Yamaha Race Report: Anaheim II

AMA Supercross Round 3 | January 19, 2008 | Anaheim
2008 AMA Supercross Championship in Anaheim, CA. on Saturday
night, Jan. 19. With rival James Stewart out for the season with a
knee injury, Reed’s win vaults him into a significant 16-point
championship lead over Kevin Windham, who finished third.
“Retro Night” at Angel Stadium also proved sensational for Hill,
who scored his first career Supercross podium. While in the Lites
class, YZ250F warriors Broc Hepler and Jason Lawrence showed
massive speed as Hepler claimed a fine second and Lawrence set
the fastest Lites race lap.

Supercross
L&M Racing’s Reed was fastest in Supercross practice, followed
by Stewart (before his withdrawal), Yamaha Factory Racing’s
Grant Langston and Hill, giving Yamaha three of the top four
riders. But when the gate dropped for the main event it was Mike
Alessi who earned the holeshot ahead of Reed and Hill. The pair
quickly got by Alessi and gapped the rest of the field.
Impressively though, Hill stayed close to Reed for the entire race
and ultimately finished 6.1 sec. behind him – a very impressive
result for the Supercross-class rookie. “I felt awesome out there
tonight,” said Reed. “My bike’s a lot of fun to go out there and
race on. We just put the thing on cruise control and watched the
laps wind down.”

Supercross Lites
In the Lites class, Yamaha of Troy’s Lawrence posted the fastest
practice time, won his heat race and charged from ninth to third
in the final before retiring on lap four. Likewise, Yamaha Factory
Racing’s Hepler started in mid-pack and made a steady drive for
the front, picking off rider after rider and eventually moving into
second behind winner Ryan Dungey. At the checkered flag, just
1.279 seconds separated the two. Hepler’s runner-up finish
moves him to second in the points behind Dungey. “I didn’t do my
start procedure right and wheelied, so I had to work my way up
from the back,” he admitted afterwards. “Now I just need to put it
together and do one step better next weekend!” yamaha-
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