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X Games SuperMoto Medals for Burkhart, Henry
Category: Racing News
Date: 09 Aug 2006
Time:
19:32:11 -0400
Comments
Graves Motorsports riders Mark Burkhart and Doug Henry earned coveted silver and bronze medals in a hotly contested SuperMoto race at the 12th annual X Games on Sunday, Aug. 6. AMA Motocross racer Chad Reed, making a rare SuperMoto appearance, finished fourth as Jeff Ward narrowly took the gold over Burkhart. ABC televised the race live. A combination dirt and asphalt track was created at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles using portions of the stadium and parking lot. At the start of the 35-lap event, Mark Burkhart got the holeshot and led the race comfortably until making a mandatory pit stop for fuel and rubber after 18 laps. Ward took over the lead with a quicker stop as Burkhart’s rear axle nut jammed, and the Yamaha rider had to ride even harder to catch back up. But he did just that, thrilling the crowd by closing on and then challenging Ward in the event’s final stages. At the flag Burkhart came within a tantalizing 0.572 sec. of winning. “My main focus was to get a good start and not get in a pileup,” Burkhart revealed after the race. “After the start I took off for a while, but in the end I wish there was another lap or two to run down Ward. Even so my YZ450F worked perfect all day. The motor was strong and the handling was awesome.”