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2002 AMA EA Sports U.S. Supercross Championship
Round 7 of 16: Feb. 16 - Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN

Ricky Carmichael is doing what it takes to get defend his AMA Supercross title: winning races. Steve Bruhn photo

INDIANAPOLIS – Ricky Carmichael has a long uphill battle to catch David Vuillemin in the 2002 AMA EA Sports Supercross Series, but the defending champ did what he had to do Saturday night in the Metrodome and won his third race of the season to chip five points off of Vuillemin’s lead. Ernesto Fonseca made it a Honda one-two after running a solid race to take second – his best-career finish in AMA Supercross. Vuillemin took third on his factory Yamaha to keep his podium streak perfect on the season. He had to fight hard to do so however, after getting a terrible start and running as far back as 11th in the early going. The technical Metrodome track took its toll on riders. Mike LaRocco, Travis Pastrana, Nate Ramsey and Robbie Reynard all crashed and DNF’d the race, drastically changing the championship picture.

In the 125 East final it was Chad Reed coming through to win for the second straight week. This despite riding with a badly injured groin muscle suffered in a practice crash early in the week.

The main event looked like it might have been a real changeup since Ezra Lusk broke through to win the first heat race. Pastrana won the second race – the faster of the two. The surprise of qualifying was the fact that LaRocco had to go all the way to the LCQ to make the main.

In the final it was Sebastien Tortelli earning the holeshot on the factory Honda in his first race of the season. At the end of the first lap it was a Honda freight train with Tortelli leading teammates Fonseca and Ramsey. The shocker was Vuillemin, who suffered a poor start and ran 11^th, a position he would languish in for six laps.

On lap five the crowd roared when both Fonseca and McGrath moved underneath Tortelli to take over first and second. A lap later the fans came to their feet when MC took over the lead with a block pass on Fonseca in turn two. For four laps Big Mac pulled away and it looked as though he was finally going to break through to get his first win of the season, but yet another mistake cost him.

On lap 10 McGrath entered turn six and hit a tuff block and spun out his Bud Light Yamaha. He immediately dropped from first to third and then seemed to totally lose his rhythm and eventually fell back to sixth place. McGrath left Minneapolis, frustrated, yet to crack the top five. When McGrath spun it, Carmichael took advantage and swept past an off-guard Fonseca to take the lead.

That same lap LaRocco and Pastrana went down in the whoops. LaRocco got up holding his right shoulder. Pastrana continued but only went a few more laps before pulling off with a possible leg injury.

The remainder of the race saw RC opened up his lead, pulling out to a 4.5-second margin of victory. Fonseca finished alone in second to earn his second podium of the season.

The big mover of the second half of the race was Vuillemin. It seemed like he was stuck in 11th forever, but by lap nine he began making his way through the field. In the latter stages he and Stephane Roncada hooked up in a great fight over fourth. Vuillemin won out, but looked like he was going to miss the podium for the first time this season. That was before Ezra Lusk handed him a gift. On the final lap Lusk made several bad mistakes allowing Vuillemin to close and make the pass a few turns before the checkered flag. So in what might have been a disastrous race, in terms of points lost to Carmichael, Vuillemin minimized the damage by sticking with it through the entire 20-lap final. Lusk threw down his goggles in frustration having just missed out on a chance at a podium finish.

Carmichael’s win moved him into second in the series past LaRocco. The defending champ now stands 23 points behind Vuillemin after seven of 16 rounds. The top two riders each now have three wins. LaRocco is third in the standings. It was unclear immediately after the race how serious his injury might be.

“Me and David got a bad start tonight,” said Carmichael, who took his second-straight win in Minneapolis. “If it keeps going the way it’s going, it’s going to be a fight to the end. Tonight was a good night for me; I made a little bit of points back (on Vuillemin). Everything was working really good for me tonight. I’ve got to try to win some more races, that’s what it’s all about. David’s riding really good and I just need to keep it on two wheels and do my best and whatever happens happens.”

Reed took the Powerade holeshot on his Boost Mobile Yamaha YZF250 in the 125 East final and immediately began pulling away from the KTM teammates of Steve Boniface and Grant Langston. Reed was riding strong despite his injury.

While Reed pulled away Boniface and Langston had a good dice for second. Mid-race Brown pulled close to the KTM duo, but couldn’t seem to be able to maintain the pace. In the end it was Reed with a flag-to-flag victory by 10 seconds for his second straight victory. Langston made his move on lap 14 to finally take over second from his teammate. It was a good recovery for the South African who had crashed out of the opener in Indy last week. It marked the first AMA Supercross podium for Boniface, yet another in a long line of talented French riders.

“Tonight I was just wanting a good start and hoping not to fall too far back,” said the sore Reed. “I was not feeling 100 percent tonight. I had a lot of pain, but I just wanted to win and I got a good start so that helps. I flew here on Friday and I wasn’t 100 percent sure I was going to ride. I’m glad I did.

Race Notes

Carmichaels breaks tie with Stanton and Barnett

Ricky Carmichael’s Minneapolis victory moved him out of a three-way tie with Jeff Stanton and Mark Barnett on the all-time AMA Supercross win list. Carmichael now has 18-career wins and stands alone in sixth on the all-time list, just one victory away from tying Damon Bradshaw and cracking the top-five.

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Photos by Steve Bruhn

Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.