San Diego: Powersports Honda event report

Canard's holeshot highlights soggy San Diego race for GEICO Powersports Honda team

SAN DIEGO (Feb. 7) -- The most recent winner in Supercross Lites, GEICO Powersports Honda rider Trey Canard, looked primed to double up Saturday at the AMA tour stop at Qualcomm Stadium, earning the holeshot award in the main event to thrill a rain-soaked but enthusiastic crowd. But Canard's lead was short-lived as he slipped and fell in the muck before the first lap was over, relegating him to catch-up duty for the remainder of the race.

Canard fought valiantly after his miscue, riding from the back of the pack all the way through to a sixth-place finish, but he ran out of laps and couldn't reach the podium before the 15 circuits were completed.

"I'm mad at myself more than anything," said Canard, who won last weekend's race in San Francisco. "I felt (Jake Weimer) coming in on me and I should have just let him by, followed him, and picked my spot, but I was aggressive and the front end went out. Then I got banged around by a few other bikes and lost a lot of ground. That's racing."

Teammate Blake Wharton was close behind when Canard's accident occurred and finished the first lap in second place, a slot he held for the next five laps. But Wharton had an accident of his own on Lap 6 when Max Anstie forced him into the hay bales. Although he tried a quick recovery, Wharton fell a second time on the slick, trackside tarpaulin and had to fight hard for the remaining nine laps to earn a ninth-place result.

"Things haven't been going my way the last three races," Wharton said. "I had a good heat (finishing second) and felt good on the track but in the end one little mistake cost me a podium finish. I went outside and gave the line to a rider who was a little out of control. It was totally my mistake.

"You can't expect to do well at this level when you give stuff away. I know my potential and I know this team is great. I just need to get it together. We're testing good and that helps. It's just tough when you have to wait another week to redeem yourself."

Veteran team leader Kevin Windham was in a great position to reach the podium in the main event of Supercross until a late mechanical problem put him on the sidelines with just two laps left. At the time he was in fourth place, battling two riders directly in front of him, when he had to pull off the track.

"We had some sort of malfunction with the clutch," Windham said. "Up until then things were going pretty well. I had a podium finish right there in front of me but when the clutch went, I was done. It was a good race. I had one lapped guy hold me up for a bit but otherwise I was feeling smooth."

The GEICO Powersports Honda team returns to Anaheim, Calif., next Saturday for the sixth race of the season.

-source: powersports honda