Toronto fans got to witness James Stewart's new beginning.     

Story and photos by Allison Kennedy  

Toronto fans witnessed one of the greatest races of all time Saturday night at the Roger's Centre. While the James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael battle captured everyone's attention, several of Canada's best were also a big part of the show. Ontario's Doug DeHaan was the top Canadian Supercross class finisher with a 10th while Nova Scotia's Mitch Cooke was the top Canuck in the Lites class finishing sixth. It was a strong showing for the Canadian riders, who came out in much higher numbers than last December's WSX debut. With several of Canada's riders hoping to race the Amp'd Mobile Supercross Series this winter, the World rounds were an invaluable opportunity to see where they stood. With a much deeper Lites field than last year in Toronto, four Canadians finished in the top 10. The field will be even deeper in Vancouver. Missing from the Canadian lineup last weekend were Colton Facciotti, Kyle Beaton and two-time U.S. Arenacross champ Darcy Lange. Facciotti was busy standing atop the podium in Cardiff, winning the open final and finishing second between Mike and Jeff Alessi in the 125 class. Facciotti should be good and ready for Vancouver, after winning the Montreal SX MX2 class, finishing second in both classes at the Canadian Arenacross Championships and battling it out with the Alessi's in the U.K. this fall.  The last time Canadian fans saw Lange in action, he swept all four motos at the Canadian Arenacross Championship season finale in Nanaimo and he's been stepping up his training in California since then, add in his hometown crowd, and Lange will be looking to turn some heads. If you haven't already got your tickets for BC Place this Saturday night, get on it. You can bet Round 2 of the RC/Bubba battle is going to be unreal and with a stacked Lites class on top of that, you don't want to miss it. For ticket info visit www.supercross.cc.com or www.ticketmaster.ca

Kyle Keast, Ryan Lockhart, MX2 East champ Michael Willard and Brady
Sheren wait for the Lites race. All four went on to finish in the top 10.

Butler Brother's Doug DeHaan finished 10th in the Supercross class,
matching his 2004 Toronto finish. DeHaan will be in Vancouver and will
racing the entire Amp'd Mobile SX Series for the Butler Brothers team.

 

Quebec's Marco Dube rode strong for most of the Supercross
main until a mechanical problem forced him to watch from the
infield for the last few laps.

Mitch Cooke, #229, leaves the line in the Lites class. Cooke was
impressive in his first SX outing, proving that his training in Georgia is
paying off. Cooke will be in Vancouver and then will continue to train
for the Amp'd Mobile SX eastern region series. 

 

Machine Racing's Kyle Keast had to battle his way onto the WSX entry list
just to compete in Toronto. Once there, Keast rode a solid race to finish
10th in the Lites class despite his lack of supercross experience.

  

Ryan Lockhart chases down Davi Millsaps in qualifying action. Lockhart,
who finished third in the 125 class in Toronto last year, finished eighth in the
Lites class. After criss-crossing both Canada and the U.S. to race this fall,
Lockhart shelved his plans to race the Vancouver WSX. When word reached
the Canadian fans, a www.mxforum.com member stepped up to make
Lockhart's Vancouver trip possible. With that kind of faith in him, Lockhart
will be looking for even better results in Vancouver.

 

Machine Racing's Jay Burke finished 12th in the Lites class. Burke is
en route to Vancouver as we speak. He's been kind enough to take our
assistant editor Danny Brault along for the ride, to remind us all how a
Canadian privateer really lives. Early phone reports have delivered stories
of dead batteries, tow trucks and marshmallows roasted over propane stoves.

 

KTM Canada's Michael Willard grabbed the holeshot in his Lites heat race,
as he did all year at the Canadian Nationals. Willard turned a few heads Saturday
night, finishing fifth in the Lites main event.

No doubt, it killed Dusty Klatt to be on the sidelines in Toronto. After a
practice crash Friday, Klatt made the decision to sit out. After seeing a surgeon
this week, Klatt was relieved to hear he does not need surgery on the stretched
tendons. He'll make the decision about the Vancouver race
after practice on Friday.

Who says there are no ruts in supercross?