Ricky Carmichael took two straight wins and his third consecutive AMA Toyota Motocross race of the 2006 season on his RM-Z450 at Sunday’s Budds Creek AMA Motocross fourth round in California and increased his series lead to 20 points.
The Makita Suzuki rider has now won six of eight races from the 12-round, 24-race series and his 138th combined AMA Supercross/ Motocross career victory.
Ricky Carmichael:
“This win is special, since this year the competition has been tough. Chad Reed definitely stepped it up this weekend. He always rides well at Budds Creek and I knew it was going to be tough. This track has changed a lot since I first came here. It isn’t nearly as deep as it was and the turns kind of slot themselves into a single groove. It’s actually getting like this at most of the tracks we go to. The dirt just seems to be fading away or something. We just tried to put ourselves in a good position and it turned out to be a great weekend for Makita Suzuki. Now, I think we are all looking forward to the weekend off.”
In the Motocross Lites class, Team Makita Suzuki Racing’s Broc Hepler returned to race his Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 after missing the entire AMA Supercross season and the first few AMA Motocross races while recovering from a broken foot. He didn’t disappoint – the young rider finished an impressive second overall after coming in second in the first Lites moto and sixth in the second moto.
Broc Hepler:
“I was actually surprised at how well I did and I’m pretty happy with how it went. I felt good out there and I think I’ll be better for the next race. I don’t think my conditioning is too bad – it’s not where I would like it to be, but it is pretty good, for the amount of time I’ve had off. So we will just go out there and do the best we can and hopefully I will pick a few things up right away. I will just try my hardest to get my Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 back up on the podium.”
Overall: 1 Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki) 50 points, 2 Chad Reed (Yamaha) 44, 3 Kevin Windham (Honda) 36, 4 Nick Wey (Honda) 36, 5 Jason Thomas (Honda), 6 Tim Ferry (Honda) 28.
Championship Points: 1 Carmichael 192, 2 Reed 172, 3 Wey 122, 4 Millsaps 121, 5 Windham 117, 6 Preston 115, 7 Vuillemin 102, 8 Stewart 82, 9 Summey 76, 10 Thomas 65. |