The more things change, the more they stay the sameor so they say. Last year's Toronto Supercross was all Ricky Carmichael on his brand-new Suzuki RM250. Of course, none of the other top guys showed up. This year, though, Carmichael, James Stewart and Chad Reed all showed up, and they all showed up on four-strokes, whereas last year they all raced two-strokes.
The man with the most proving to do was Stewart, who has suffered from illnesses and injuries for much of the last year. And prove, he did.
Stewart and his Kawasaki teammate Michael Byrne rounded the first turn first and second on their KX450Fs, but Stewart was quickly into the lead. But his early race dominance was short-lived; Stewart went down, handing the lead to Carmichael, who had worked his way past Aussies Reed and Byrne and into second.
 Stewart - trading in his #259...  Stewart - trading in his #259 plate for #7 - took the holeshot aboard his KX450F. | | |
"This track was pretty rocky tonight, and I hit a rock going into the first corner," Stewart said, "but I kept the bike going and just got back around Chad and set my sight on Ricky."
Carmichael's new Suzuki teammate...
Carmichael's new Suzuki teammate Ivan Tedesco made his debut in the premier (250) class.
When Stewart got back into second, he had a few seconds to chase Carmichael down, and he did it by the halfway point. Then it seemed like he was toying with the champ, as he passed Carmichael and then seemingly, and inexplicably, let him back by.
"James was obviously faster than me. You guys could see that," Carmichael said. "He was letting me go. He'd pass me and then slow down and not jump doubles, and I'd go back by him, and I don't know, I guess he was just playing with me. But if I was him, I'd have just tried to pass me and go on with it."
Stewart says he wanted to stay behind Carmichael because he wanted to learn from him.
"These races are warmup races," Stewart said. "We take `em serious, but the more information I can learn from this guy, it's going to make me that much better. I knew I had to get him before the checkered flag came out, otherwise all that was for nothing. But I felt really strong tonight. I just wanted to sit behind him and follow him around. I didn't want to get around him and have him follow my lines."
 Stewart hit the ground, letting...  Stewart hit the ground, letting Carmichael and Reed by early in the race. |  Stewart collected himself,...  Stewart collected himself, ultimately catching and passing Carmichael for the lead. |  Davi Millsaps - newly aboard...  Davi Millsaps - newly aboard a Honda - took the Lites class win. |
And with two laps to go, Stewart made a move stick and took off for the victory. His patience paid off. He has not always been known for patience.
"I think basically that was the old James Stewartjust go out there and race," said Stewart, who lapped up to sixth place in the 20-lap race. "But I want to go 18 races, and I'm really focusing on the track, watching the videos between practices, and I'm finding some good lines out there that I know with the way the track deteriorates, it's going to be great toward the end. Ricky messed up there and I didn't want to land on himagain. But it was a great race. I hope it was good for Clear Channel and the fans out here. It's the first real supercross for the KX450 and we got two holeshots."
YZ450Fmounted Chad Reed...
YZ450Fmounted Chad Reed completed the podium.
Carmichael hung on for second.
"Obviously, I think there was [Jeff] Stanton, then Jeremy [McGrath], then myself, and then Chad [Reed] and then Bubba [James Stewart]," Carmichael said. "It seems like every new generation there's a new style, and I'm just trying to adapt. I really believe that my line selection needs to be a little bit better. Maybe that's what I need to work on. And I want to stay healthy. It's a long season. I can go a little bit faster, but you can only do what your bike will allow you to do. I was riding it the best that I could, and it got me second place tonight."
Reed finished a rather distant third in his YZ450F debut.
"We're here for a reason, and the reality is this is a warmup race," Reed said. "We have a lot of things to achieve, and I think we achieved a lot this weekend. Things are going well. They didn't look so well and they didn't feel so great, but I think overall it was a good weekend."
Supercross Lites
Honda's Andrew Short held...
Honda's Andrew Short held the lead before apparent mechanical problems caused him to crash.
The Lites races in Toronto and the upcoming round in Vancouver are merely for bragging rights. There are no points offered, and no championships to go after. However, for whatever reason, many more top 125 pilots showed up this year than last year. Last year was all Red Bull KTM's Nathan Ramsey. This year, he had company in the form of teammate Josh Hansen, Team Honda's Andrew Short and Davi Millsaps, and even SoBe/Samsung/Honda/No Fear riders Billy Laninovich (who won the San Francisco 125cc race last year) and rookie Jake Weimer.
