Edword
Jons6 Dome
Sr. Loui6, ,l O
I
avi l4illsaps
won the
open-
ing
round of the Amp'd
l'lobile AMA
Supercross
Lites Eastern
Regional
Supercross
Series in typi-
cal Davi l'lillsaps st/le
- by
coming from
behrnd.
The Team Honda
rider is notori-
ous for
getting
poor
starts and, as usual,
got
off to one of
his signature
midpack
starB
in St.
Louis. But who
needs a
good
start when
you can
work though traffic
like
Millsaps does?
"l
have to be
realistic. I haven't been
getting good
stans
for the
last tlvo
years,"
he said.
"l
iust
want to be
consastent,
and
I feel
if I can
get founh- or fifth-place
starts,
lcan work
to the
front from
there."
Millsaps
wrn was cerrainly
no surPrise.
but lhe
riders who shared
the
podium
with
him were.
The East Region Series
was
supposed to
be a showdown
between
Millsaps, Red Bull KTM's
Josh
Hansen, SoBe/Samsung/Mobile/Honda's
Josh
Grant, Makita Suzuki's
Broc
Hepler
and
Monster Enerry
Pro Circuit Kawasaki
teammates Ben
Townley and
Troy Adams.
However,
Hepler, who
kept the
news a
secret,
broke
his foot a few weeks before
the opener, and
Townley
went down with
an iniur/
during the off-season,
ae did
Adams,
which brings
us to the rider
who
finished second
in
5t.
Louis
- Chris
Gosselaar.
Gosselaar
was down
on his luck after a
miserable season in 2005.
but because
of
the situation
at
Pro Circuit. was
Siven
a
second chance at
a Supercross
ride
-
somethinB
that few riders ever
get.
Gosselaar
made the
most of it and turned
a holeshot
into a
podium linish in St.
Louis.
Yamaha of Troy's
Branden
Jesseman
was the other
podium
finisher
in
St.
Louis
and his story
is similar
to Gosselaar's.
Jesseman,
the 2003 125 Eastern
Regional
Supercross
Champion,
struggled
with
injuries in 2004
and 2005, but
seems to
have thinSs in order
for 2005 and certain-
ly
got off to a
good enough start.
The other
preseason favorites, Grant
and Hansen,
ran into
problems.
Grant
looked awesome
while
running away with
his heat race. but a
first-lap crash
in the
main, and then
another while working
to
the front, ended
his night
(see
"My
Own
Race"
page
28).
For eight
or
nine laps, Hansen looked
like an easy winner
in the Lites
main. He
quickly passed Gosselaar on the
first lap
26
MARCHI,2006
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