10th for Malcom Stewart in Birmingham
Supercross made a welcome debut at Protective Stadium in Alabama and Stewart was in the mix from the outset on his Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 450 Rockstar Edition, qualifying in sixth as the track conditions began to dry and improve.
Stewart then impressed on his way to third in his Heat race once the night program commenced, before an early crash in the Main Event while running inside the top 10 saw him bumped toward the rear of the pack. From there he put on a charge, climbing all the way back to 10th position and taking confidence from his effort in technical conditions.
"Birmingham actually treated me well, we had a good round in its own weird way," Stewart reflected. "The track was a little muddy in practice and qualifying, but I ended up P6 this afternoon and then the Heat was really good, so ended up third in that one. The Main Event wasn't terrible and it wasn't a bad start inside the top 10. I tried to make a pass on one of the outsides of the turns though and went down, it was just one of those things – I just lost the front.
"I got back up, rode strong and we ended up P10, so overall everything has been going well. It's heading the way that we want it to go on the motorcycle, but we're just having a few issues with the racing side of it and making these little mistakes. Onto Indy now and we're looking forward to that, I think the Triple Crown will be good for us! I'm stoked as a team, we live and learn, and everybody's trying their best including myself, so it is just a matter of time until we are where we want to be."
Words by Husqvarna Factory Racing.