Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Izzi Picks Up Fourth-Place Finish in Detroit SX Lites

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Vuillemin brings home seventh in SX

Round 14 – AMA Supercross Series

Detroit, MI

Ford Field

April 12, 2008

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s Nico Izzi celebrated an impressive fourth-place finish in front of his home crowd at Saturday night’s AMA Supercross Lites race at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The St. Clair, Michigan, native started the night by nabbing a second-place finish in his heat race and then a fourth-place result in the 15-lap main. Izzi’s performance puts the young rider in third-place overall in the championship points chase. In the premier class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s David Vuillemin returned to racing after missing last week’s event due to injury, and put in a strong ride. The Frenchman actually designed the Detroit track on which he finished third in his heat race and then seventh in the 20-lap main event.

David Vuillemin:

“The day went well in that I had the sixth-fastest time in practice on my Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450. After that, I got a great holeshot in my heat race and ended up finishing in third place. Then in the main event, I finished in seventh place. I’m happy with this, considering that I hadn’t ridden in 10 days because of my crash during practice before the Dallas race. On top of that, I spent three days in France getting my lower back adjusted. So it was a good weekend for us.”

Nico Izzi:

“The weekend started out great. From the beginning, I was really happy with my practice times, more so than at any other race this year. I felt comfortable on the track – everything just felt right. In my heat race, I got a great start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250. It was the first holeshot I’ve pulled this year. Even though I got passed and finished second, I felt good and I was happy with the way I was riding. In the main, I got another good start and was running in third place. I stayed there for several laps, and then I got into second place and kept that pace for a lot of the race. But then I got a little fatigued, and the track was really rutted, so I backed it down a bit because I didn’t want to crash. I wanted to get as many points as possible and maybe move up in the overall standings, which is what we did.”

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, April 19, 2008.

David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #12

7th Place – Detroit Supercross

8th Place – Overall Championship Points Standings

Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z250, #341

4th Place – Detroit Supercross Lites

3rd Place -- Overall Championship Points Standings

AMA Supercross Top 10 Finishers:

1. Davi Millsaps, Honda

2. Tim Ferry, Kawasaki

3. Kevin Windham, Honda

4. Josh Hill, Yamaha

5. Andrew Short, Honda

6. Travis Preston, Kawasaki
7. David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
8. Charles Summey, Yamaha

9. Heath Voss, Honda

10. Jason Thomas, Honda

*Eric Sorby, AMA Supercross Holeshot

AMA Supercross Lites Top 10 Finishers:

1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki (Holeshot)

2. Ryan Morais, Yamaha

3. Branden Jesseman, Kawasaki
4. Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
5. Matthew Goerke, KTM

6. Tyler Bowers, Yamaha

7. Kyle Partridge, Honda

8. Kyle Chisholm, Kawasaki

9. Travis Sewell, Suzuki

10. Trey Canard, Honda