Yamaha LandM San Manuel’s Josh Hill finished 6th at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for round eight of seventeen in the AMA Supercross/FIM World SX Championship and keeps within 20 points of the 2010 title chase. The 20 year old was one of three YZ450F riders in the top six of the 32nd Main Event to be run in the Georgian capital. The highest finisher Saturday night in front of more than 69,000 spectators was Valli Motorsports Ivan Tedesco; the veteran taking his second best result of the year with 4th spot.

The day started in a tough way for Hill who suffered a crash in which he bent his handlebars with his chest in the final timed period and negotiated the 20 lap Main Event in some discomfort. ‘That was the hardest race I've ever had,’ he said. ‘I wasn't even going to race until about 6:30, and I started feeling a little better. But 20 laps out there in my condition, that was so hard. At least I'm still there in the points, but I'm just going to go home and try to heal-up for next week in Daytona."

20 seconds in front of the youngster was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Justin Brayton, who was hunting a way past Tedesco but ultimately had to settle for 5th in what is becoming a very solid campaign for the 2009 Bercy SX winner. Tedesco was the first of six 2010 YZ450Fs on the leader-board that filled positions down to 9th place. After Hill followed Michael Byrne, Jason Lawrence and Grant Langston.

Hill is now back to second place in the championship behind Ryan Dungey as the winner of the last two rounds, Ryan Villopoto, could only cross the line in 19th in Atlanta after a mistake caused a crash and necessitated a visit to the pits. Brayton’s excellent consistency, which has seen three top five finishes in the last four events, means he is 5th and 13 points away from moving up another spot.

Round nine takes place next Saturday as the series move to Daytona on the east coast.