YAMAHA RACING:

LandM San Manuel Yamaha were down to single rider representation at the ATandT Park in San Francisco for the fourth round of seventeen in the AMA Supercross/FIM World Championship series as Josh Hill captured his third podium result in a row with second position. Hill was left to steer the 2010 YZ450F after team-mate and defending champion James Stewart required surgery on a broken scaphoid in his right wrist and will now assess his recovery and fitness on a weekly basis.

Over 41,000 spectators were present in the scenic city of northern California for only the eighth AMA Supercross event to take place in the metropolis. Ryan Villopoto won his first Main event of the season on the open and exposed track after a crash by rookie and points-leader Ryan Dungey but Josh Hill had started brightly and kept a strong pace to push Villopoto all the way to the chequered flag.

The 20 year old is currently second in the standings and 11 points adrift of Dungey. ‘Those guys were riding great, but with James out, any of us could’ve won tonight,’ said Hill who has taken 6th, 3rd, 2nd and 2nd in 2010 so far. ‘Villopoto was tough tonight and I did what I could to hold him behind me but I didn’t want to do anything dirty. This is my second second-place in a row, and that’s good. It’s not a win, but it’s good.’

Justin Brayton (6th) and Ivan Tedesco (7th) were other YZ450F campaigners notably placed on the San Francisco leader-board. Stewart, who broke his wrist in a Heat race incident in Phoenix two weeks ago and then raced to a brave 3rd place the following week in LA, is 9th in the table and is facing an steep uphill task to retain his crown.

On the same evening Yamaha’s Broc Tickle gave the YZ250F its first podium in the West Coast Lites division with 3rd spot. British rookie Max Anstie was 8th. Tickle sits 4th in the Lites ranking and 12 points away from further promotion. ‘It’s funny because I know this is my first podium of the season, but I think third place is as far back as I should ever finish this year,’ said Tickle. ‘So even tonight I can’t really be that happy about it. I could’ve and should’ve done better. At least there’s next week.’

The fifth round takes place next Saturday at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.