Round 6 - AMA Motocross Championship Series
New Berlin, NY
Unadilla Valley Sports Center
July 16-17, 2005
Team Makita Suzuki Racing celebrated their best AMA Motocross Championship Series event of the season, at Unadilla on Sunday afternoon with Ricky Carmichael taking the overall win in the 250 class, Broc Hepler taking the overall win in the 125 class and Davi Millsaps finishing a close second-overall to 125 teammate Hepler. For Carmichael, this victory marks his sixth win of the season and his 121st combined AMA Supercross/AMA Motocross career win.
In the first 250 moto, Carmichael took the lead before the end of the first lap but then went down on lap two. Even so, he rode his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 hard and reeled in the front-runners. Then, after making a successful pass to take the lead from James Stewart, Stewart tried to re-take the lead and succeeded only in taking out both himself and Carmichael. Even so, Carmichael finished a strong second. In the second moto, Carmichael charged hard and spent the first half of the race in second place. He took the lead by the halfway point of the race and pulled away to win the moto.
Ricky Carmichael:
”I’m not sure what happened in the first moto. I made a clean pass and then all I know is I got landed on and that’s not fun. I don’t like to race that way. I was really pumped from all the encouragement the fans were giving me and the fact that I was able to come back after being 18 seconds behind.
“I felt pretty good in the second moto, though Unadilla really kicked my butt. It was so nice to have all the fans supporting me. But my Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 is going good and I have to give credit to the team. There was some pressure on those guys, with me coming off of a perfect season, but they’re really working hard and I’ve got to hand it to them for that.”
In the 125 class, Team Makita Suzuki Racing’s Hepler and Millsaps were on fire at Unadilla. Hepler rode two excellent motos, taking the win in each 30-minute heat for first overall. Millsaps also had impressive rides, getting good starts and ending the day with second- and fourth-place finishes for second overall.
Broc Hepler:
“My team really worked their butts off this weekend and we’ve got a better machine in the Makita Suzuki RM-Z250. You’ve got to get a good start with these guys out here and I just tried to ride smart and not make any mistakes. In the second moto, I know my Makita Suzuki will get me off to another good start and I’ll just try to ride smart.
“It feels great to get my first overall MX win and I’d like to thank the Makita Suzuki team for that. Before the race, everyone was telling me to stay calm because that’s been a problem. So I just played it cool and picked those guys off one at a time. This win is big confidence booster for me and hopefully we can turn this thing around and get some more wins.”
Davi Millsaps:
“In the first moto, I got the holeshot and it was my first holeshot of the season. That really helped me, and then I rode all right at first but then I got tired toward the end. But I’d like to thank my mechanic Carlos and Makita Suzuki for the RM-Z250 and Bridgestone for such great tires.
”I got two good starts on my Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 but I got tired and just couldn’t get it done today. But second overall is good, though I feel like I let down the fans and let myself down too. I just need to get back out there and ride harder.”
