AMA Motocross: James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto win again in Texas

Episode three of the James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto Show played out at Freestone in the Lone Star state on Sunday.

Kawasaki’s dynamic duo stayed cool as the opposition wilted in the tremendous heat, as their championship leads start to grow ominous.

Moto one of the 450 class actually brought a first for 2008 for once it was not the Mike Alessi holeshot, as the Makita Suzuki rider regularly starts at the front of the pack.

But the fact that Mike’s number 800 was the first across the line on lap one marked the first occasion this year that the awesome Stewart has even been headed.

The Alessi lead was short-lived, as Stewart fired into the lead on lap two, and it seemed like normal business had been resumed, but then James dropped the factory Kawasaki, and Mikey lead again.

Stewart rejoined in fourth and made short work of charging back into the lead. But once there, it really was business as usual, and the race for the win was over.

Alessi rode a strong race to bring the Suzuki home a comfortable second, a long way in front of Andrew Short, who similarly had a lead over Cody Cooper, the privateer Kiwi, who had a brace of factory Hondas all over him, but fought them off for an excellent fourth.

Moto two saw Alessi again take the start and lead the opening laps before Stewart made his move and checked out, strolling to his sixth straight moto win. Alessi again made second place his own, which was a fine response after a very disappointing weekend at Hangtown the weekend before.

Tim Ferry bounced back from a first moto fight back to take third place for fourth overall, ahead of Andrew Short in the race but one step behind him in the overall results. With Short’s Honda team mate Davi Millsaps having a quiet weekend struggling with the heat, it means the battle for second overall in the championship has closed up, with Alessi, Ferry and Millsaps now just four points apart.

In the 250 class, for “James Stewart” read “Ryan Villopoto”, Pro Circuit’s reigning champion was just as untouchable on the small bike, again seemingly impervious to the heat whilst his rivals struggled.

Another Makita Suzuki rider, Ryan Dungey, made the second step of the podium his own with a brace of runner-up spots, but the youngster couldn’t get within 15 seconds of Villopoto at the flag.

Villopoto’s team mate Austin Stroupe took third to maintain his excellent first full season. The podium echoes the championship standings as the three are edging away from the rest of the field.

AMA Motocross Champonship 

Round 6 – Freestone

1 James Stewart – Kawasaki
2 Mike Alessi – Suzuki
3 Andrew Short – Honda
4 Tim Ferry – Kawasaki
5 Davi Millsaps – Honda
6 Michael Byrne – Suzuki 

Series standings
1 Stewart 150
2 Ferry 114
3 Alessi 111
4 Millsaps 110
5 Tedesco 83
6 Byrne 78

AMA Motocross Lites Champonship

Round 6 – Freestone

1 Ryan Villopoto – Kawasaki
2 Ryan Dungey – Suzuki
3 Austin Stroupe – Kawasaki

Series standings
1 Villopoto 141
2 Dungey 126 
3 Stroupe 120