MARCH 16, 2006
By Brett Dailey
Everyone ready for Orlando? This sure has been fun tracking the progress of the Canadian contingent racing the eastern supercross series. You never really know what to expect from Dusty Klatt, Mitch Cooke, Ryan Lockhart, Doug DeHaan, Brady Sheren and Marco Dube. They are all on the bubble each weekend to either make the night show or make the main event. For the most part, they have done an excellent job of making the evening program but the competition has been stiff for a spot in the main.
Last weekend in Daytona, Dusty Klatt burst out of the gate from the very first practice, setting top times and finishing high in his qualifiers. He hit the ground hard in the first corner of the Lites main but put his head down and made it from last to 12th by the checkered flag. He and his team were rewarded with some excellent airtime on Speed TV and you can bet that he will get some premiere magazine coverage. How will Klatt do this weekend? The majority of readers are picking him for the top placing Canadian this weekend. Want to regiter your vote? Look to the right for this week's poll.
Klatt gave us a sample of his SX skills last weekend.
Simon Cudby photo
Doug DeHaan checked in with us this week and confirmed why he pulled out of his evening heat race. Apparently he strained his shoulder pretty badly when he crashed in his afternoon qualifier. He made it through to the evening program okay in his Consi but he was feeling weak and was having trouble hanging on. He made an effort in his heat race but couldn't run his usual pace so he decided to pack it in and rest his shoulder for this weekend (it's the same shoulder that he's had two surgeries on). He's ready to go for Orlando.
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DAYTONA SUPERCROSS STATS AND RESULTS | ||||||
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SX |
SX |
SX |
Lites |
Lites |
Lites |
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Doug |
Ryan |
Marco |
Dusty |
Mitch |
Brady |
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DeHaan |
Lockhart |
Dube |
Klatt |
Cooke |
Sheren |
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Day Program |
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Fastest Practice Lap |
59.537 |
1:00.545 |
59.377 |
57.170 |
59.225 |
1:00.534 |
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Qualifier |
14th |
6th |
4th |
3rd |
12th |
11th |
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Consi |
2nd |
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10th |
5th |
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Evening Program |
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Heat |
16th |
11th |
14th |
4th |
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Semi |
DNS |
9th |
10th |
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LCQ |
DNS |
13th |
8th |
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Main |
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12th |
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A few of our top amateur riders raced Lake Whitney last week and are at Oak Hill this week--and they have been turning heads. Check these links for results: Oak Hill, Lake Whitney.
KTM Canada's 2006 team (Michael Willard, Matt Barnes, Marco Dube and Johnny Montes) is training and testing in Florida right now. Everyone is riding well and Montes reportedly said, "I now know why the whole eastern KTM team holeshotted every weeeknd last year."
Want to comment on the Canadians in the supercross series? How about our amateurs training and racing down south? How about the lucky ones in BC who are racing already? We love to hear from you and we have got a kick out of a few comments so far this week so click here and submit your rant. You may find it in the next issue.
Now we turn our attention to Orlando. We are very pleased to have our eastern correspondent, Jean-Francois Trottier, in Orlando to capture the action. He's vacationing in Florida with his family and will also hit the races on Saturday night. Here are some comments and a few great photos from today's press conference:
I am just returning from the media day at the Orlando Citrus Dome and I had a blast mingling with Ricky, James, Ivan, etc...
Today was a media event with team Suzuki and team Kawasaki. The riders are pumped and the word is that everything is still possible at this point in the series. If you are ahead in the points, nothing can be taken for granted and if you are behind, there is still time to make it happen.
We had the opportunity to chat with the riders and then Carmichael, Tedesco and Gosselaar rode a shortened track for photos.
I love my new camera and I can't wait for Saturday!
Be sure to tune into www.supercross.cc.com on Saturday for live web coverage of the event. @theWire LIVE, live audio, results.
Orlando will be televised on Speed TV on Sunday March 19th at 6PM EST.
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Stewart is healthy and ready for Orlando. |
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all photos by Jean-Francois Trottier |
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Your new points leader. |
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Byrner snagged his first podium of the season at Daytona. |
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Gosselaar picked up the pace this year. Can he win a main? |
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"So, is that Pastrana guy racing this weekend?" |
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