Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s Michael Byrne continues to rack up strong AMA Motocross finishes, and this weekend at Budds Creek in Maryland was no exception. The Australian rider rallied after a tough first moto, where he finished seventh, to bring home a fourth-place finish in the second moto. The end result was an impressive fifth-place overall finish. Currently, Byrne is in sixth place in the MX championship points chase. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s David Vuillemin returned to racing but had a rough weekend and didn’t finish the second moto due to a hand injury, and Mike Alessi is currently recovering from a crash last week at Red Bud.

In the Motocross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey got the holeshot in the first moto and wound up finishing in third place. The second moto saw the young Minnesota rider finish second and take second overall for the day. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Nico Izzi brought home eighth- and sixth-place moto finishes for a seventh-place overall result. Dungey is currently in second place overall in the championship, while Izzi is in fifth place.

Michael Byrne:
“I got two great starts in both motos -- the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 was running really well. as usual. But in the first moto, I made a mistake and head to play catch-up and only managed to get to seventh position. But in the second moto, I felt like I rode pretty strong though I wasn’t quite close enough to catch third and be in the battle for the podium.”

David Vuillemin:
“I was happy to come back to racing but in the first moto, a rock got stuck between my shift lever and the engine and I was stuck in neutral at the second turn. I got the rock out and started well behind 40th place. I caught up to 18th. In the second moto, I got hit by a rock really bad on the knuckle of my left pointer finger on the first lap. It hurt real bad but I kept going because I’d gotten a decent start. I did a few laps but I couldn’t hang on anymore so I decided to stop to be safe.”

Ryan Dungey:
“We had been struggling a bit in practice and we made some changes to the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 and that helped a good little bit. I was able to get in my corners a little better and I was able to get the holeshot in the first moto. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki team has been doing a great job, and I’m just really pumped to be on the podium again. Now I’m just focusing on riding as hard as I can and trying to get the job done.”

Nico Izzi:
“I went from fourth to first place in the first moto and I led it for a couple laps. I worked really hard in the beginning, and then I got really, really tired. That was not what I anted to do, but I know my speed is there, I just need to keep working on my fitness. I know next year will be a lot better if I keep working at it. Again, it’s not what I wanted but it wasn’t a horrible day. The momentum is still there, it was just an average weekend for me.”

AMA Motocross Top 10 (Moto Finishes)
1. James Stewart, Kawasaki, 1-1
2. Timmy Ferry, Kawasaki, 2-2
3. Andrew Short, Texas, Honda, 3-3
4. Josh Hill, Yamaha, 4-6
5. Michael Byrne, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 7-4
6. Cody Cooper, Suzuki, 5-5
7. Nick Wey, KTM, 8-7
8. Jimmy Albertson, Honda, 11-8
9. Jeff Alessi, Honda, 9-10
10. Paul Carpenter, Honda, 14-9

AMA Motocross Lites Top 10 (Moto Finishes):
1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki, 1-1
2. Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 3-2
3. Brett Metcalfe, Kawasaki, 5-4
4. Martin Davalos, KTM, 10-3
5. Kyle Cunningham, Honda, 7-5
6. Ryan Sipes, KTM, 6-7
7. Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 8-6
8. Trey Canard, Honda, 2-30
9. Jake Weimer, Honda, 4-19
10. Justin Brayton, KTM, 15-8