th placed start off the gate and managed to move quickly into a qualifying position. He rode consistent and smooth and stayed in a qualifying position throughout the heat moving his KTM on to the roster for the main event.
 
The rain seemed to be waiting for the Supercross main. Just as the riders took off from the gate, the rain picked up and began to pour on the already soaked crowd and track. Wey (pictured right) had a mid-pack start coming around 11th on the first lap. He quickly moved into the top ten and began to close in on the pack ahead. Riders were crashing everywhere and Wey was cautiously avoiding them as he continued to pick up speed. It seemed the more the rain fell, the faster Wey got! Throughout the shortened 15 lap main, Wey battled with Grant Langston, Eric Sorby, Heath Voss, Tim Ferry and Ivan Tedesco. It was Tedesco that would give him the greatest battle of all. On the last lap Wey had caught Tedesco who was currently running in 6th and began to inch closer trying to get a wheel on him in every turn. On the second to last corner Wey was half a bike length away. It was here, that Wey picked it up a notch and came side by side with Tedesco down the straight. With one turn to go before the checkers Wey came up on Tedesco but came just inches short of making the pass as they crossed the finish line. Although Wey finished 7th for the night, he showed his aggression is back and he will be "Ready to Race" with the leaders as the team heads back to Anaheim 3.

US Supercross Lites West Series
As the riders gathered their protective gear and tried to shield themselves from the showers, so did the fans at the nearly sold out San Francisco venue.
The crowd stood on their feet and pumped their fists in the air as the anthem was sung and the fireworks exploded marking the start of the fourth round of the highly anticipated Supercross Series.
 
MDK KTM Lites Team riders Justin Brayton (pictured right) and Billy Laninovich received warm cheers from the crowd as they lined the gates first for Heat #1 of the Lites class. Brayton got a great jump and rounded the first turn in fourth, his team-mate was not as fortunate and started second from the end needing to pass half the pack to qualify. Brayton rode a solid heat race managing to qualify easily into the main. Laninovich, with an almost last place start, put his head down and picked off riders one by one through the end of the heat. His mission was tough and he came up just short of a direct transfer to the main and would now have to qualify from the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).
 
In the Lites LCQ, Laninovich pulled a huge holeshot and led the pack around the first turn. He went over the triple and came around the next turn when disaster struck. He slid out and was hit by a couple riders. One rider directly ran over his bike breaking his throttle cable, and thus, putting a short end to what would have possibly been an incredible night for the Lites rider with one of the fastest qualifying practice times.
 
All-American KTM rider, Ryan Beat, on the #131 machine came up one spot short of qualifying to the main event which earned him the $250 Asterisk Medic Card. On the podium Beat thanked his sponsors and also mentioned, "This is only my second week on the KTM, and look how closely I came to qualifying. I think that speaks a lot for the bike and the company."
 
A quick break for track maintenance and the action was back on. The board turned sideways and the Lites riders were off! Brayton tried desperately to pull to the front of the pack but got pushed back as he tried to shy away from riders that had fallen in the first turn. When Brayton came over the first rhythm section he was in 19th. He quickly picked off four riders on the first lap and moved into 15th. Another turn, and he passed for 14th charging closer to the top ten. As he was moving in on 13th he got cross-rutted and tipped over. This crash put him back in 19th. He immediately remounted and began to catch and pass riders again. Due to the heavy rain, the race was reduced to a mere 10 laps. In the few laps after his crash, Brayton was able to salvage some points by passing six riders moving him into 13th for the night.