Jeff Ward continues to defy the odds. Common knowledge would
say that a racer of 45 would not be on the top of his game still
winning championships against riders half his age. Yet as the 2007 AMA
Supermoto Championship season approaches, Ward, the defending and
two-time champ with Team Troy Lee Design Honda Red Bull, is still
considered the rider to beat despite the fact that he will turn 46 in
June.
Ward heads the list of top riders expected to make a run for this
year’s premier class, the AMA Red Bull Supermoto. The series kicks
off on May 19 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis and
concludes on Nov. 11, with the Duel at the Docks in Long Beach.
Ward, who won his first Supermoto title in 2004, earned back the title
last year over Doug Henry of Graves Yamaha by a margin of 36 points
(429-393). Ward lost the 2005 title in the final round to Jurgen
Kunzel. Chris Fillmore finished 2006 ranked third with 356 points.
Fillmore will ride for Monster Energy/Litz Racing/Kawasaki in 2007.
2006 will be a year Ward won’t soon forget. In August last year he
became the oldest male gold medalist in X Games history when he won
the Moto X event. After that Ward was inducted into the Motorsports
Hall of Fame. His AMA Supermoto title was icing on the cake.
“Motocross has been my life and it’s always going to be my life,
and Supermoto is a part of it now too, helping it grow,” Ward said
after winning the title last year in Long Beach. “My oldest son
(Brandon) runs it well and he might be able to have a career over here
if it takes off big enough. And my other son (Ayrton) wants to go road
racing and this is a perfect venue to start that with small bikes and
the pavement. It’s a good sport and I want to see it get bigger and
bigger.”
Ward’s Troy Lee Designs teammate Cassidy Anderson, who won last
year’s AMA Supermoto Lites title, will step up and join Ward in the
premier Supermoto class. Anderson, of Provo, Utah, had an outstanding
2006 in Supermoto Lites. He won seven of the 10 rounds, opening the
season with five-straight wins. He built a large lead in the series
halfway through the year and held it to the final race. He will now
face Ward and the rest of the Supermoto regulars head to head for the
first time.
Mark Burkhart will uphold Yamaha honors in Supermoto with the Graves
Yamaha squad. Burkhart has been a leading competitor in the class and
he’s hoping to find the consistency that will bring him a
championship. The Ohioan was the Lites champion in 2005.
HMC KTM will be a powerful squad again this year in the Supermoto
class with British rider Kurt Nicoll and Australian up-and-comer Troy
Herfoss.
Ben Carlson won the AMA Supermoto Unlimited Championship last year and
now joins Factory Aprilia Rip It Racing’s Darryl Atkins riding the
twin-cylinder Aprilia SXV. This year marks the first season the
high-tech Aprilia 450cc V-Twin will be allowed to race in the
Supermoto class and Carlson and Atkins should be factors, especially
on tracks that feature bigger road racing sections. The duo will race
Aprilia 550s in the AMA Supermoto Unlimited class as well.
David Baffeleuf will run under the LA Fuel GP Husqvarna banner. Micky
Dymond is back riding for All Access Honda. Cary Hart and Tyler Evans
have teamed up to form the all new Team Rockstar Hart & Huntington
Tattoo Co., along with other premier class top riders including Steve
Drew and Mike Metzger.
Sadly, there will be a big hole in the starting grids of this year’s
races. Multi-time AMA Champion Doug Henry will not race due to serious
injuries suffered in a Supermoto accident on March 4, during Daytona
Bike Week activities. Henry is one of the premier stars of the series
and his presence on the track will be sorely missed.
The AMA Hot Wheels Supermoto Lites class promises to be wide open this
year with last year’s runner up Brandon Currie the pre-season
favorite back with the Graves Yamaha team. David Pingree impressed
everyone with his Lites victory in Long Beach last year and it earned
him a coveted ride with Team Troy Lee Designs Honda Red Bull, where
he’ll ride alongside team owner Troy Lee. Dalton Dimick and Matt
Abbott will race for the newly formed Monster Energy/Litz
Racing/Kawasaki team.
Ben Carlson will be back defending his AMA PPG Supermoto Unlimited
presented by M&R Products No. 1 plate, but this year riding a
twin-cylinder Aprilia. “I’m looking forward to riding with Aprilia,”
said Carlson. “I’m sure there’s going to be some great
competition in the class.”
Team HMC KTM will be a powerhouse in AMA Supermoto Unlimited class
with Troy Herfoss, Kurt Nicoll and young gun John Lewis. Gary Trachy
and David Baffeleuf are slated to run the big bikes for Husqvarna.
The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis will host the AMA
Supermoto Championship season opener on May 19. For more
information visit www.stlouissupermoto.com.