THQ World Superoross GP SeriesiAMA Supercross Series
Round 7/5: Edison International Field
By KIT PALMER
PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN
ANAHEIM, CA, FEB. 1
fjJ) icky Carmichael got his wish at
~Anaheim III - to race heads up
with Chad Reed.
And not only did he get his wish,
he got his way.
Up until Anaheim III, the two riders
who have pretty much stolen the
spotlight thus far have never had the
chance to race each other one on
one. When Reed won the opening
round of the THQ AMA Supercross
Series at Anaheim I, Carmichael had
a bad night and never even saw him.
Neither rider fared well in Phoenix,
and in the next two rounds that
Carmichael won, Reed struggled
with poor starts and crashes. So,
going into round five, people were
still wondering: Just who is faster?
Carmichael or Reed? Well, that
question was finally answered at
Anaheim III.
At least for now.
The sellout Anaheim crowd was
treated to a good race, with
Carmichael, on the Chad Watts-tuned
Honda CR250R, taking the win over
Reed by less than a second. The two
riders battled to the front and hooked
up right at the halfway point of the
20-lap race, where their duel for the
win commenced. Until that point,
AmsoiljChaparral Honda's Michael
Byrne was the surprise rider of the
night.
Byrne grabbed the early lead and,
despite a long line of heavy-hitters
right behind him, held the point for
quite a while. After the first lap, the
Australian was closely followed by
Ezra "Yogi" Lusk, Reed, Stephane
(Above) Ricky Carmichael pulled off
his third win in a row at Anaheim III,
extending his lead to nine points over
Chad Reed. He and Reed finally got
the chance to race together In what
WIIS a thrilling race.
(Left) Reed moved Into second at the
halfway point and spent the rest of the
race chasing Carmichael. For most of
the second half of the race, they were
this close.
Roncada, Carmichael, Brock Sellards, Ivan Tedesco, David Vuillemin
and Tim Ferry. By the second lap,
Byrne had actually opened up a modest lead, whiJe everyone behind him
jockeyed for position.
Roncada, on the SoBe Suzuki
RM250, was one of the first to start
making some serious moves to the
front. He surprised everyone by getting around Reed on the second lap
and then putting the move on Lusk
8
FEBRURY 12, 2003'
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