The 25-year-old Team Makita Suzuki rider gated in second place on his RM 250 behind reigning Supercross Champion Chad Reed then made his move to the front in the whoops after eight laps of the 20-lap Main Event.

Reed came back at the Florida rider in the following three turns but was shut out. From there on, Carmichael worked on putting together consistent lap times – his fastest of the night was a 45.9 second circuit on the 13th lap – and increasing his lead. At the halfway stage, he was two seconds clear and by lap 17, five seconds which he held until the flag.

He said: "I have a lot of respect for Chad. I had a great time and we had some good clean racing tonight. I stayed with him and let the race come to me and when he started making a few mistakes, I made my move to the front. He almost got back by me but I closed the door and did what I had to do to win.

"I feel my Suzuki is the best bike out there. It was important for me and the team to win tonight and everyone got what they wanted. But it's a long series and we've got to keep the momentum going," he added.

Carmichael’s team mate Sebastien Tortelli, racing the four-stroke RM-Z450, had a poor start mid pack but came home 11th after a crash. He now holds seventh place in the series 38 points behind Carmichael.

Said Tortelli: “I’m pretty disappointed about this but my Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 was great. All the work that Team Coach Ricky Johnson and I’ve been doing with the bike for the last week was paying off. I’d had a good heat race and I was riding well and could have finished in the top five. Then this happened.”

In the 125cc class, Makita Suzuki’s Broc Hepler saw his championship hopes disappear after breaking his arm in the opening heat. It’s likely that the 18 year old could be out of action for several weeks.

He said: “I was in the staggered sandy whoops and when I came out of the corner I got a little bit sideways. At the same time, the bike kind of kicked up and I went over the bars. My arm is pretty sore and swelled up and I’m going to the doctor on Monday to have it looked at more closely.”

250 Results: 1 Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki), 2 Chad Reed (Yamaha), 3 Mike Larocco (Honda), 4 David Vuillemin (Yamaha), 5 Ernesto Fonseca (Honda), 6 Nick Wey (Honda), 7 Heath Voss (Yamaha), 8 Michael Byrne (Kawasaki), 9 Kevin Windham (Honda), 10 Tyler Evans (Suzuki). 11 Sebastien Tortelli (Suzuki).

250 Points (after 4 of 16 rounds): 1 Carmichael 95, 2 Windham 79, 3 Reed 69, 4 Larocco 66, 5 Wey 59, 6 Fonseca 58, 7 Tortelli 57, 8 Voss 51, 9 Vuillemin 49, 10 Byrne 44.

125 Results: 1 Billy Laninovich (Honda), 2 Andrew Short (Honda), 3 Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki), 4 Ryan Morais (Suzuki), 5 Brett Metcalfe (Yamaha), 6 Bryan Johnson (Yamaha), 7 Ryan Sipes (Suzuki), 8 Danny Smith (Yamaha), 9 Jay Marmont (KTM), 10 Chris Gosselaar (Suzuki).

125 Points (after 4 of 16 rounds): 1 Tedesco 80, 2 Sipes 67, 3 Smith 58, 4 Short 56, 5 Hahn 49, 6 Ramsey 46, 7 Laninovich 42, 8 Metcalfe 41, 9 Marmont 39, 10 Casillas 35. 13 Broc Hepler (Suzuki) 28.

Next round: February 5, Anaheim.