January 28, 2008                  

 

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Storm after storm have been soaking California for the last few days, and it was especially severe in the Bay Area leading up to the San Francisco Supercross. The day of the race, practice was postponed until just before race time, and the racers only got 10 minutes of practice time, although the rain held off until just before the main events ran. When the rain did hit, though, it hit hard.

 

Once again, Kevin Windham was the star of the Torco Racing Fuels Honda squad. He won his heat race going away, and then started out the stormy main event in second place before quickly passing race leader Timmy Ferry and grabbing the lead. Windham led for the first four laps of the race before giving way to Davi Millsaps, who was jumping the triples in the rain.

 

“The start was decent,” Windham said. “I think I was second and made a quick move up into the lead, and man, I felt like tonight was the night. I just had that feeling. I thought I was on my way, and to be honest with you, I rode cautious. The rain started coming down, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to worry about the triples,’ and that was my downfall. Those guys caught up. I had been doing them [the triples] all night, and I let the rain take me off my game.”

 

Millsaps led a couple of laps before landing on a Tuff Block and going down. Windham slid out on the face of the same jump and jumped off the track. Although the save was amazing, it handed the lead to Chad Reed. Reed went on to win, with Windham hanging on for second.

 

“It was such a roller-coaster ride all night, because the track was supposed to be wet when we got here, and then it was pretty good, and then all of a sudden, in the main, it was bad again,” Windham said. “I don’t know. I wanted to be a little hesitant because I didn’t want to screw up, but as it turns out, I jumped off the track anyway, so it came back to bite me.”

 

Windham sits second in the Supercross points standings with 13 rounds left to run, and he’s the only rider within one race’s points of Reed.

 

Aussie transport Dan Reardon is showing that consistency pays. He got a mediocre start in the Lites main event, but slowly and consistently caught and passed the leaders while they were making mistakes out front. At the end of the shortened 10-lap race, Reardon was fourth for the third time this season.

 

“Well, for starters, I didn’t realize it was only going to be 10 laps,” Reardon said. “Seeing that white flag, I was like, ‘Hang on a second...’ But hey, you know what? These mud races are more about survival than trying to hang it out. Another fourth... My first fourth I was pumped, but now I’ve got three of them and it’s not very exciting anymore. I just keep getting better and better and that podium spot is just around the corner.”

 

Reardon is now solidly in second in points behind Ryan Dungey with four rounds left to run in the Western Region.

 

His teammate Weimer, however, had a night he’d mostly rather forget, although it started out good with a Heat-race win early in the night.

 

“I wouldn’t even necessarily call it great, but I did get a great start in my heat race, but I’ve been deathly ill all week, and I really honestly didn’t even want to race, but obviously I’m a racer, and I had to,” Weimer said. “I got a good start in the heat and just rode smart. I wasn’t even doing all of the obstacles. I had a big lead after one lap, so I was just like, ‘I just need to stay up,’ and I just stayed on two wheels and won, so that was nice. I made a little money and got up on the podium.”

 

The main event went bad quickly, though, as Weimer started near the front but then went down after landing on a downed rider’s bike.

 

“In the main, I got a decent start, probably fifth, and then Hepler just fell right in front of me and I was already in the air over a jump and hit him and went down,” Weimer said. “I got back up and rode a couple laps, but I’ve been so sick that I just can’t stop coughing. I struggled with it all day. I just can’t stop. I was obviously already a lap down, and it was pointless, so that was that.”

 

Weimer, who won round two of the championship, sits 11th in points with half of the series still left to run.

 

From here, the Torco Racing Fuels Honda team heads back to Anaheim, California, for round five of the AMA Supercross Series on February 2 inside Angels Stadium.

 

Team Sponsors: Torco Race Fuels, Honda, Planet Fitness, No Fear Energy, AMSOIL, Factory Connection, No Fear, Shoei, Gaerne, Spy, DVS, Cycra, Dunlop, EK, Ferodo, Hinson, Ogio, One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Showa, TAG, Twin Air, and Works Connection.

 

San Francisco Lites Main:

1.            Jason Lawrence            Yam

2.            Tommy Hahn                        Kaw

3.            Brett Metcalfe                        Kaw

4.            Dan Reardon                        Torco Racing Fuels Honda

5.            Austin Stroupe            Kaw

6.            Gavin Gracyk                        Hon

7.            Ryan Dungey                        Suz

8.            Chris Blose                        Suz

9.            Wil Hahn                        Yam

10.            Michael Blose                        Suz

22.            Jake Weimer                        Torco Racing Fuels Honda

 

AMA Western Lites Standings (After 4 of 8 rounds):

1.            Ryan Dungey                        (86/2 wins)

2.            Dan Reardon                        (67)

3.            Jason Lawrence            (63/1 win)

4.            Broc Hepler                        (59)

5.            Brett Metcalfe                        (58)

6.            Tommy Hahn                        (55)

7.            Justin Brayton                        (55)

8.            Austin Stroupe            (52)

9.            Gavin Gracyk                        (42)

10.            Wil Hahn                        (42)

11.            Jake Weimer                        (31/1 win)

 

San Francisco 450cc Main:

1.            Chad Reed                        Yam

2.            Kevin Windham            Torco Racing Fuels Honda

3.            Davi Millsaps                        Hon

4.            Jake Marsack                        Hon

5.            Grant Langston            Yam

6.            Ivan Tedesco                        Hon

7.            Nick Wey                        KTM

8.            Heath Voss                        Hon

9.            Troy Adams                        Hon

10.            Timmy Ferry                        Kaw

 

AMA Supercross Standings (After 4 of 17 rounds):

1.            Chad Reed                        (97/3 wins)

2.            Kevin Windham            (78)

3.            Timmy Ferry                        (57)

4.            Mike Alessi                        (54)

5.            Ivan Tedesco                        (53)

6.            Andrew Short                        (51)

7.            James Stewart                        (47/1 win)

8.            Davi Millsaps                        (43)

9.            Nathan Ramsey            (43)

10.            Josh Hill                        (40)

 

Web photos from the event can be found at: