Carmichael and his Honda CRF450R Keep the Season Perfect

Red Rider Weekend Report
Unadilla Valley Sports Center, Berlin, NY
Round 6 of the AMA Motocross Championship
July 19, 2004

Carmichael and his Honda CRF450R Keep the Season Perfect

There's a reason the rolling countryside in upstate New York retains its
beautiful green hues even when the weather warms up: Summer showers?large
or small? can brew up at any time. So even though rain washed out Saturday
practice at round 6 of the AMA Motocross Championship in New Berlin, New
York, Team Honda's Ricky Carmichael took full advantage of the track's
extra watering and ran away to another double win on a cloudy but rain-free
Sunday. RC's accomplishment keeps him a perfect 12 wins for 12 motos on the
season and also stretches out his first-place advantage to 48 points as the
12-round series hits the halfway mark.

Robbed of their setup time on Saturday, riders and crews scrambled through
a short Sunday practice session to fine-tune their machines. The undulating
and unforgiving Unadilla racetrack was well watered by the earlier rains,
and the deep brown loam allowed riders to establish multiple racing lines
all around the track. However, the unceasing pounding created tough riding
conditions as the day wore on. "When it rains like this the track dirt gets
deeper and deeper, and the tracks gets rough, and that's good for me." Said
Carmichael.

As per now-usual practice at AMA Outdoor Nationals, RC and his red #4 Honda
immediately snapped up the holeshot and lead the field of 40 riders. He
quickly pulled out an insurmountable lead and eventually cruised
unchallenged to the checkered flag, finishing ahead of second place with a
cushion of 19.38 seconds. "It's no secret that this track is not one of my
favorites," Carmichael said. "I got beat here last year and my goal was to
not let that happen again."

Moto two saw Ricky seize the holeshot once again, but this time he was
closely followed by Chad Reed. After getting a good start off the line,
Amsoil/Chaparral's Honda's Kevin Windham tucked into third place early on.
KW kept pressing Reed until he finally made the pass in the late stages of
the race to snare the runner-up spot for the second moto. Meanwhile, Red
Rider Carmichael had checked out and sailed on to claim the 102nd National
win of his career. "It feels awesome," a smiling Carmichael said. "It was a
good day for me, and as I have said before it's not my favorite track. I
knew Kevin was going to be tough at this track, so I worked hard over the
week." Team Honda's Ernesto Fonseca had two rough starts, and mechanical
problems relegated him to 38-9 finishes, which gave him 15th place overall
for the day.

In 125 action Amsoil/Chaparral Honda rookie Josh Grant netted two top-10
finishes (7, 6), giving him an overall fifth-place finish for the day. Team
Honda's Nathan Ramsey had two less then stellar starts and finished 10th
for the day.

The Red Riders can next be seen at Kenworthy's Motocross Park in Troy, Ohio
for round 7 of the AMA Motocross Championship.

AMA 250 Race Results
1. Ricky Carmichael-Honda (1,1)
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha (2,3)
3. Sebastian Tortelli-Suzuki (3,4)
4. Kevin Windham-Honda (6,2)
5. Michael Byrne-Kawasaki (4,5)
15. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda (38, 9)

AMA 250 Overall Points
1. Ricky Carmichael-Honda-300
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha-252
3. Kevin Windham-Honda-237
4. David Vuillemin-Yamaha-194
5. Michael Bryne-Kawasaki-161
9. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda-117

AMA 125 Race Results
1. James Stewart- Kawasaki (1,1)
2. Matt Walker-Kawasaki (3,2)
3. Kelly Smith-Yamaha (6,5)
4. Michael Brown-Yamaha (11,3)
5. Josh Grant-Honda (7,6)
8. Ryan Mills-Honda (9,7)
10. Nathan Ramsey-Honda (8,15)

AMA 125 Points
1. James Stewart-Kawasaki-275
2. Michael Brown-Yamaha-224
3. Broc Hepler-Suzuki-189
4. Nathan Ramesy-Honda-151
5. Josh Grant-Honda-131