Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's David Vuillemin enjoyed a top-10 finish in AMA Supercrossfor the second weekend in a row, this time on Saturday night at Houston's Texas Reliant Stadium.The Frenchman rallied after crashing hard in his heat race and took the win in the Last ChanceQualifier. In the 20-lap main, Vuillemin got a rough start but soldiered on aboard his Rockstar MakitaSuzuki RM-Z450 to bring home an impressive 10th-place finish. Vuillemin's Supercross-classteammate Mike Alessi is still recovering after breaking his collarbone last week at the San Diegoround and did not race.
In the AMA Supercross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey will be taking off a fewmonths as the next and final round of the class will not be held until late April. In the weekend'srace, young Dungey was again extraordinarily fast in practice and in his heat race, where he took thewin. In the 15-lap main, Dungey got the holeshot and was battling for the lead when he crashedtwice. In spite of this, he still charged hard on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 to bring home astrong fourth-place finish.
David Vuillemin:
"In my heat race, on the first jump I had a big crash and went over into the other lane. I hurt myback and my neck. I rode around a few more laps to see how I felt, then I pulled out of the race andwent on to the LCQ, which I won. In the main, I was all the way on the outside of the gate for thestart and that is a really bad spot. As a result, I didn't get a good start and I just tried my best to catchup to the guys up front. I ended up in 10th, which is a pretty decent result, especially consideringhow hard I crashed in the heat race. Fortunately, I didn't break anything and I'm just a little bit sore. Iwill be ready for next week in Atlanta."
Ryan Dungey:
"This weekend started out pretty good. We were fastest in the first practice session and then I won myheat race. In the main, I got a great start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 and got theholeshot. I got passed but then I took over the lead again. Then, I made a little mistake and wentdown. I tried to push and catch those guys in front and went down again. At that point, I just putmy head down and tried to get as many points as possible. I admit I'm a little disappointed with howthings have gone in these last few races. But we're still in the hunt for the championship and that'swhat counts. We have a lot of time between now and the last round in Seattle, so I'm just going tofocus on doing my program and being positive."Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday, Feb.23, 2008.
Mike Alessi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #800
DNR - Houston Supercross
9th Place - Overall Championship Points Standings
David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #12
10th Place - Houston Supercross
10th Place - Overall Championship Points Standings
Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z250, #28
4thth Place - Houston Supercross Lites
2nd Place -- Overall Championship Points Standings
AMA Supercross Top 10 Finishers:
1. Kevin Windham, Honda
2. Chad Reed, Yamaha
3. Tim Ferry, Kawasaki
4. Josh Hill, Yamaha
5. Andrew Short, Honda
6. Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha
7. Charles Summey, Yamaha
8. Davi Millsaps, Honda (Holeshot)
9. Nick Wey, KTM
10. David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
AMA Supercross Lites Top 10 Finishers:
1. Austin Stroupe, Kawasaki
2. Jason Lawrence, Yamaha
3. Jake Weimer, Honda
4. Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing (Holeshot)
5. Brett Metcalfe, Kawasaki
6. Dan Reardon, Honda
7. Robert Kiniry, Honda
8. Wil Hahn, Yamaha
9. Michael LaPaglia, Suzuki
10. Thomas Hahn, Kawasaki