Carmichael Wins Round 5 At Anaheim!

For Immediate Release

      AMA Supercross Series 250cc/125cc West

      Round 5: Anaheim, CA

      February 1, 2003



      A sell-out crowd of 45,050 left Anaheim's Edison Field Saturday night

      seeing red. That's because Honda Red Rider Ricky Carmichael and

      Amsoil/Chaparral/Factory Connection rider Michael Byrne combined

      efforts to lead every lap of the 250 main event. Carmichael took the

      win, his third thus far, while early race-leader Byrne finished a

      season-high in fourth. In 125 Western Region action, Travis Preston

      suffered from a poor start in the main, but dazzled the crowd and the

      competition by moving through the pack to finish a hard-fought

      second.



      Slippery conditions on a track layout that allowed riders to choose

      between two different first turns made for some interesting racing.

      Two short sections containing turns one and two were mirror opposites

      of each other, and joined together in turn three. Both seemed equally

      fast and slick. Honda Motocross Team Manager Erik Kehoe summed up

      round five of the AMA Supercross Series best when he said, "Tire

      choice was pretty tough because the conditions started out loose and

      then as the day went on, it got pretty hard-packed and slick. That

      was something you could see in the main events. A lot of guys were

      struggling for traction."



      Team Amsoil/Chaparral/Factory Connection Red Rider Mike LaRocco had

      no problems finding traction as his Honda CR250R ripped off three

      holeshots throughout the evening. The first holeshot came in

      LaRocco's heat race, in which he and Chad Reed battled for the lead.

      On the final lap LaRocco accidentally collided with Reed, sending

      both riders to the stadium floor. This forced LaRocco to ride the

      first semi, which he handily won with Honda teammate Ernesto Fonseca

      finishing second. Meanwhile, in his heat race Carmichael wasted

      little time in getting to the lead to take the checkered flag by a

      comfortable margin.



      LaRocco and Byrne made the start of the main event a Factory

      Connection affair as each rider won the drag race to their respective

      first turn. Where the two track sections rejoined, Byrne had the

      advantage, with Carmichael in fifth. LaRocco, surrounded in typical

      first-lap chaos, hit the ground after tangling with multiple riders

      in a hairpin turn. The crash knocked the wind out of him and injured

      his shoulder, but he got up and painfully charged through the pack

      until the eighth lap when another crash and a throbbing shoulder

      proved too much even for LaRocco.



      As Fonseca worked his way up from a poor start and a last-lap crash

      to ultimately finishing ninth, Carmichael moved  to the lead, passing

      Byrne just before the mid-way point of the 20-lap event. Byrne, who

      will begin his quest for the 125 East Championship in Minneapolis

      later this month, ended the night in fourth. "I felt good all

      weekend," he said while signing autographs in the pits. "I've been

      looking for a holeshot and I finally got one. Plus, I was battling

      with Ricky there for a while, so I'm happy about that."



      Nearing the end of the race Carmichael bobbled just enough to prevent

      him from jumping a triple, but he managed to cross the finish line

      with a one second margin of victory over Chad Reed. "That was a

      pretty exciting race," said a relieved Carmichael. "I would have

      liked it if I hadn't made that mistake before the triple, but a lot

      of people were making mistakes out there because it was so slick. I

      just need to get better starts and I'll be a lot happier."



      In the 125 West event, Preston got off to a mid-pack start, forcing

      him to work his way through the usual suspects to the runner-up

      position. "My bike is fast. It's awesome. I just need to get a good

      start. I think if I can get a good start I can win one again."



      Also suffering from a bad start was Preston's teammate Gosselaar, who

      was landed on by another rider on the fifth lap. Gosselaar was back

      on his feet after the race in the Factory Connection pit, but was

      taken to the hospital for a routine check-up.



      The Supercross Series leaves Anaheim for the 2003 season and heads

      south to San Diego on February 8, where Honda Red Riders plan a full

      assault on the podium.





      250 Main Event Results:



      1.  Ricky Carmichael - Honda

      2.  Chad Reed - Yamaha

      3.  David Vuillemin - Yamaha

      4.  Michael Byrne - Honda

      5.  Ezra Lusk - Kawasaki

      9.  Ernesto Fonseca - Honda

      13.  Larry Ward - Honda

      17.  Mike LaRocco - Honda

      19.  Pierrick Paget - Honda



      250 AMA Supercross Point Standings:



      1.  Ricky Carmichael - Honda - 115

      2.  Chad Reed - Yamaha - 106

      3.  (Tie) Ezra Lusk - Kawasaki/David Vuillemin - Yamaha - 87

      5.  Tim Ferry - Yamaha - 79

      6.  Mike LaRocco - Honda - 60

      7.  Michael Byrne - Honda - 57

      8.  Ernesto Fonseca - Honda - 43



      125 West Main Event Results:



      1.  James Stewart - Kawasaki

      2.  Travis Preston - Honda

      3.  Eric Sorby - Kawasaki

      4.  Matt Walker - Kawasaki

      5.  Billy Laninovich - KTM

      21. Chris Gosselaar - Honda



      125 Western Region Supercross Point Standings:



      1.  James Stewart - Kawasaki - 122

      2.  Travis Preston - Honda - 94

      3.  Billy Laninovich - KTM - 77

      4.  (Tie) Matt Walker - Kawasaki/Andrew Short - Suzuki - 74

      6.  Chris Gosselaar - Honda - 65

      17. (Tie) Turbo Reif - Honda/Travis Elliott - Yamaha ? 22



For complete coverage check out American Honda's website at www.honda.com.