James “Bubba” Stewart sets fast lap of the night and wins first heat race on Pirelli’s Scorpion MX tires

Pirelli’s debut at the first round of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series with Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross team started off strong, with newest addition James “Bubba” Stewart setting the fastest lap in qualifying and later winning his heat race. Both veteran Davi Millsaps and newcomer Stewart race exclusively on Pirelli’s Scorpion MX tires.

Both riders easily advanced to the main event with Stewart inside the top-10 and Millsaps 11th. At the halfway mark of the main event, Stewart found himself in a podium position gaining on second place Chad Reed. On lap 16 Stewart landed wide on a jump resulting in a tangle with a track barrier, which partially tore the radiator shroud off his Yamaha YZ450F. Stewart recovered, managing a sixth place finish. Millsaps fell on lap 18, and finished 16th overall. “Anaheim marked the first race of a long championship series,” said Pirelli North America Off-Road Manager Josh Whitmire. “We will continue to improve and look forward to Phoenix next week.”

Over 75,000 fans at Angel Stadium of Anaheim were on hand to witness the 56th Supercross Class race gate drop – the most for any stadium in Supercross history. This marks the first of 19 races this year for Pirelil’s continued technical partnership with JGRMX. Pirelli had two technical engineers on hand from the global headquarters in Milan, Italy to provide instantaneous feedback and assessments for both riders.

The next event will be held Jan. 14 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz. Catch the action live, or tune in to SPEED at 9:30 p.m. (EST).