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Moto X World Championship: Burkhart Wins San Diego Supermoto
Written by: Steve Cox   http://racerxill.com
04/12/2008
San Diego, CA
 
Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Mark Burkhart (Photo: Steve Cox) » More Photos

The Navy Moto X World Championships in San Diego were originally slated to simultaneously be the opening round of the AMA Supermoto Championship, but that was nixed a few weeks ago, and some riders may be counting their blessings for it.

When it came time for the Supermoto X Final, all of the riders were well aware that last year’s X Games and AMA Supermoto Champion, Mark Burkhart, was the only rider who was jumping a tricky triple-triple section just after the track re-enters Qualcomm Stadium.

However, when the gate dropped for the main, Burkhart found himself at the back of the pack while KTM’s Troy Herfoss had the lead with former X Games and AMA Supermoto champ Jeff Ward sitting second.

In the early stages of the 10-lap race, Red Bull/TLD Honda’s Ward worked on Herfoss, and by the time he passed the Australian, Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Burkhart had almost miraculously found his way into third and was already breathing on their tails.

Just after he got by Herfoss, Ward began to get arm-pump in his throttle hand.
(Photo: Steve Cox) » More Photos

“Only a few weeks ago, I was retired, but then I decided to do this race, and it really just didn’t give me enough time to prepare,” Ward said. “Mark was riding great, though, and after a while, I just couldn’t hang on anymore.”

The triple-triple section was making
passing easy for Burkhart while allowing him to gain over a second a lap on the leaders.

It wasn’t long before Burkhart found his way by both Herfoss and Ward, and then Herfoss got back by the ailing Ward as well. Burkhart led the final few laps and took the inaugural Moto X Supermoto World Championship over Herfoss and Ward.

On the final lap, David Pingree (the bronze medalist from last year’s X Games) lost fourth when his bike quit running, leaving Ward’s teammate, Cassidy Anderson, in fourth and promoting Aprilia’s Benny Carlson to fifth.
Best trick winner Scott Murray (Photo: Steve Cox) » More Photos

“These guys were riding really good,” Burkhart said after the race. “In the first turn, I thought there was no way that I would be able to win. I thought I could get third at best. But that triple-triple over there helped a lot, and these guys had their troubles, so it worked out.”

In the prelims for Moto X Step-Up, Makita Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael amazed as he consistently jumped 10 feet over the top of the bar on his way to winning the round and moving into the finals on Sunday along with Jeremy ‘Twitch’ Stenberg to meet prior event champs Tommy Clowers and Ronnie Renner.

Also, unsponsored freestyler Scott Murray redeemed himself from last year’s double-backflip attempt at X Games to land it at Qualcomm Stadium and take the gold in Best Trick.
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