BURKHART AND CURRIE STILL ON TOP, DREW TAKES HIS FIRST WIN

The 2008 XTRM/AMA Supermoto National Championship kicked off this past weekend in Monroe, Washington at Evergreen Speedway. The fourth of July holiday weekend went off with a bang especially on Saturday as the major factory and factory support teams including Factory Yamaha-Graves Motorsports, Troy Lee Designs Honda Red Bull, Factory KTM HMC, Factory Aprilia Rip it Energy Fuel Racing, All Access/GP Husqvarna and Factory ATK headed to the Pacific Northwest. Other notable teams on hand included Rockstar/Hart & Huntington, XXX Racing Fuel/Mountain Motorsports/Litz Racing Honda and CHM Exhaust/Pro Honda Oils.

The weather for the Saturday afternoon event looked ominous as dark clouds lurked overhead and teased the venue with light spits of rain and mist all day. Fortunately the races dodged the water bullet the entire day until the 450 Supermoto main event crested the halfway point.

450 / Supermoto

KTM/HMC rider Chris Fillmore posted the fastest qualifying/practice time to take the pole heading into the 450 heat race. Fillmore’s time of 1:14.106 was just a few tenths better over his teammate Troy Herfoss. Third place qualifier went to 2007 Series Champion Mark Burkhart riding a Factory Yamaha-Graves Motorsports YZ450F. The top three times were less than one second apart.

Burkhart and Cassidy Anderson won their heat races, respectively. Top qualifier Fillmore was involved in a first turn crash during his heat race and a red flag stopped the race forcing a restart. Fillmore remounted his bike and rode into the pits. This move disqualified him from the heat race restart and Fillmore was forced to start from the back of the pack in the main event.

In the 450 main, Anderson yanked the holeshot with Burkhart in tow. This lead was short lived as the two entered the whoops. Anderson made a slight bobble and Burkhart blitzed by at breakneck speed taking the lead and command of the race. Anderson held his ground for several laps but it was the whoops that allowed Burkhart to inch away lap after lap.

Back in the pack, Fillmore was on a mission to avenge his heat race mistake. In a matter of laps he worked his way through the pack and set his sights on the leaders. Within five laps or so he had made a move on Troy Lee Designs Honda rider David Pingree to take fourth. Fillmore swapped positions to and fro with teammate Herfoss when the sky opened up. Fillmore proved to be the fastest rider of the race with a 1:14.036, five hundredths of a second over Burkhart’s best time.

Up front, Burkhart had a little gap on second when the rain started to fall. Within a lap, the light dust on the pavement turned the racetrack into complete slime. Riders started to slip and slide on the snotty surface. Due to the conditions and the fact that the race was just past the halfway point, the AMA race director decided to call the race for safety reasons. There wasn’t enough daylight left to let the track dry out or for riders to switch to rain tires. The race was called with Burkhart crowned the winner, Anderson in second and Herfoss rounding out the last podium position.

250 / Lites Action

Reigning 2007 250/Lites number-one plate holder Brandon Currie was a force to be reckoned with all day. It was evident the champ was hell-bent on keeping his title alive for 2008. Currie claimed his 2008 Yamaha-Graves Motorsports YZ250F is greatly improved over his 2007 winning machine. Currie easily won his heat race and posted the best time of the two heats to claim the pole in the main.

In the main, Currie took command of the race early on and was pretty much uncontested for the rest of the race. The action did prevail but the battle was for second place. In addition to a podium position, the second place rider had a good chance of earning a spot into the X Games supermoto race in August.

It was a dogfight with five riders tossing blows. Early on, the freight train was lead by Honda-mounted Danny Casey followed by Robert Loire, Jamie Siever, Johnny Lewis and Matt Burton. There was some rubbing as the racing intensified. Burton was on the charge and started to peel positions off right and left. In the midst of the battle, Loire had troubles and fell out of contention.

Casey could almost taste second place but the whoops were his Achilles heel. With a dirt track background, stadium whoops were never his thing and Burton was able to capitalize and eventually take second. Casey retook the position for a half a lap but Burton came back through the whoops to take the position for good. Casey was able to hold on to the final podium position at the finish. Johnny Lewis came in fourth with Siever and Loire rounding back to sixth.

Unlimited

A spoiler entered the arena this weekend and goes by the name Steve Drew. Drew has been a staple in supermoto going back to 2002. The Rockstar/Hart & Huntington/Mach 1 Motorsports rider nabbed his first victory after five years on the circuit. There was no mulligan or asterisk next to this win, he earned it straight up. Going into the main event, Drew topped his heat race as did fellow KTM rider Kurt Nicoll.

At the start, Drew’s H&H teammate, Travis Marks, squeezed by to take the early lead followed by Nicoll, Drew and All Access/GP Husqvarna rider Derek Costella. Again, the passing opportunity came as the field entered the stadium whoops. Drew pulled deep and bombarded his way to the lead in one fell swoop. Drew would feel the heat of Nicoll for most of the race until the two threaded their way through lappers and Drew pulled a gap.

Back in the field, Marks’ early success was bittersweet as his rear tire started to go flat and would eventually end his day in sorrow. Privateer rider Josh Chisum moved into third place and held pace and even started to reel in the leaders at one point. Chiz, aboard a brand-new KTM 505, had a rough weekend leading up to the race and was forced to drive his truck up to the race solo and sleep in a tent next to his bike. The end result was a podium and a drive back home with a smile on his face.

Costella held steady in fourth with his teammate Micky Dymond finishing fifth and Factory Aprilia Rip it Energy’s Darryl Atkins heading home in sixth. Both Dymond and Atkins were riding injured. Atkins had a terrible get-off in the heat race and Dymond is still recovering from a badly broken leg suffered at the Navy Moto X World Championship race in April.

Next Event

Round 2 of the series heads to Connecticut for the Doug Henry New England Supermoto Grand Prix on August 9th at Stafford Motor Speedway. For more information, go to www.nesupermoto.com.