More double podium joy as Stewart wins in Oakland

[For the second consecutive week YZ450F technology made an impression on both SX and West Coast Lites podiums in the AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship). The Overstock.com coliseum in Oakland was the scene of the fourth round of seventeen and also witnessed JGRMX's James Stewart earn his first victory of the year and first for his new team with the YZ450F.

Stewart was the fourth different winner of the season so far (after finishing third in LA last week) and reached the chequered flag in the twenty lap main event by over two seconds from Chad Reed in what was an emotionally charged evening in the wake of the tragic accident to the Floridian's training mechanic Mark Adams on Thursday morning. The former champion took part in a thrilling battle with Reed and reigning champion Ryan Villopoto in the formative stages of the race but after squeezing past the Australian was able to maintain a gap to seal his triumph in front of more than 46,000 spectators.

"Tonight I got up front and kind of stayed out of trouble," commented the rider who is now fourth in the SX class and 12 points behind leaders Reed and Ryan Dungey. "I felt Ryan there and just tried not to over-ride the track. I was able to get on the inside of Chad going across the start. It worked out. I was not really riding too hard, just trying to make sure I hit the marks good."

"I knew it was a track you just kind of had to be patient on," he added. "But I think we had the setup a little bit better for me tonight. Those three crashes the first three races tore me up. But tonight in the Main Event I just pulled it together. So, it was awesome. Especially with my mechanic being lost this week it was definitely tough. This was definitely special."

[In the Lites Monster Energy Yamaha's Zach Osborne signed off his impressive four-round appearance in the AMA competition by taking his second trophy on the bounce with the YZ250F that he will steer in the 2012 MX2-GP FIM Motocross World Championship. The 22 year old grabbed third position nine days ago in Los Angeles and made the box again with another third place in Oakland.

"I'm really happy and I think all of this is going to be good for my GP program," he said. "We put a lot of work into suspension. We have a really good setting and I think the bike is really good. I feel super comfortable on it and I can't thank those guys enough for putting in a lot of time and effort and making it happen for me, too."

Osborne will shortly travel back to Europe to begin preparation for the Grand Prix campaign but departs the West Coast Lites series third in the standings and with some valuable confidence and race-time under his belt.

The entertaining AMA contest rolls back into Los Angeles and the Angel Stadium at Anaheim this week.

2012 AMA-SX United States

Oakland Coliseum 29/01/2012 20 Laps
race I

AMA-SX World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 4 of 17

Circuit Length: unknown
Crowd: 46, 017
Weather: Dry
Last Years Winner: James Stewart

Manufacturer Standings
29/01/2012

1 Honda - 87
2 Kawasaki - 85
3 KTM - 85
4 Yamaha** - **73
5 Suzuki - 50