Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128371
THO World Supercross Grand Prix Series!THO AMA Supercross Series Bubba'§ Back Ever since Team Kawasaki's James Stewart crashed at the Phoenix round and broke his arm the big question has been, when will he return? That question was answered at Orlando this weekend. Stewart had a lot of pressure on him. He had interview after interview and had to race daytime qualifiers to get into the night show, since he is outside of the top-20 in points. Despite the distraction, he had to still stay focused on the race - one that was important to him and Kawasaki. For anyone, it would be a difficult task to handle. Team Kawasaki race team manager Bruce Stjernstrom spoke about Stewart's return. "We wanted to make sure that he was 100percent fit to come back," he said. "It's one thing... you've kind of got these stages where you are hurt, then the injury itself is healed, then your fitness to ride and race isn't there. So you kind of go through those stages." As for Stewart, he wanted desperately to return as soon as possible, and he certainly did all he could. He trained hard right after having surgery and did extensive physical therapy - he There were some tense moments for Reed and Team Yamaha right as the 30-second board went up for the main event. They quickly got things figured out and the racing got under way. was focused 100 percent on his return. "I know he was really anxious to come back," Stjernstrom said. "When he went to Anaheim III, he came in the trailer and he was like, 'Man give me a bike, I've got to get out there.' It was just hard for him. He promised, when we started this whole thing, that he would listen to the doctors, and we would do it the right way. I think it is best for him and best for us in the long run. Because when he comes back, it kind of removes that question of, 'Oh, did he come back too soon?' And even though people criticize you for not being there, they criticize you more if you come back and can't deliver at a reasonable level." As for Stewart, he felt there was too much invested in him to wait until the Nationals for his return. Stewart, however, stayed focused on what his doctors said he could or couldn't do. "If I wouldn't have gotten the okay from the doctor, I would have definitely had to sit it out," Stewart said, "but I felt like these guys from Clear Channel, and my team, they put so much effort behind me during the off-season and stuff, Iwanted to come back and give them what they put in. If the doctor wouldn't have let me, then I definitely would have had to sit out. But Igot the okay to race and stuff, and I took a couple of weeks off to prepare to give the crowd and everybody a good show." When the time finally did come for Stewart to come back to action, the team came together and tested until everything was perfect. "Probably the first week, we just had him go out there with the existing spec that he has on his bike," Stjernstrom said, "and we got some laps in and got some times - kind of got back up to speed again. And then the last week and a half, we spent some time down at his house." As for the changes that they made to the bike, Stjernstrom said they weren't much. "We made a few changes to the bike," he said, "just real minor stuff that we had done some testing on when he was out, and came up with some things we thought were just a little better. Just to make it a little more better for him." Brendan Lutes one. It brought him the needed confidence going into the final five rounds of the series, and he showed everyone that he isn't going down without a fight. "I wouldn't be sitting here today if I honestly didn't believe that I had a shot at it [the championship]," Reed said. 'i\nything can happen. We have a lot of days, a lot of weeks, a lot of hours left in this thing. The pace is higher than ever, and we need to step it up. I think when you're going home and working hard dur- ing the week, anything can happen. And I'm ready." eN CITRUS BOWL ORLANDO, FLORIDA RESULTS: MARCH 19, 2005 (ROUNDS 11/12 OF 16/17) HEAT I (8 laps, 1-4 transfer): I. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Kevin Windham (Han); 3. Emesto Fonseca (Han); 4. Tyler Evans (SUI); S. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 6. Kyle lewis (Hon); 7. Damon Huffman (Hon); 8. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 9. Cole Siebler (SUI); 10. Keith Johnson (Yam); II. Isaiah Johnson (Yam); 12. Sebastian Tonelli (Suz); I]. Damien Plotts (Hen); 14. BriAn Mason (Hon); 15. logan Darien (Yam); 16. Timothy Hollenbeck (Yam); 17. Scott Metz (Han); 18. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 19. Chris Barrett (Hen); 20. Bradley Ripple (SUI). 22 MARCH 30, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Time: 7 min., 8.080 sec. HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1-4 transfer): I. James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 3. Travis Preston (Han); 4. Andrew Shon (Han); 5. David Vuillemin (Yam); 6. Mike laRocco (Han); 7. Ryan Clark (Yam); 8. Sean Hamblin (Kaw); 9. Jason Thomas (Han); 10. Jay Marmont (KTM); II. Joe Oehlhof (Han); 12. Jiri Dostal (Han); 13. Cody Gilmore (Kawl; 14. Mkhael Young (Hon); I S. Robbie Smith (Yam); 16. Colt Humphrey (Han); 17. Gavin Gracyk (Kaw); 18. Doug Dehaan (Han); 19. William Browning (Suz); 20. Natlw> Skaw (Yam). Time: 6 min.. 59.770 sec. SEMI I (6 laps, 1-5 transfer): I. Sebastien Tortelli (SUI); 2. Damon Huffman (Hon); 3. Cole Seibler (SUI); 4. Damien Plotts (Hon); 5. Keith Johnson (Yam); 6. Kyle lewis (Han); 7. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 8. Scott Men (Han); 9. logan Darien (Yam); 10. Timmy Ferry (Yam); II. Timothy Hollenbeck (Yam); 12. Bradley Ripple (Suz); 13. Chris Barrett (Han); 1-4. Isaiah Johnsan (Yam); IS. Brian Mason (Hon); 16. Kevin Johnson (Yam). Time: 5 min., ]5.690 sec. UPCOMING ROUNDS: Rounds 12/13· Dollos, Texos, April 2, 2005 Rounds 13/14· Ponliac, Michigan, April 9, 2005