Indianapolis, IN - MDK KTM Lites rider Ryan Sipes earned his second top five finish of the season at the Indianapolis Supercross.
Sipes' day began well when he lined up for his Heat early in the evening. Sipes came around the first turn in 3rd off the start and was able to stay there throughout the heat. His teammate Matt Goerke lined the gate for the earlier Heat race along with MDK KTM Factory rider and last weekend's second place finisher, Martin Davalos. Both MDK KTM riders launched forward off the start to get out front early in their heat. Davalos came around in the top three with Goerke only two spots back. When the checkers flew, Davalos came across the finish line jump in 3rd while Goerke held on to 5th.
MDK KTM Factory Team rider Nick Wey was unable to compete at the Indianapolis Supercross in order to spend a week recovering from pneumonia. "The goal is for Nick to rest this week in order to be back in time for Daytona," commented MDK KTM Factory Team Manager Steve Lamson.
MDK KTM Lites Team rider Billy Laninovich was on hand at Indy, however, instead of contending the Lites class like he does out West he came to Indy to compete in the Supercross class aboard his KTM 450SX-F. Laninovich looked fast and felt good as he put in laps during first practice. Unfortunately, in the last minutes of practice, he suffered a big crash in the whoops and injured his shoulder. He rested up and tried to come back for the second practice but decided to opt out to prevent further injury. "I want to play it safe and make sure I am 100% before I compete in the Supercross class, therefore, I won't race tonight but intend to come out and try it again in a couple weeks. I like the 450 and want to show the fans and my team what I can do," reported Laninovich.
The Lites Supercross main, identical to all Lites races this season, was action-packed. Davalos and Goerke came around the first turn in 5th and 9th respectively while Sipes nearly had the holeshot but got pushed out and back to 10th. A few sections later as Sipes came over a triple he got tangled up with some riders who had crashed ahead of him. He went down and remounted near the end of the pack. Sipes, a podium finisher at last week's event, was not to be discouraged and displayed remarkable speed as he charged forward. By the end of the second lap he was already up to 10th. Davalos, who at one point was in third on the first lap, also went down and had to fight his way up. By the third lap Davalos was in 6th and Goerke, also on the move, was now in 7th. In no time, Davalos was back into the top five and Goerke was running as high as 6th position before he slowed down slightly due to nagging chest pain resulting from a crash at the Atlanta Supercross. Shortly after the finish line jump on lap 7, Davalos while in 5th, became cross-rutted and hit the ground for the second time during the main. This crash was more difficult to recover from and cost him to fall back to 14th before he was going again. He stayed on the gas picking up positions and was just able to move back into the top ten by the last lap. Davalos would finish 10th while Goerke was one spot up in 9th. Sipes, who impressed the crowd throughout the 15 lap main came from near dead last to 5th overall for the night. Sipes now sits 2nd in overall series points while Davalos moves to 3rd. MDK KTM Factory Team Manager Steve Lamson commented on the race, "Despite a few mishaps Martin (Davalos) showed incredible speed tonight. Although you can't take back the crashes, I believe he would have had another podium tonight had he stayed up. He continues to impress me and I am excited that he is running third in overall points and even more thrilled to see what he will bring to the table at Daytona."
Next Event: Daytona Supercross March 7, 2008 at the Daytona International Speedway.
Supercross Lites Results - Indianapolis:
1. T. Canard
2. R. Villopoto
3. N. Izzi
4. B. Coisy
5. R. Sipes - KTM
6. B. Jesseman
7. T. Bowers
8. B. Bayne
9. M. Goerke - KTM
10. M. Davalos - KTM
Overall Points - Supercross Lites:
1. T. Canard - 50
2. R. Sipes - KTM - 36
3. M. Davalos - KTM 33
4. N. Izzi - 33
5. T. Bowers - 31
Nick Wey, despite not being able to race at Indy, remains 9th overall in Supercross class series points.