March 28, 2006
Detroint, MI - Kawasaki Racing Team’s James Stewart put in another thrilling performance aboard his KX™450F to win his second consecutive Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP / Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series race. The 20-year-old Floridian kept a crowd of 40,101 on its feet at Detroit’s Ford Field Saturday night for 20 solid laps during the inaugural event at the new venue. Team Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Chris Gosselaar gave a hero’s effort aboard his KX250F to capture a third-place finish in the Supercross Lites race.
In what seemed like a replay of the Orlando event last week, Stewart began the evening by winning his eight-lap heat race so completely that he was in lapped traffic by the sixth lap. Then in the 20-lap main event, he passed holeshot winner Nick Wey two turns into the race and quickly pulled away from the field. Stewart was so dominant aboard the KX450F that he had a 10-second lead before the race was half over, and lapped the field all the way up to seventh place before taking the checkered flag.
On the podium Stewart was all smiles about his fifth win of the season. "There wasn't any reason to push the track," Stewart said. "I just put in 20 perfect laps, and got the win tonight. I just made a pace and didn't push it. The track got slippery, so you couldn't override it."
Stewart’s teammate, Michael Byrne, rode an exceptional heat race on his Kawasaki KX450F, finishing second to qualify for the main event. The talented Australian had a few intense battles for fifth-place with Nick Wey during the main event before a last lap tangle with Wey sent the pair to the ground. Despite the mix-up, Byrne regrouped quickly to salvage a sixth-place finish.
In Supercross Lites action, Team Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Chris Gosselaar posted another solid come-from-behind charge in the main event to finish on the podium. Richmond Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier took the holeshot as Gosselaar started the 15-lap feature in eighth before moving into sixth-place by the halfway point. He continued to charge up front and closed to within a few bike lengths of Robert Kiniry, who crashed in the whoops on the final lap and handed the third-place position to Gosselaar. Teddy Maier finished 12th while his Richmond Kawasaki teammates Donnie Mcgourty and Kyle Chisholm finished 14th and 15th respectively.
The Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP / Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series heads to Reliant Stadium in Houston next Saturday for the 13th stop on the 18-race series.