2007 World GP Supercross - Toronto Supercross - Race Report - Dirt Rider Magazine

It was a wild night of racing in Toronto as round one of the 2006-2007 Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP got underway. The drama started in the early laps of the first Supercross practice on Saturday when James Stewart collided with Makita Suzuki's Ivan Tedesco. Depending on who's telling the story, either James landed on Tedesco or the two came together in incidental contact. The bottom line is that Ivan was sidelined with his left hand in a cast. He'll go for an X-Ray Sunday and then to see a hand specialist on Monday. He was calm in a subsequent interview and at this point is not counting out the A1 race, depending on the severity of the injury. The remainder of the practices were relatively uneventful. James turned the fastest laps in both practices, followed by Ricky Carmichael, David Vuillemin, and finally Chad Reed.Carmichael would go on to win the first Supercross heat race after Nick Wey edged him out for the holeshot. Reed finished second followed by Rockstar Energy Drink's Michael Byrne. Wey would eventually finish fourth. Heat number two would see James Stewart holeshot and breeze through for the win followed by his new teammate Tim Ferry. Paul Carpenter rounded out the podium in third place.The program will run fast this year with a new format that has eliminated semi-qualifying races for the Supercross class. The top 9 riders in both heat races advance directly to the main. After that, the gate will hold only two more positions - to be filled by the Last Chance Qualifier. Jeff Dement pulled the holeshot in the LCQ, but Sobe/Samsung Honda's Travis Preston would be in the lead the next time around. Preston finished out front, followed by Dement. Joe Oehlof just missed making the main, but at least left the stadium with some gas money. Moto XXX's Kyle Lewis would miss out on a qualifying position, as did Tyler Evans and Eric Sorby. Evans, however, executed one of his two automatic provisional advances to the main based on his standings from last season.

Reed and Stewart

Carmichael would get the first pick of the gate for edging out James Stewart's by 0.014 during their heat races. Stewart lined up second, followed by Chad Reed. MDK/Honda's Nick Wey got another great start and picked up the Progressive Direct $1500 holeshot award. Carmichael and Reed were in hot pursuit in second and third respectively, while James Stewart was buried mid-pack. Near the close of the first lap, Reed knifed to the inside of Carmichael and turned his sight's to Wey. Ricky then caught a Tuff Block and went down. He remounted, but by this time only a few riders were behind him. Reed got by Wey and tried to put the fast-paced pack further behind. Stewart came alive and made quick work of the field, manuevering into second place with plenty laps left to catch Reed. At the halfway point, Carmichael had made it up to sixth place. And with 5 laps to go it really got interesting. By this point, Stewart was all over Reed like a cheap suit and Carmichael was pestering Ferry for third. The next couple of laps would see Chad and James making passes on each other. The crowd went absolutely berzerk with each lead change. Stewart passed Reed in the same corner in two consecutive laps, but each time Reed had an answer. Finally the two tapped tires just before the finish line jump and confusing events ensued. Reed was forced to roll the jump as Stewart went off the track. As Stewart re-entered the track, he collided with Preston who was being lapped. Both riders went down hard. James got up and appeared to be injured as his speed was appreciably off. Carmichael and Stewart diced briefly but eventually RC would take the second spot on the podium after Reed was able to cruise in claiming on emotional victory for his new team. But the excitement wasn't over just yet. Stewart finished in third and fell to the ground holding his lower leg. People were surrounding Stewart on the ground, one of whom, was Travis Preston who was visibly upset with James. Before anyone had time to figure out what was going on, Preston was pulled away. And Stewart was not able to leave under his own power. At this time, there's no word on the extent of Stewart's injury. Stewart was not present on the podium nor in the press conference that followed.Speaking of the press conference, no additional details were offered there. Although Carmichael did mention that he expects his phone to be ringing off the hook this week, with calls asking him to race the full season, especially if Ivan and Stewart end up being out for extended periods of time. Reed was obviously very pleased with his result and credits the victory to changing everything about racing from the ground up. He was vague about specifics but said the changes started with his own out-look on racing and life in general.The Lites class was less spectacular with Red Bull KTM's Martin Davalos pulling the holeshot and checking out for the win in the main event. Davalos was blazing fast in both of his practices. He also won his heat race. Star Racing rookie, Broc Tickle passed several riders to finish second. Another rookie, KTM's Zach Osborne finished third after battling and colliding with Troy Adams. Ohio's Michael Willard finished fourth followed by Adams in fifth.Supercross Final Results:1. Chad Reed (Yam)2. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)3. James Stewart (Kaw)4. Tim Ferry (Kaw)5. David Vuillemin (Hon)6. Nick Wey (Hon)7. Ryan Clark (Hon)8. Paul Carpenter (Kaw)9. Heath Voss (Hon)1o. Jeff Gibson (Kaw)