by PKThe passion of the participants was not diminished by the less than amazing turn out. By the sound of the devoted fans who did come out to Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium , you would have never guessed that the place was half empty. Very stark contrast to the standing room only crowds the Supercross draws Stateside.
James "Bubba" Stewart had been limping around during practice earlier in the day. The start of the Supercross race saw Stewart #7 Kawasaki take the lead, followed by #26 Byrne on Suzuki, Carmichael #4 Suzuki, in fourth Ferry #15 riding for Kawasaki and in fifth Reed #22 Yahama. It only took 3 laps to sort out the leaders as we watched Stewart keep the number 1 spot followed by Carmichael and Reed.
Carmichael and Stewart both battled traffic but Stewart was able to hold the first place spot until the 16th lap, where Carmichael passed Stewart to a burst of cheers from the crowd. Carmichael took the lead with Stewart behind him. Stewart in second was still captivating to watch as he rode out the last few laps. Carmichael had the people in the stands on their feet as they watched him take the checkered flag. Reed took the 3rd place finish without challenging the top two spots, but keeping the fans happy as they cheered for him as he took the podium in the winner's circle.
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The first race Lites heat 1 was won by #55 Ryan Sipes and the Second Interval of the Lites Race was won by #577 Davalos.
The Lites Last Chance Qualifier was taken by #33 Beaton.
The Last Chance Qualifier was close race for second when #53 Tyler Evens and challenger #168 collided and instead of untangling their bikes took to trying to settle the score by throwing punches. # 77 Dehaan kept his first place lead. Thomas #31 and Marsack # 79 were able to ride by the scrapping duo and take their places at the finish.
#55 Sipes cruised through to take the first place Lites finish wth #62 Dungy taking second. The real action to watch was between #168 Osborne and #577 Davalos who had been in second out of the gate was now battling Osborne the 3rd place finish, both riders well out of the reach of the Flying Sipes.
Click Here to go to the photo gallery for images from the race.
Source: Bikeland.org