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March 17, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – Heading into the first break of the
AMA Supercross season, the Torco Racing Fuels Honda team is inching closer to
two potential championships.
After winning the first three main events of the season in
the Lites East, team racer Trey Canard carried a 24-point lead in the
championship into Minneapolis’ Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. However, a crash
in practice left him limping off of the track and missing much of practice.
Still, after a midpack start, he worked his way through the pack to grab a
solid fourth-place finish despite the ailing leg, just behind Martin Davalos
and missing the podium by small margin.
“I just tried to play it smart,” Canard said of his race. “I
think I could’ve hit Martin and gotten third, but I didn’t want to take a
chance on taking both of us out and put myself in a bad position. I did the
best that I could. I tried to just work it, and tried to make something good
out of something bad. Not every day is perfect, and not everything is always
great, and I think today went well. I learned a lot of stuff, and I can’t
complain at all.”
They say championships are won in your bad races, and Canard
kept his composure and left Minneapolis with the same points lead as he went in
with, just in front of a different rider. He now leads Ryan Villopoto by 24
points with three rounds left to run.
One of the big stories for the Torco Racing Fuels Honda team
in Minneapolis was the re-emergence of star Lites rider Josh Grant. Grant has
had a tough go of it so far this year, but in Minneapolis, he led all but one
lap of the main event. Unfortunately, the lap he didn’t lead was the last one,
but he and Villopoto put on a show that most fans will not soon forget, and
despite a fall as he attempted to pass Villopoto back for the win over the last
jump, Grant finished a solid second on the night.
“It was a good race,” Grant said. “I just got good starts
and was pumped with everything that was going on. I had great lines and felt
comfortable all day. After second practice, I felt even better, and I just knew
that tonight was going to be a good night for me. I felt really comfortable
with where we’re at in Minnesota and everyone that’s around – it’s kind of a
good atmosphere. It’s good to get our team up on the podium, but it’s just
unfortunate that I had to go down on that last jump. This gives me something to
work for when we have our next race in three weeks, and we’ll go from there.”
Grant moved back inside the top 10 in points to seventh in
the standings with three rounds left to run.
In the 450cc class, Kevin Windham once again managed to take
back a bunch of points from points leader Chad Reed, who went down early in the
main event and finished seventh. Windham finished a strong third – his seventh
podium finish of the season – and he still has yet to finish outside the top
five in a race this year.
Still, Windham wasn’t completely happy with his ride, which
shows he is highly motivated to improve.
“I think I kind of dozed off on like lap four,” Windham
said. “It was a disappointing start to a pretty good race. I’m happy with the
way things went, ultimately. We made some points, and we’ve got to look at the
big picture. Deep down, though, I feel like I left some points on the track. I
feel like I could’ve won tonight, especially with the way my Heat went. My Heat
went incredibly well. But all in all, I saw Chad down, I rebounded, and I made
some valuable points, so I guess the three out of the last four races, we’ve
made some points up on Chad, and at times, it’s been chunks like today. We’re
closing in, and that feels good. I just really thought I had a good shot at
doing a little better tonight, and this is part of the series where you feel
like to be a champion you have to perform at optimal levels all the time, so
it’s a little frustrating leaving a little bit out there tonight. We’re going
to have a nice week off, and it’s going to be a good opportunity to look at a
few of these things and have some new intensity for Toronto. I’m looking
forward to hiding Easter eggs and hanging with the family for a week.”
Windham now sits only 17 points behind Reed with seven
rounds remaining. Before Daytona a week previous, Windham sat 34 points back.
From here, the Torco Racing Fuels Honda team takes a
well-deserved weekend off before heading to Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s domed
Rogers Centre for round 12 of the AMA Supercross Series.
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.
Minneapolis Lites Main:
1. Ryan
Villopoto Kaw
2. Josh
Grant Torco
Racing Fuels Honda
3. Martin
Davalos KTM
4. Trey
Canard Torco
Racing Fuels Honda
5. Ryan
Sipes KTM
6. Tyler
Bowers Yam
7. Ryan
Morais Yam
8. Kyle
Partridge Hon
9. Nico
Izzi Suz
10. Billy
Payne Hon
AMA Eastern Lites Standings (After 4 of 7 rounds):
1. Trey
Canard (93/3
wins)
2. Ryan
Villopoto (69/1
win)
3. Ryan
Sipes (67)
4. Nico
Izzi (54)
5. Ben
Coisy (53)
6. Martin
Davalos (53)
7. Josh
Grant (47)
8. Tyler
Bowers (45)
9. Billy
Payne (42)
10. Branden
Jesseman (39)
Minneapolis 450cc Main:
1. Josh
Hill Yam
2. Ryan
Dungey Suz
3. Kevin
Windham Torco
Racing Fuels Honda
4. Andrew
Short Hon
5. Tommy
Hahn Kaw
6. Davi
Millsaps Hon
7. Chad
Reed Yam
8. David
Vuillemin Suz
9. Travis
Preston Kaw
10. Nathan
Ramsey Yam
AMA Supercross Standings (After 11 of 17 rounds):
1. Chad
Reed (237/6
wins)
2. Kevin
Windham (220/2
wins)
3. Andrew
Short (172)
4. Davi
Millsaps (164/1
win)
5. Timmy
Ferry (137)
6. Josh
Hill (135/1
win)
7. Nathan
Ramsey (134)
8. David
Vuillemin (115)
9. Paul
Carpenter (97)
10. Nick
Wey (95)
Web photos from the event can be found at:
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