Team Makita Suzuki Racing announced today that defending AMA Supercross Champion Ricky Carmichael regained the 25 points that he lost when the AMA penalized him for use of illegal fuel at round six of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series in San Diego, Calif., on Feb. 11, 2006. “I’m super-pumped about the points — not just for me, but for my Makita Suzuki team and the fans,” said Carmichael. “I’m happy for my team because they’ve put in too much effort this year to just sit back and watch the other guys compete for the championship. Everyone in Supercross has been working hard to make the racing better for the fans and having the top three guys all going for the title will make the racing even better. Finally, the AMA and FIM’s solution is fair for everyone and will help all the teams in the future.” After the San Diego round, Carmichael led the points chase in the AMA Supercross series. The AMA’s 25-point penalty, however, moved him into a distant third place, strongly hindering the multi-time champion’s possibilities for a fifth AMA Supercross title. With the withdrawal of the penalty, however, Carmichael is back in the championship hunt. “Obviously we’re happy with the decision,” said Mel Harris, ASMC vice president of the Motorcycle/ATV division. “Suzuki feels strongly that the Supercross Championship should be decided on the track, by the racers.” According to an AMA press release, the points penalty was rescinded because of the differences in gasoline-testing protocols between the AMA and the FIM, the sanctioning body for the concurrently running 2006 Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, which Carmichael leads. The AMA and the FIM agreed that imposing a points penalty on Carmichael would be inappropriate and instead fined the Makita Suzuki team $20,000, which will be donated to the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center and Riders for Health. “Of course we’re happy that we got our points back,” summed up Makita Suzuki Team Manager Roger DeCoster. “I am also happy that the AMA and FIM were able to come together and resolve this issue. Several unfortunate comments were made in the heat of the moment and I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed and a solution was found.” Carmichael and Team Makita Suzuki Racing will compete at round nine of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series in Indianapolis, Ind., Saturday night at the RCA Dome.