Team Suzuki

Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey has retained his lead in the AMA Supercross West coast Lites series despite crashing twice at Saturday night's fifth round at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

The RM-Z250-mounted teenager - who has seen his lead over Yamaha's Jason Lawrence cut to just eight points with two rounds remaining - crashed on the first turn and started dead last. Then, after charging through the pack, he tangled with another rider and went down again, eventually taking 11th.

In the Supercross main, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi raced to sixth place and has dropped to fourth in the title hunt. So far this year, Alessi has had sixth and fourth-place finishes at this venue.

Team mate David Vuillemin finished 14th, and was still recovering from popping his knee out at last weekend's race. The Frenchman flew home to France last week to have his personal physician work on the leg and he was still feeling the effects of the injury on Saturday night.

Ryan Dungey:
"I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed about this weekend. We had a good heat race; the bike was running great and we got the win. But in the main, things just didn't go our way. But that's racing and I'll be back on my regular training program next week, getting ready for San Diego. It's important to have a positive outlook and I'm not going to sit around and think about this weekend's race. I'm looking forward and just focusing on being positive for San Diego."

Mike Alessi:
"I didn't feel that comfortable with the track in practice and I was struggling with a few sections and that kind of got my head messed up. I was just thinking about it too much and not focusing on trying to race the track. In the heat race I got a great start on the Suzuki RM-Z450 and was out front, but that same section messed me up and a couple guys got past me. But then I kept working at it
and finally got that section and I ended up third place. In the main I was just a bit off at the start - I didn't get a bad start, but I didn't get a great start either. I was in the middle of the pack and passed a few guys to get into sixth. I'm still fourth in points and that's pretty good. I just need to work more on my intensity at the beginning of the race and staying with those guys. These are the fastest guys in the world and it's a learning process for me. I've got to take the good with the bad and I'm just trying to get better gradually."

David Vuillemin:
"Earlier this week I went to see my doctor in France to get my knee in the right spot so I could race here at Anaheim. Obviously I knew I wouldn't be 100 per cent, since I'm still struggling with injuries. In the main, I made a big mistake in the first part of the race and got passed by four or five guys right away. It's frustrating, but that's the way it is. I was real aware of the knee and I didn't want to hurt it again - it's tough when you have to deal with injuries."



KTM Racing
MDK KTM Lites Team rider Billy Laninovich started the evening out well when he got a mid-pack start in Lites Heat #1 but was able to work his way into the 6th place qualifying position.

His team-mate, Justin Brayton, lined the gate for Heat #2. Although Brayton has been under the weather with a head cold for the past three weeks, you wouldn't have known based on his heat race performance. He brought his KTM up into the top three picking up third place and a direct transfer to the main.
 
All American KTM MX Fire and Police rider, Ryan Beat, placed 3rd in the Last Chance Qualifier to transfer into his first main event on his new KTM 250SX-F machine.
 
The gate dropped for the Lites main event and Laninovich and his KTM were in the top five. Brayton wasn't as fortunate and started mid-pack. Throughout the 15 lap main Laninovich held a top five spot staying ahead of the pack. Brayton continued to charge forward and had moved into 7th by the end of the race. Laninovich earned his best finish of the season when he came across the finish line in 4th just one spot shy of the podium.