AMA-SX: Stewart streak ended at Indianapolis

RACE REPORT 01/03/2009 Stewart streak ended at Indianapolis Stewart and Reed LandM San Manuel Yamaha rider James Stewart could not extend his run of seven consecutive victories in the 2009 AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship) but by finishing second at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the ninth round of seventeen the 23 year old still retains the top spot, jointly, with Chad Reed. More than 61,000 spectators saw an interesting and entertaining duel between the two main protagonists for this year's titles. Stewart uncharacteristically committed two errors, one while leading, that allowed Reed to score his first victory of the season and end Yamaha's 100% win record in the high-profile competition. Battling for the win Stewart had been leading the standings by a slender 3 points after reducing a 23 point deficit in the wake of his first round DNF. His runner-up position means that he now shares first position in an exciting and close contest that could run to the campaign's finale in Las Vegas on May 3rd. "I almost fell in the same place in practice, but then (in the main) I just came through there and lost the front end," Stewart explained. "I definitely wasn't riding over my head at all; I just made a small bobble and went down." "If I would've gotten the win then that would've been good for the championship, but we're tied up going into Daytona, and it's all good. It'll come down to Vegas," he added. Josh Grant Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Grant was back on form after two races away from the spotlight. The rookie crossed the finish line in fourth place to take his tally of top five results to 7 from 9 meetings. The AMA Supercross series heads to Daytona next weekend for round ten. Circuit Length: 0 Crowd: 61, 538 Weather: Dry 2009 AMA-SX Indianapolis 01/03/2009 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Chad Reed Suzuki AUS 16'44.923 2 James Stewart Yamaha USA 0'2.124 3 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 0'28.948 4 Josh Grant Yamaha USA 0'32.741 5 Ivan Tedesco Honda USA 0'33.439 6 Benjamin Coisy Honda FRA 0'50.676 7 David D Millsaps Honda USA -1Laps 8 Michael Byrne Suzuki AUS -1Laps 9 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA -1Laps 10 Tim Ferry Kawasaki USA -1Laps 11 Andrew Short Honda USA -1Laps 12 Matt Boni Honda USA -1Laps 13 Heath Voss Honda USA -1Laps 14 Ryan Sipes KTM USA -1Laps 15 Josh Hill Yamaha USA -1Laps 16 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA -1Laps 19 Broc Hepler Yamaha USA -3Laps Rider Standings 28/02/2009 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Chad Reed Suzuki AUS 199 2. James Stewart Yamaha USA 199 3. Andrew Short Honda USA 150 4. Josh Grant Yamaha USA 138 5. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 138 6. Ivan Tedesco Honda USA 132 7. David D Millsaps Honda USA 116 8. Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 113 9. Kevin Windham Honda USA 112 10. Tim Ferry Kawasaki USA 98 11. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 82 12. Heath Voss Honda USA 59 13. Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 55 14. Benjamin Coisy Honda FRA 51 15. Paul Carpenter Kawasaki USA 46 17. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 38 23. Broc Hepler Yamaha USA 20 32. Sean Hamblin Yamaha USA 3 Manufacturer Standings 28/02/2009 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 222 2. Suzuki 199 3. Honda 168 4. Kawasaki 151 5. KTM 31 Yamaha Racing Communications Hoogte Kadijk 61 HS / 1018 BE Amsterdam / The Netherlands T. +31 (0) 20 330 2709 / F. +31 (0) 20 420 9470 E. office@yrc.nl W. www.yamaha-racing.com