The odds were in Honda's favor that they would get the holeshot in the main event, as 13 of the 22 riders were on board the red machines, and Short didn't disappoint, getting the holeshot to begin the main event. Short quickly began to check out as Hansen, Ramsey and Millsaps gave chase.
Millsaps made the move by Ramsey early in the race just past the finish line, and then in an uncharacteristic move, Ramsey ran into Millsaps' rear wheel and went down going into the following corner. Although he was slow to get up, he is said to be okay.
"I passed him on the inside, didn't I? Something like that," Millsaps said. "I stuck it on the inside and all I know is I was going down the straightaway and I tucked inside and he was going to the outside and wasn't paying attention and ran right into me. Luckily I was leaned over some, otherwise I would've highsided. I asked him after the race and he just said he made a stupid mistake and it cost him the race."
Ramsey didn't finish the race.
KTM's Josh Hansen finished...
KTM's Josh Hansen finished second ahead of Billy Laninovich.
As Millsaps closed in on Hansen in second, Short had a mechanical problem and went down in a heap. He had been looking down at his bike in the air over the jumps previous.
That put Hansen into the lead.
"Short was riding good," Hansen said. "He ended up landing in the grandstands back over thereit looked kind of sketchy."
It came down to Hansen and Millsaps for the race win, as it had a few times in the 125cc East last season. When Millsaps finally got by Hansen, Hansen nearly landed on him.
"I didn't want to do nothing stupid like throw him over a berm or land on him, and there was a good chance one time I almost landed on him," Hansen said. "It kind of scared me. The ruts were really gnarly out there tonight. I made mistakes tonight and Davi rode like Davi. He came through the pack and straight took over the lead again. I'm kind of pissed about it. I thought maybe things have changed once he got on his Honda and he wouldn't be used to it, but I guess not."
Millsaps was happy to make his Honda debut a winning one, lapping up to sixth place in the process.
"I kind of bogged off the startlike normal, whateverbut I kind of rode my way through the pack," Millsaps said. "I came up behind Hansen here and after the finish line, I came off my bike and did a couple of sprints down the straightaway. I made a couple mistakes, and so did he, and I won the race. It's not the way I wanted to win it, with Short going out, but I'll take it."
Laninovich came through for third.
"Well, definitely, I wanted to win," Laninovich said. "I didn't do that. I rode really well. The track was really difficult, so I'm just excited. I want to be consistent this year and be on the podium as much as possible."
250cc Main Event
1. James Stewart Jr. (Kaw)
2. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
3. Chad Reed (Yam)
4. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
5. Nick Wey (Hon)
6. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
7. Jason Thomas (Hon)
8. Justin Buckelew (Hon)
9. Jeff Gibson (Hon)
10. Doug DeHaan (Hon)
11. Clark Stiles (Suz)
12. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
13. Ryan Clark (Hon)
14. Tyler Evans (Suz)
15. Michael Young (Hon)
16. Ted Campbell (Hon)
17. Jacob Marsack (Hon)
18. Marco Dube (KTM)
19. Jiri Dostal (Hon)
20. Heath Voss (Yam)
Toronto 125cc Main Event
1. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
2. Josh Hansen (KTM)
3. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
4. Jake Weimer (Hon)
5. M. Willard (KTM)
6. M. Cooke (Hon)
7. Brady Sheren (Kaw)
8. Ryan Lockhart (Suz)
9. Dennis Ewing (Hon)
10. K. Keast (Hon)
11. J. Thompson (Hon)
12. J. Burke (Hon)
13. L. Martin (Hon)
14. R. Gauld (Hon)
15. B. White (Yam)
16. Clinton Shealy (Suz)
17. C. Schlacht (Hon)
18. T. Medaglia (Hon)
19. N. Farlow (Yam)
20. D. Evans (Kaw)
THQ World Supercross GP Points Standings (After 1 of 17 rounds)
1. James Stewart Jr. (25/1 win)
2. Ricky Carmichael (22)
3. Chad Reed (20)
4. Ivan Tedesco (18)
5. Nick Wey (16)
6. Michael Byrne (15)
7. Jason Thomas (14)
8. Justin Buckelew (13)
9. Jeff Gibson (12)
10. Doug DeHaan (11)
11. Clark Stiles (10)
12. Kyle Lewis (9)
13. Ryan Clark (8)
14. Tyler Evans (7)
15. Michael Young (6)
16. Ted Campbell (5)
17. Jacob Marsack (4)
18. Marco Dube (3)
19. Jiri Dostal (2)
20. Heath Voss (1)