The plot continues to thicken in the 2005-06 Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series as Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael and Kawasaki's James Stewart lead a field of the world's best supercross riders for a final visit to Angel Stadium in Anaheim this Saturday (Feb. 4).
After claiming a wet and soggy win last weekend in San Francisco, Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., has regained the momentum from Carmichael as the two continue their see-saw battle. Stewart now has four wins on the season, including two Canadian victories and the win at the first Anaheim race, while Carmichael, of Havana, Fla., strung together victories at Anaheim 2 and Phoenix.
By virtue of his success in Canada, Stewart holds a four point lead over Carmichael in the Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP standings, but its Carmichael who holds a two-point advantage over Stewart in the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series standings.
The two riders seem to push each other each week and continue to raise the bar for the rest of the field, including Yamaha's Chad Reed, of Dade City, Fla., who had a difficult time in the San Francisco rain and dropped back in the standings.
So what is it going to take for one rider to break away from the other?
"I think we're both on the same page and running a good pace," said Stewart at last week's post-race press conference on Supercross LIVE!. "I think it's going to (come down to) who's the smartest... he's got a lot of years and I learned a lot from last year. So I don't see anything really separating us except for (the) 18 or 19 laps to see who's going to gut it out."
This week's winner could be aided by some very important historical data: The 2006 season marks the sixth consecutive year that Angel Stadium in Anaheim has hosted three supercross races; and four of those times the winner of Anaheim 3 has gone on to win the championship. Carmichael accomplished the feat in 2001-03 and 2005.
Last year Suzuki's Carmichael picked up his fourth consecutive World Supercross GP/AMA Supercross Series win in front of a sold out crowd of 45,050 fans at Angel Stadium. Carmichael became the only Suzuki rider in history to win four consecutive 250cc main events. Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco, of Murrieta, Calif., won his second 125cc Western Regional AMA Supercross Series race of the year.
Supercross LIVE!, the only place on the planet to catch Amp'd Mobile Supercross live at home, is available for fans at every race, starting at 7:00 p.m. local time at supercross.cc.com. Listen as Supercross LIVE! hosts Jim Holley and Jason Wiegandt capture the live race call, a pre-race show, a post-race show, post-race press conference, on-air industry guests and celebrities, in-depth interviews, promotions, call-ins and more. In 2004-2005, more than three-quarters-of-million listeners logged on to Supercross LIVE!
For more information about the Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, please log on to www.supercross.cc.com. For media requests, please contact Denny Hartwig at 630-566-6305 or e-mail at dennyhartwig@livenation.com.
About Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP™/Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series
Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP is a 17-round global off-road motorcycle stadium racing circuit. Riders must compete in the international rounds to be eligible to win the world championship. In 2005-2006, the 17-event Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP will be comprised of two international events and 15 of the 16 events that are conducted in major cities throughout the United States as a part of the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series. Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series is a 16-event series solely conducted in the United States. The other Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series event held in Daytona Beach, Fla., is independently produced by the International Speedway Corporation and is not a part of the Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP. An Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series rider will be crowned as the national champion for the series of events conducted in the United States only.
The FIM, Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme, is the body that globally governs motorcycle sport at the world level. Among other matters, the FIM groups together 85 affiliated National Federations relating to the sport of motorcycle racing. AMA Pro Racing is the National Federation representative that sanctions motorcycle-racing events in the United States. Dorna Off Road S.L. is an internationally recognized sports management group established in 1988 with an emphasis on major international motor sports events. Dorna is headquartered in Madrid, Spain with branch offices in Barcelona, London and Tokyo. In addition to its involvement with Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP, Dorna manage the rights to MotoGP. For more information on Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP/ Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, log on to www.supercross.cc.com.
AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracingcom.