Moto XXX Round 8 Race Report: Atlanta, Georgia
This past weekend the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross series rolled into Atlanta, Georgia, for round eight of the sixteen race series. While the weekend marked the halfway point of the season for the Supercross class, this was just the beginning for the East coast Lites riders and the near capacity Georgia Dome was looking forward to some close racing.
The team's newest recruit, Japanese import Yoshihide Fukudome, made his Supercross Lites class debut and looked forward to getting that first race under his belt. "Dome" easily made the 40 rider field and was set to line up in first heat race of the night. He got off the line well but an early mistake left him toward the back of the pack with his work cut out for him. "Dome" put in six consistent laps ultimately finishing 18th.
Supercross class heat one saw Josh Summey lining up just to the inside of the dog house. Unfortunately, a second straight pile up collected Josh and he went down. The AMA was forced to red flag the race for another downed rider and looked like Summey would get a lucky break and a second shot. Upon returning to the start line the team noticed the bike was heavily damaged and Josh would be unable to make the restart of the race.
After sitting out last weekend with a stomach virus, Kyle Lewis took to the line in heat number two with hopes of grabbing one of his patented holeshots and transferring directly to the main event. Unfortunately, things did not work out and "Lucky" was left battling a midpack start. He quickly moved up and was sitting in ninth place, the final transfer spot, when and untimely mistake in the whoops dropped him back to 13th where he would finish three short laps later.
Fukudome lined up toward the outside of the gate for the start of the Lites class LCQ. He got another quick jump on the gate but was pushed outside in turn one and stuck toward the back of the pack. He put in some quick laps but time ran out and he crossed the finish line 14th signaling an early exit for the Japanese rider.
Even though "Dome" did not make the main event he later said that he had fun and looks to improve his results over the next few rounds.
The Supercross class LCQ was met with both Moto XXX riders needing to finish first and second in order to secure their spots in the main event. The two riders got decent starts with Kyle on the inside and Josh on the outside. The inside line worked out a little better and Kyle headed down the second straight rhythm section sitting in sixth. By the races end he would come up two spots short of the main event in fourth position. Josh didn't fare any better as he rode hard but finished in the sixth position, also missing the main event.
Even though things didn't go according to planned the team remains hopeful. Team manager, Allan Brown, commented after the race; "Obviously we would have liked some better results but this racing and things don't always go the way you want. Fukudome rode well for his first ever Supercross and that is definitely something for the team to build on for next weekend." The team will take the week to regroup and focus on getting back on track next weekend. St. Louis and the Edward Jones dome host next weekend's race and it should be a good one. See you there!
For more information or to contact Moto XXX please visit www.motoxxx.com or call (951) 359-6999.
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