Round 6 - AMA Motocross Series
Buchanan, Michigan
Red Bud Track & Trail
July 5 -6, 2008
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's Michael Byrne picked up his first podium of the 2008 AMAMotocross season at Red Bud Track & Trail in Buchanan, Michigan, on Sunday afternoon. TheAustralian rider put in two strong motos, bringing home two fourth-place finishes to take the overallthird-place result. Teammate Mike Alessi had a great first moto, getting the holeshot on his RockstarMakita Suzuki RM-Z450 and finishing in second place. Unfortunately, Alessi crashed hard in thesecond moto and was unable to finish the race. Alessi suffered two broken scapulas, a broken riband a bruised lung.
In the Motocross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Nico Izzi finished in the top five after twostrong motos. The young rider raced his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 to fourth- and fifth-placemoto finishes for an overall fifth-place result. Teammate Ryan Dungey had a spate of bad luck in thatthe young rider had a tip-over in the first moto and finished 13th, and suffered a mechanical in thesecond moto and didn't finish the race. In spite of this, Dungey is still second overall in thechampionship points chase, while Izzi is in seventh place.
Roger DeCoster:
"We were pretty concerned after seeing Mike's crash. It happened in a very fast section and he endedup coming to rest on a blind part of the track and was then hit by several riders. Due to the natureand severity of his injuries, it is not likely that we'll see Mike back in action this season. It's unfortunate,as Mike has done an exceptional job all season with capturing nearly all of the holeshots and sitting ina strong second place in championship points. In fact, in the first moto of this weekend, Mike got theholeshot once again and finished in second place over 30 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.He has shown a lot of heart this year and we'll be anxious to get him back healthy again."
Michael Byrne:
"This weekend started off good. I was happy with my lap times in practice on Saturday and I feltreally comfortable on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450. I qualified the best I have all year as far asa gate pick goes. In the first moto, I got a really good start - Mike (Alessi) and I were one/two, whichshows that our bikes are really fast and working really good. In the second moto, I got a good start,and then Mike fell and got hurt, they threw a red flag and restarted the race. In the restart, I didn't getas good of a start and I knew I had to put my head down and catch up to the guys in front of me toget the overall podium finish, so I tried to be patient and keep the pressure on. "
Nico Izzi:
"This was a good race weekend. In the first moto, I got a pretty good start on the Rockstar MakitaSuzuki RM-Z250 I was maybe sixth or seventh, and then worked my way up into third. I stayed therefor about six laps and then I started to get tired and faded back to fourth and held that position. Inthe second moto, I got a pretty bad start but worked my way up and into fifth. I'm just pumped onhaving two solid motos, that were consistent, and now I need to work a little harder and get back upon that box."
Ryan Dungey:
"It was kind of a tough weekend, but that's racing. Right now, I'm just focusing on my training thisweek and getting ready for next weekend's race at Budds Creek."
AMA Motocross Top 10 (Moto Finishes)
1. James Stewart, Kawasaki, 1-1
2. Andrew Short, Honda, 3-3
3. Michael Byrne, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 4-4
4. Nick Wey, KTM, 5-5
5. Charles Summey, Yamaha, 9-7
6. Jeff Alessi, Honda, 7-9
7. Jimmy Albertson, Honda, 8-10
8. Timmy Ferry, Kawasaki, 23-2
9. Mike Alessi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 2-33
10. Cody Cooper, Suzuki, 16-6
AMA Motocross Lites Top 10 (Moto Finishes):
1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki, 1-1
2. Trey Canard, Honda, 2-2
3. Martin Davalos, KTM, 6-3
4. Josh Grant, Honda, 5-4
5. Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 4-5
6. Andrew McFarlane, Kawasaki, 7-10
7. Kyle Chisholm, Kawasaki, 11-7
8. Kyle Cunningham, Honda, 12-9
9. Brett Metcalfe, Kawasaki, 10-11
10. Ryan Sipes, KTM, 3-20