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With three impressive rides on Sunday, Ramy Alves was headed into Monday with the qualifying jitters
behind him and a Ricky Carmichael-designed outdoor supercross track in front of him. Posting two top 5 finishes in the Open Pro Sport and All-Star A/B classes, Alves seemed to struggle in the 250 A division with a distant 11th place finish. New
to the A classes in general, Alves was faced with his worst class up first as the 250 A ten-lap moto began his Monday. The track suited Ramy well, as it’s clear Alves was immune to the presser, jumping out to a 6th place start on lap 1. An early mistake by leader Bradley Taft, allowed Alves to move into 2nd on lap 2, where he would finish out the moto, dropping off the pace of the top 4 riders. Bouncing back from an 11th place heat to a 5th place main was just the confidence Alves needed, heading into two more main’s later that day. With the 250 All-Star A/B being moto 18 on the final day of racing, Alves 2nd chance to prove his worthiness came quickly. The Yamaha backed rider powered off to a 4th place finish where he settled in nicely, maintaining his distance from the top three riders: Taft, McAdoo and Forkner. All four riders seemed to stay stagnant until lap 7 saw Austin Forkner drop back to 5th, letting Alves, McAdoo and Brandon Hartranft take advantage. With only two laps left, Taft and McAdoo pulled away from Alves while he finished a comfortable and respectable 3rd. Now having two top 5 finishes under his belt for the start of the 2016 Amateur season, Alves is definitely worthy. His day wasn’t over yet, though, as Alves proved once again he is ready to contend with the front runners of the resilient A class. For the final “Pro” race of the day, Alves started off in 6th, just outside the top 5. Ramy pushed and pushed, almost improving upon his lap time each of the first 5 laps. Nothing worked for him, no outside or inside lines proved to be effective as he remained in the 6th spot until the final flag was waived. With Forkner winning, but leaving the class sometime in the near future, Alves can walk away from this years Daytona Amateur Supercross with his A class induction in his rearview mirror, and the compass set for the Texas National. It’s evident that the #222 Yamaha is here to stay.
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