Supercross: Rd4 Oakland

The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship continues to disobey the form book with yet another new winner for the fourth time this season. In front of 46,017 fans at the Oakland Coliseum, Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX’s James Stewart, finally won his first Supercross Class Main Event of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, season. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac won his second consecutive Western Regional Supercross Lites Class race.

Stewart was the fourth different winner of the season so far (after finishing third in LA last week) and reached the chequered flag in the twenty lap main event by over two seconds from Chad Reed in what was an emotionally charged evening in the wake of the tragic accident to the Floridian’s training mechanic Mark Adams on Thursday morning.

The former champion took part in a thrilling battle with Reed and reigning champion Ryan Villopoto in the formative stages of the race but after squeezing past the Australian was able to maintain a gap to seal his triumph in front of more than 46,000 spectators.

“Tonight I got up front and kind of stayed out of trouble,” commented the rider who is now fourth in the SX class and 12 points behind leaders Reed and Ryan Dungey. “I felt Ryan there and just tried not to over-ride the track. I was able to get on the inside of Chad going across the start. It worked out. I was not really riding too hard, just trying to make sure I hit the marks good.”

“I knew it was a track you just kind of had to be patient on,” he added. “But I think we had the setup a little bit better for me tonight. Those three crashes the first three races tore me up. But tonight in the Main Event I just pulled it together. So, it was awesome. Especially with my mechanic being lost this week it was definitely tough. This was definitely special.”

Hot Start: Dungey remains the points leader

“I’m bummed that I didn’t land on the podium tonight. But overall, it was still a great night,” said a dismayed Dungey. “I earned my first heat race win of the season and I made some good passes in the main event to salvage some points. It was hard to make passes tonight so I am glad I was able to pass as many riders as I did. My team has been behind me 100% this season and I am glad we are still running up front in the points and I am looking forward to a podium finish at the next event.”

Lites

Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki’s Martin Davalos grabbed the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson on his rear wheel as they headed out of turn 1. Tucked in behind the leaders, Tomac held down the number-three spot.

While chasing down Davalos, on lap 1, Wilson shot off the track, crashing and losing valuable positions as Tomac moved into second place. On lap 2, Davalos bobbled, which allowed Tomac to make a pass for the lead. Zach Osborne, of Chesterfield, S.C., pushed his Monster Energy Yamaha into second place on lap 6, but was passed by Rockstar Energy Racing’s Jason Anderson on lap 10. Anderson crashed one lap later, going the number-two spot to Osborne.

On lap 12, Osborne engaged on a hotly contested battle with Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin, of Murrieta, Calif. Musquin made a solid pass and held on for second place with Osborne in third for the second consecutive weekend.

Tomac extended his points lead to 15 before heading back to Angel Stadium next weekend.

“This is my best season ever,” said Tomac. “Our team worked really hard to give me a great bike, and I made the most of it. I now have a nice lead going into Anaheim.”

On Top: Win number two for Tomac

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