Ryan Dungey Leads Series Despite Crashes

Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey has retained his
lead in the AMA Supercross West coast Lites series despite
crashing twice at Saturday night's fifth round at Angel Stadium
in Anaheim.

The RM-Z250-mounted teenager - who has seen his lead over
Yamaha's Jason Lawrence cut to just eight points with two
rounds remaining - crashed on the first turn and started dead
last. Then, after charging through the pack, he tangled with
another rider and went down again, eventually taking 11th.

In the Supercross main, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi
raced to sixth place and has dropped to fourth in the title hunt.
So far this year, Alessi has had sixth and fourth-place finishes
at this venue.

Ryan Dungey: "I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed about
this weekend. We had a good heat race; the bike was running
great and we got the win. But in the main, things just didn't go
our way. But that's racing and I'll be back on my regular
training program next week, getting ready for San Diego. It's
important to have a positive outlook and I'm not going to sit
around and think about this weekend's race. I'm looking
forward and just focusing on being positive for San Diego."

Mike Alessi: "I didn't feel that comfortable with the track in
practice and I was struggling with a few sections and that kind
of got my head messed up. I was just thinking about it too
much and not focusing on trying to race the track. In the heat
race I got a great start on the Suzuki RM-Z450 and was out
front, but that same section messed me up and a couple guys
got past me. But then I kept working at it and finally got that
section and I ended up third place. In the main I was just a bit
off at the start - I didn't get a bad start, but I didn't get a great
start either. I was in the middle of the pack and passed a few
guys to get into sixth. I'm still fourth in points and that's pretty
good. I just need to work more on my intensity at the beginning
of the race and staying with those guys. These are the fastest
guys in the world and it's a learning process for me. I've got to
take the good with the bad and I'm just trying to get better
gradually." full story on paddocktalk.com - pics from
tedescophoto.com & racerxill.com