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2002 AMA EA Sports U.S. Supercross Championship
Round 5 of 16: Feb. 2 - Edison Int'l Field, Anaheim, CA

The Ricky Carmichael of old was in attendance last night at Anaheim. All that streak talk can begin now. Steve Bruhn photo

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The one thing the top AMA EA Sports Supercross riders didn’t want to see at Anaheim III was Ricky Carmichael getting back into a groove like he was this time last year. Unfortunately for RC’s competition it appears that the defending champ has totally recovered from the injuries he sustained in the series opener.  The factory Honda rider from Florida came through with his second-straight win Saturday night at Edison Int'l Field in Anaheim, CA, and moved into third in the series standings. Stephane Roncada meanwhile, broke through to earn his first podium finish. Countryman David Vuillemin continued to keep his podium appearances unblemished so far this season and leaves the West Coast with a nine-point lead over Mike LaRocco in the points chase. 

Brock Sellards looked strong in the 125 West race and took his first victory of the season. Series leader James Stewart crashed twice and finished 11th -- his worst result of the year -- but still maintains a 21-point lead over Travis Preston, who finished fifth.

The 45,050 fans at Edison Intl. Field let out a huge roar of approval when their favorite, Jeremy McGrath, took the holeshot. MC emerged the leader ahead of Roncada and Travis Pastrana. Carmichael was fourth on the first go around, while Vuillemin was bogged down in 10th. MC, Roncada and Pastrana ran together on the slippery, hard-packed track, all three hungry for a win. On lap four it all went wrong for Pastrana when he crashed his Suzuki out of contention in turn three. That moved Carmichael up to third behind McGrath and Pastrana.

Stephane Roncada broke through with his first 250 podium of the season. Evidence of a new attitude in his racing. See below in Race Notes. Steve Bruhn photo

Back in the field it was Vuillemin who was making the biggest charge. From 10th on lap one, the two-time winner this season moved up to sixth, directly behind LaRocco, by lap six.

For a few laps Carmichael looked content to sit back in third and watch MC and Roncada battle it out, but by mid-race he began to challenge Roncada. This brought about the best racing of the night with Roncada trading some aggressive moves with the champ. RC got the better of the Roncada by lap 10. On lap 11 McGrath bobbled off the triple leading into turn six and RC took over the lead for the first time. Then it was McGrath’s turn to bang handlebars with Roncada for a few laps, which allowed Carmichael to pull out a gap.

Carmichael built a five second lead before easing up a tad and cruising home to a 3.6-second margin of victory. McGrath fell back to an eventual sixth on his Bud Light Yamaha, while Roncada turned in his best-ever performance on the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki and held onto second over a late-charging Vuillemin and his factory Yamaha. Factory Connection Honda’s LaRocco took fifth – his worst performance of the year. Honda factory rider Nathan Ramsey was sixth. Pastrana remounted and was seventh. Michael Byrne, Ernesto Fonseca and Ezra Lusk rounded out the top 10 in that order.

"With the pace everyone’s running you have to be up front early or it’s game over," said Carmichael, who now has 17-career AMA Supercross wins. "Last year was great for me, but this year everyone’s stepped it up. I’ve stepped it up as well. I get to go home this week and I think that will be good for me."

The inconsistently fast Brock Sellards captured his first 125 win last night. He had battled arm pump throughout his career but seems to have recently made some progress. Steve Bruhn photo

The 125 West race would be the last race before a two-and-a-half month break as the series moves back to the East. If anyone is going to beat James Stewart this year it’s going to be Stewart himself. Anaheim III was a perfect example of the only thing that could put a damper on the rookie sensation’s season. Stewart crashed his factory Kawasaki on the first lap and dropped back to the rear of the field. After picking himself up and working all the way back to fifth with five laps to go, he went down again and was forced to settle for a finish outside the top 10 for the first time.

While Stewart was having his troubles, it was smooth sailing for Sellards. The Red Bull KTM rider from Ohio led flag to flag to win only his second 125 Supercross race and first in three years. After a poor start Factory Connection Honda’s Chris Gosselaar put in a strong charge to finish runner-up, just 3.1-seconds behind Sellards. Billy Laninovich was the surprise of the night. The rookie from Ramona, Calif., whose previous best finish was 15th at Phoenix, broke out of his shell to finish third.

"This weekend I turned it around," said Sellards talking about his victory after a rough season so far. Sellards who has suffered with arm pump for much of his career credited his girlfriend for his recovery. "For awhile I had some scar tissue and my girlfriend Trisha helped rub my arms everyday before the season and I don’t get arm pump anymore."

Race Notes

Blair double dips in Anaheim
The ironman award of the night had to go to Daniel Blair, of Lodi, Calif., who qualified for both the 250 and 125 finals on his Powerhouse Yamahas at Anaheim III.

Roncada quiet no more
Stephane Roncada put on a new face at Anaheim. The normally laid-back rider traded paint with both Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath in the main event. Roncada said after the race that, "his confidence was really up" and that he was "not taking crap anymore". A few riders didn’t seem too impressed with Roncada’s aggressive riding, but McGrath, who perhaps had the hardest run-ins with the Frenchman, said it was no big deal. "As long as nobody ends up on the ground I’m not going to get too worried about it," said MC.

Photo Gallery

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Photos by Steve Bruhn

Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.