Team Solitaire/Kingdom/FLY Racing Honda Event Update
The official kickoff of the 2007 race season blasted out of the gate in Anaheim, CA this past Saturday evening. In front of a sold out crowd of 45,050 adrenaline charged fans, Team Solitaire had a solid outing putting two riders in the main event and showcasing our new look and attitude for 2007.
Saturday Practice: The dismissal of Friday practice adds a new dimension to the already challenging task of racing Supercross. Having to quickly learn the track and put forth fast "qualification times" is a skill in and of itself. Jiri and I have been working hard on sprint laps in preparation for this new element, but we still have some work to do. Jiri qualified 21st after our two practice sessions while I lingered around 16th. The good news is that 40 riders advance to the program from these qualifiers, so we were well within where we needed to be.
Heat Race One: Team rider Jiri Dostal has been turning heads lately. With his dedication and strong work ethic, Jiri has made huge gains over the past year. Jiri proved his worth by taking a mid-pack start in the first heat race and turning it into a solid eight place finish. This task was not an easy one, having to move past the likes of Kyle Lewis, Jeff Gibson and Paul Carpenter. After a solid eight laps, he would advance to all-important main event.
Heat Race Two: My heat race would not work out nearly as well as Jiri's. After a mid-pack start, I found myself playing bumper bikes down the first rhythm section. I felt a tire on my left hand and a boot to the ribs which sent me high-side into another bike out of control on my way to the ground. Somehow, someway I managed to careen off bike two and stay upright. The other two riders were not as lucky. Fast forward a few turns where I was not comfortably in qualifying position. An untimely (when is it ever timely?) mistake in the whoops lead to me stalling my bike. I re-fired it fairly quickly and reentered the fray. I was making time and was still only a few positions out of qualification when the next "incident" took place. This time I saw the yellow flags early and jumped all the way to the right side of the track to avoid the carnage on the inside. Unfortunately the flagged me right into a dislodged tuff-block, which sent me off course yet again and into oncoming traffic. By this time I was pretty discouraged, but as I reentered the track I saw Chad Reed zoom by. He had been in the first turn melee, and I knew he would be blazing a path to the front of the pack so I tried to latch on. On the final lap I was in 12th but just behind Nathan Ramsey, Reed and another rider. My last miscue involved another tuff-block and an off-track excursion. I returned to the pit area for a quick rest before the LCQ.
LCQ: Not my favorite race, but this one proved to be good across the board. Since the race was airing live on CBS, any additional airtime would be welcomed for the team and our sponsors. After a tenth place start I was a little nervous, but I managed to work through the field fairly easily taking advantage of the whoop sections for passing purposes. By the last lap I was in second position, which would be enough to transfer to the main event. I was content with qualifying, but I wanted to win to get the feeling of crossing the line first (even if it was only in the LCQ). I made the pass for the lead with only about four turns remaining and crossed the finish line for the victory and the transfer to the main event.