Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael put himself in an enviable position Saturday night when he collected his third Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series win of the season and extended his points lead from two to 13 over Yamaha's Chad Reed. This Saturday night, racing returns to San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium for the 23rd year and seven-time supercross champion Jeremy McGrath McGrath will race his final race of the 2005-'06 season.
Carmichael, the 13-time AMA National champion, has gone on to win the championship every year he won the highly touted Anaheim 3('01; '02; '03; '05). Saturday night's race was the third time in as many races that Angel Stadium sold-out all 45,050 seats. Heading into San Diego, Carmichael has the largest points lead of the season (117-104 over Chad Reed) and exhibits control over the points race. Interestingly enough Suzuki has never won a race at Qualcomm Stadium.
"It's just a test," said Carmichael said on his 2006 campaign. "It's a test between Chad, James and myself. Fortunately, I've been the only guy to be up here. I don't think every race that I have won hasn't been on just raw speed. It's been a little bit of luck, a little bit of patience and a little bit of being strong. I think this is probably the first year that I really haven't looked too far ahead of me."
Kawasaki's James Stewart trailed Carmichael by two points last week but a crash in the first turn and two subsequent crashes put the 20-year-old Floridian in third place with 103 points. Reed's second place finish moved him into second place but a world away from where he wants to be.
"I gotta win, that's about it," said Reed "Getting seconds, thirds and fifth isn't really cutting it. So, I know I just gotta get it done. I have a great package, fitness wise. I feel good on the bike and my bike's good. It's just up to me to put it together on the weekend and that's all I'm lacking. "
In front 53,595 fans at a wet Qualcomm Stadium, Reed, of Dade City, Fla., won his first Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series race of the season last year. KTM's Nathan Ramsey, who won the opening race of the 125cc season in Anaheim, Calif., won the 125cc Western Regional Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series main event.
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 a 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 SeriesAmp'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.amaproracing.com.