The third stop of the 2010 AMA Supercross series stormed through Anaheim’s Angel Stadium on Saturday night, with James Stewart battling through injuries sustained in Phoenix to take a spot on the podium.
To kick off the night in Lites heat number one, Cole Seely rounded turn number one in the fifth spot, but motored his way into the second position by the end of the first lap. Second is where Seely would eventually finish the heat, easily qualifying for the night’s main event. Cole would later ride on to an impressive fifth place overall finish in the main, propelling his Red Bull-backed Honda a step closer to podium glory.
Lites heat race number two was Wil Hahn’s turn to start his A2 campaign, and he did so by jumping out to a sixth-place start as the pack rumbled through turn one. From there, Hahn quickly moved his way up to the third spot before the end of the lap, which is where he would eventually finish the race.
When the gates dropped for the Lites main event, Hahn jumped out to a fourth-place start as the pack charged down the start straight, but he quickly made a pass for third just two turns into the race. On lap number four, Hahn went on to pass Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen for the second spot, and despite efforts to reel in the leader, Wil would eventually cross the checkers just over three seconds back.
Garth Milan/Red Bull Photofiles
Hahn’s second-place finish was his second podium appearance of his career, and the very likeable Honda rider was ecstatic after the race. “I’m really stoked right now! I rode pretty tight in the heat, but we came back to the truck to regroup for the main, and my team really helped me get ready. I had a bet with my trainer that we wouldn’t shave our faces until I got on the podium this season, so we’re both pretty excited to get back to our normal clean-cut looks!”
In the Supercross class, Honda Red Bull Racing’s Andrew Short had a solid night, piloting his factory CRF450R to an impressive fourth place finish. Shorty stalked the leaders for the majority of the main, just missing the podium by a couple of seconds. Short now sits tied for third in the championship points standings!
After the abuse that James Stewart’s body took during last weekend’s crashes in Phoenix, the defending SX champ had an irregular week of preparation for Anaheim 2. With a sore wrist, shoulder, and ankle holding him back, James was unable to ride all week, but showed up in Anaheim to give it his all toward staying in the championship points fight.
A good start would be critical to accomplishing James’ goal of finishing on the podium in the A2 main event, and he did just exactly that. After rocketing down the start straight and crossing the holeshot stripe in the second spot, James immediately made a pass for the lead.
Garth Milan/Red Bull Photofiles
James would go on to lead the first five laps of the main before giving way to Hill during the sixth go around, and then Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey got by on lap number 12. Despite riding through obvious pain, James held on to finish in a very respectable third place when all was said and done.
Collecting valuable series points, James now heads into another week of rehab on his injuries before lining up in the gate for round number four in San Francisco.
“It’s tough,” James commented after the race. “I haven’t ridden all week, and about eight laps into it I just couldn’t hold on anymore. Ryan and Josh were riding really well, and I just didn’t have anything for them. I had sections where I was pretty good, but they were just on it. Congratulations to those guys, and I’ll just try to come back next week and see what happens.”
Stay tuned as the series heads up to San Francisco for round number four this coming weekend!
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