Round 11 - AMA Supercross Series
Minneapolis, MN
HHH Metrodome
March 15, 2008
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's Ryan Dungey scored his first podium in the SX class Saturdaynight with a strong second-place finish at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aftergrabbing the holeshot, Dungey led for three laps before relinquishing the lead and settling down insecond place. Rockstar Makita Suzuki's David Vuillemin also put in a strong performance on theSuzuki RM-Z450, maintaining sixth place for nearly the first half of the race until falling back andsettling for an eighth-place finish.
In the AMA Supercross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Nico Izzi struggled a bit in the whoopsin Minneapolis, scoring sixth place in his heat race, following that up with a ninth-place finish in theLites main event. Izzi has moved up to fourth overall in the Supercross Lites east championship.
Ryan Dungey:
"The crowd was behind me 100 percent, and I could hear them on every lap. This is only my thirdrace in this class, so I'm very happy being able to score a second place. I mean, what a way to reallygo out. I hope we gave the fans a show! My Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 worked flawlessly and itwas great to have the team, the fans and my family behind me all the way. I'm looking forward toanother race or two on the RM-Z450 and then getting back to business on my Suzuki RM-Z250 inSeattle."
David Vuillemin:
"Minneapolis started pretty good for me. I had good practice times on a basic style track. I startedgood in the heat race and finished fourth. I had a great start again in the main and was sixth after alap. I took advantage of Reed's crash and moved to fifth around half way. I made a few bobbles andeven went off the track due to a front brake issue. I was then seventh and eventually got passed byReed towards the end. Overall it was an okay weekend and I am happy for the team, with RyanDungey's second place in front of his hometown crowd. We have a weekend off now, which is goodto regroup, get some training done and start working on some outdoor testing."
Nico Izzi:
"I kind of struggled all night in the whoops. I felt pretty good on the rest of the track but the whoopswere tough for me and I knew I had to make it up somewhere else. I was able to pull off a sixth in myheat and a ninth in the main. I was disappointed with the result but felt better when I found out I stillmoved into fourth over-all in points. It will be good to have a couple weeks off to train and work onmy weaknesses."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's David Vuillemin and Ryan Dungey will be racing their Suzuki RM-Z450s next at the Roger's Centre in Toronto, Canada on Saturday, March 29, 2008.
David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #12
8th Place - Minneapolis Supercross
8th Place - Overall Championship Points Standings
Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #28
2nd Place - Minneapolis Supercross
NA - Overall Championship Points Standings
Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z250, #341
9th Place - Minneapolis Supercross Lites
4th Place -- Overall Championship Points Standings
AMA Supercross Top 10 Finishers:
1. Josh Hill, Yamaha
2. Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing (Holeshot)
3. Kevin Windham, Honda
4. Andrew Short, Honda
5. Thomas Hahn, Kawasaki
6. David Millsaps, Honda
7. Chad Reed, Yamaha
8. David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
9. Travis Preston, Kawasaki
10. Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha
AMA Supercross Lites Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki
2. Josh Grant, Honda (Holeshot)
3. Martin Davalos, KTM
4. Trey Canard, Honda
5. Ryan Sipes, KTM
6. Tyler Bowers, Yamaha
7. Ryan Morais, Yamaha
8. Kyle Partridge, Honda
9. Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
10. Billy Payne, Honda