Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Dungey Maintains Lites Points Lead after San Francisco Mudfest

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Alessi & Vuillemin battle rain-soaked track at AT&T Park

Round 4 – AMA Supercross Series
San Francisco, CA
AT&T Park
Jan. 26, 2008

In spite of soggy conditions, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ryan Dungey walked away from this weekend’s Supercross Lites race at San Francisco’s AT&T Park with a healthy points lead in the championship. The young rider finished second in his heat race and seventh in the shortened 10-lap main. Although he’d gotten a good start in the main on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RMZ250, Dungey hit a downed bike and then went down himself. After re-starting his Suzuki, however, Dungey quickly regained his composure and battled his way up to at top-10 finish. He currently leads the championship by almost 20 points.

In the Supercross class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi did well in his heat race by finishing second, however, the weather conditions hurt Alessi in the shortened, 15-lap main. He struggled and finished 15th. Teammate David Vuillemin was having a good ride in the main event for the first few laps, but then his knee popped out and he had to pull out of the race.

Ryan Dungey:
“We got a bit of rain and only got one short practice. Going into the heat race, we got second and that was good. In the main, they cut off five laps from that. I got a pretty decent start but made a mistake and went off the track, but got back on and was charging hard. I was running in fourth and came across a lapper’s bike. I didn’t even see it, I doubled right into it. I was just thankful that I got right up. I got seventh but I feel like I rode well, besides those mistakes. I’m just a little bummed about tonight – if we’d had five more laps, I could have maybe gotten a top-five finish. But I’m feeling positive going into Anaheim, we’re going to take care of business.”

Mike Alessi:
“We only had one practice and it was OK. It was really muddy, and we struggled a bit but we made the bike better for the heat race. I got a great start in the heat race and ran second almost the whole race. At the main, it started pouring down rain and, it’s hard to imagine, but it was the worst rain I’d ever seen. The track just became a slop-fest. I got a great jump at the start, but then I spun really bad because of the rain and ended up 10th or 11th. Then I made a small mistake and went down. I ended up 15th and that’s not where I should have been, I think I should have been third or fourth but things just didn’t go my way. We’ll move on and get ready for next week at Anaheim.”

David Vuillemin:
“I wasn’t feeling great in practice, but the heat race went a lot better and I finished in fifth. Then it started raining a lot for the main event. I was pretty confident because I actually like riding in the rain. I was running in ninth and I popped my knee out in one of the ruts. I stopped and tried to stretch it, to pop it back in but I couldn’t do it, it was too painful. So I just stopped and came back to the truck. Even so, I had two good starts this weekend, and we’ve made a lot of progress with the bike. I have to thank the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team for all their hard work. I don’t think my knee is anything too serious and I hope to be back next weekend.”

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at the third Anaheim, California, event at Angel Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008.

Mike Alessi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #800
15th Place – San Francisco Supercross
4th Place – Overall Championship Points Standings

David Vuillemin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, #12
DNF – San Francisco Supercross
15th Place – Overall Championship Points Standings

Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z250, #28
7th Place – San Francisco Supercross Lites
1st Place -- Overall Championship Points Standings

AMA Supercross Top 10 Finishers:
1. Chad Reed, Yamaha
2. Kevin Windham, Honda
3. Davi Millsaps, Honda
4. Jacob Marsack, Honda
5. Grant Langston, Yamaha
6. Ivan Tedesco, Honda
7. Nick Wey, KTM
8. Heath Voss, Honda
9. Troy Adams, Honda
10. Tim Ferry, Kawasaki (Holeshot)

AMA Supercross Lites Top 10 Finishers:
1. Jason Lawrence, Yamaha
2. Thomas Hahn, Kawasaki (Holeshot)
3. Brett Metcalfe, Kawasaki
4. Dan Reardon, Honda
5. Austin Stroupe, Kawasaki
6. Gavin Gracyk, Honda
7. Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
8. Chris Blose, Suzuki
9. Wil Hahn, Yamaha
10. Michael Blose, Suzuki