CARMICHAEL WINS AT INDIANAPOLIS

Team Makita Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael raced to his fifth win of the season at Saturday night’s Indianapolis Supercross to close within one point of the Amp’d AMA Supercross series lead.

The reigning World and AMA Supercross Champion took the lead on lap two of the Supercross Main event from Ernesto Fonseca (Honda) to win by three seconds.

Said Carmichael: “To be honest, it was pretty uneventful for me. I got a really good start on my Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and then I got up front and I just tried to keep an eye on Chad Reed and James Stewart and mark them on the track. Then I just tried to do the best that I could and put in some good laps.”

This Indianapolis victory follows the announcement that Carmichael regained the 25 points that he’d lost when the AMA penalised him for use of illegal fuel at the recent San Diego round. The AMA rescinded the points penalty earlier in the week.

“I’m happy to get the points back,” said Carmichael. “Now I have a chance at the Championship. I think that this experience will help everyone in the long run and as the defending champion, I want to help the sport.”

Carmichael started the night by taking the holeshot in his eight-lap heat race and then finishing second. In the 20-lap main event, he again got a great start and was in the lead before the end of the second lap and rode flawlessly. Although he lost some time among the lapped riders, he charged hard to the chequered flag.

“I don’t go out and try to be aggressive. That kind of riding only gets you so far. Tonight with the state of mind I had, I just wanted to get a decent start and let it come to me.”

Makita Suzuki team mate Ivan Tedesco, meanwhile, got a mid-pack start in his qualifying race and eventually finished fourth to advance to the main event. Like Carmichael, he got a pretty good start in the Main Event and had worked his way up to third place before settling into fourth.

“I struggled with the track all weekend,” he said afterwards. “It seems like for the past two weeks I’ve had a rough time in practice and the heat races and then I’m able to pull it together in the main - not where I’d like to be, but all right. Tonight the track was really hard to pass on, but I managed to get into fourth.”

This week, the Makita Suzuki crew travels to Florida to prepare for next weekend’s race at Daytona International Speedway. For Carmichael, this is a hometown race and for Tedesco, a brand-new venue.

“I’ll definitely put more time into training for Daytona this year,” said Carmichael, who finished second there in 2005. “I don’t want to go out there and get my ass kicked. I’m looking for a little revenge.”

Added Tedesco, “It’s supposed to be the toughest race but I’m feeling really fit right now and I’ve never raced there, so I don’t have any real expectations. But I’m looking forward to the race.”

In the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, Carmichael still leads the points chase and Tedesco remains in fourth position overall.

Supercross Main: 1 Ricky Carmichael (Makita Suzuki), 2 James Stewart (Kawasaki), 3 Chad Reed (Yamaha), 4 Ivan Tedesco (Makita Suzuki), 5 Nick Wey (Honda), 6 Ernesto Fonseca (Honda), 7 Michael Byrne (Kawasaki), 8 Travis Preston (Honda), 9 Tim Ferry (Honda), 10 Jeff Gibson (Honda).

AMA Supercross Points (after 9 rounds): 1 Reed 191, 2 Carmichael 190, 3 Stewart 174, 4 Tedesco 144, 5 Wey 133, 6 Byrne 132, 7 Fonseca 125, 8 LaRocco 108, 9 Preston 103, 10 Gibson 70.

World Supercross Points (after 11 rounds): 1 Carmichael 242, 2 Stewart 233, 3 Reed 231, 4 Tedesco 191, 5 Wey 179, 6 Byrne 179, 7 Gibson 127, 8 Thomas 123, 9 Clark 122, 10 Evans 105.