Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Open’
James Sweeps The US Open!
Despite several hundred more fans filing in to help fill the seats of the MGM’s Grand Garden Arena, night number two of the 2009 US Open of Supercross looked very much like the first. James looked to be in mid-season form, as he all but rode the wheels off his groundbreaking new YZ450 en route to his third career US Open title, and the cool 100K purse that comes along with it!
The evening kicked off like it did on Friday, with one-on-one match races tipping off the action. The top-ten from the day’s timed practice sessions lined up near the starting gate shortly after the conclusion of the opening ceremonies, with James drawing first blood from the hat full of names. Nick Wey was his worthy opponent, and the two quickly mounted their steeds and made their way into the staring gate to do battle. When it dropped, James cracked the throttle on his mighty new Yamaha, and proceeded on to the holeshot and a cushy win over Wey.
Heat race number three was once again the draw for James to sink his teeth into the night show, and just as he did in both races last night, he chose the third gate from the inside to get things crackin’! When the gate slammed, the mighty number one rocketed out to an impressive holeshot, and threw down eight near-flawless laps to take the heat race win ahead of Robby Kiniry and Davi Millsaps.
After nearly two hours of Semis, LCQs, and a solid FMX show, James and crew headed back to the line for the night two main event. As the number one qualifier, James once again had first pick of the gate, and he once again opted for what had become his lucky gate. With the MGM crowd on their feet, the gates dropped, but this time JS7’s favorite spot didn’t hook up quite as well, as Ryan Villopoto jumped out to the early lead. Buried toward the tail end of the top-ten, James snuck inside the pack as they exited turn number two, cutting off five to six guys to take over the third spot behind Villopoto and Dan Reardon. Crossing the line to start lap five, James threw a smooth pass on Reardon, and then set sail after Villopoto who had opened up a comfortable lead up front. Reeling off the fastest lap times of the night, James quickly crept up on RV’s rear wheel by lap nine, and on lap number 11 made a pass for the lead. Villopoto retaliated quickly with a stiff bump, but James blew back by to secure the lead for good, eventually winning by a comfortable margin.
After the race, James expressed his excitement for the entire team. “This is a really fun win for us. It’s been a while since we’ve raced, plus we have the new bike out here for the first time, so we’re really pumped. You know, the money is one thing, but our team works very hard, so this is rewarding for them, too!”
When asked about the main event battle, here’s what he had to say. “It’s always fun here. The US Open seems to offer up more bar banging than any other race, and it’s always a good time. That was the first time that Ryan and I have raced since the Vegas Supercross in May, so it’s cool to get back out here to rub some elbows. The new bike is awesome, too! I felt like I was underneath everybody in all the corners, and it all just came together for me tonight. Ryan was riding really well, but I just stayed patient and snuck by for the win.”
