Carmichael Leaves Canada On Top

Carmichael leaves Canada on top.

Supercross won't be the same without Ricky Carmichael. You've probably heard people say that a hundred times by now, but it's still hard to believe he's retiring at 26 to pursue a career on four wheels. I guess what makes it even harder is that he's still got it. Everyone in attendance at the BC Place in Vancouver could see it. Even with his bum right foot James Stewart was going fast, but RC was back there methodically stalking him, waiting on his prey to make one too many mistakes and then he was going to pounce. You weren't sure when it was going to happen, but much like the sands of time it was inevitable.

Let me rewind for a second. If you were at Toronto or saw what transpired there, you know without a shadow of a doubt that James Stewart's season was over. A run-in with Chad Reed led to a really nasty run-in with Travis Preston. Even though he was able to finish out the race on 100% adrenaline there was no doubt to all in attendance and everyone that watched on TV the next day that Stewart's leg, foot and ankle were all badly broken. After all Stewart collapsed in agony just after crossing the finish line. Season over, just like that.

Then I heard the first round of X-Rays had come up negative on any breaks. Then the MRI report came in with the good news. For how bad it looked James had gotten lucky (in one sense of the word). He had severe bruising to the area, but otherwise he was okay. With that news Vancouver SX was still over, but at least there was hope for Anaheim and the AMA Supercross Championship. Then came news from Live Nation that Stewart was going to come to Vancouver and give it a shot. Was it a smart idea? Probably not, but it did prove one thing. James Stewart is one tough hombre. A James put it in the press conference after the race, "I'm a racer and if I can walk I'm going race". Of course that meant leaving the crutches he had been using all week in the truck when he got to the airport on his way up to Vancouver.



The weekend started out just like last weekend. RC and James had the two fastest times during the first qualifying session. Things got a little weird when James failed to make an appearance during the second practice session. After a short conversion with Kawasaki Team Manager Mike Fisher it turned out James had some swelling in his bad foot and decided to rest the foot rather than get more practice and attempt to set a faster lap time than Ricky.

The first heat race turned out to be a Chad Reed run away. Using the same speed and confidence that he had last week Chad motored away from the rest of the field. Heat two on the other hand was a showdown of sorts. James Stewart's record 19 heat race wins in a row was in serious jeopardy. Why? With his injured foot RC had been faster than him all night long and RC was also in heat two. At the start of the second heat RC pushed James wide and that was all she wrote. RC took the checkers with James coming in a somewhat distant second.



With Reed and Ricky's dominate performances during the heat races the main event was going to be a forgone conclusion, that is until James Stewart changed everything with a solid holeshot while both Ricky and Reed didn't quite get the starts they had hoped for. While Ricky knifed his way into second within striking distance of James, Chad Reed didn't have the same good fortune. Just like most last year Chad found himself in third watching the two front runners slowly pull away. What happened in the short span of a week that had Chad once again filling that low man on the podium totem poll roll? Chad's honest answer was the track. He struggled with the deteriorating condition of the Vancouver track all day long and it was no where more apparent then during the rhythm section shortly after the Congo straight.

The battle between Ricky and James wasn't exactly the bar banging action that we saw last week in Toronto between Reed and Stewart. James got the holeshot, pulled a comfortable margin and then rode his own race. Ricky didn't get such a good start, but he worked his way into second right away and then latched onto James' pace. He wasn't a threat to pass James at any one point, but he was close enough that should James make a mistake he could capitalize on it. Lappers helped Ricky midway through the race close the gap up even tighter. With his ankle starting to throb more and more James finally made enough mistakes with a few laps to go for Ricky to make his move. Instead of mounting a charge to pass Ricky back James did the smart thing and settled for a second on the lap. An impressive showing considering up till Thursday night he wasn't even sure he wasn't going to ride.

Ricky's tactics were sound. He knew James was hurt. He knew the odds that James wouldn't be able to put in 20 hard laps were good. He also admitted that he was surprised with James' pace till a little after the midway point of the main event. Ricky is the champ there is no other way to put it. He leaves Canada with the points lead even though he promises everyone that he won't be around for the whole series. And for that we are truly bummed. My advice, even if you have to go out of your way make it to one of the Supercross races that RC is racing. It's bound to be entertaining.



Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP Event Results, Vancouver
1. Ricky Carmichael...Suz
2. James Stewart...Kaw
3. Chad Reed...Yam
4. David Vuillemin...Hon
5. Tim Ferry...Kaw
6. Nathan Ramsey...Hon
7. Travis Preston...Hon
8. Jeff Gibson...Kaw
9. Nick Wey...Hon
10. Jason Thomas...Hon

Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP Season Standings
1. Ricky Carmichael...47
2. Chad Reed...45
3. James Stewart...42
4. David Vuillemin...34
5. Tim Ferry...34
6. Nick Wey...27
7. Jeff Gibson...25
8. Heath Voss...22
9. Paul Carpenter...22
10. Ryan Clark...21