Saturday night was the second time around for a Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship night racing event, and by most accounts, it was even better than last year’s version. Lighting such a large area for a night race is definitely a challenge, and this year there were two additional Musco Lighting rigs on hand. While vision was still a challenge, we didn’t hear nearly as many complaints this year as we did last time around.
It was dark by the time the second motos came to a finish.
Weather conditions for the race were near perfect, and luckily they were minus the thunderstorms that had been an almost daily occurrence in the area. Actually, a pretty heavy-duty thunderstorm did blow through the area of Friday afternoon as the teams were still setting up their tents and mechanics were pushing bikes through tech inspection, and it looked like a fire drill as everyone scrambled for cover.
One of the biggest stories of the weekend was Mike Alessi’s attempt to return to action less than two weeks after breaking his left kneecap while practicing before the High Point round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, and then having it surgically repaired. Going into that race he’d had a huge points lead over his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate, Chad Reed. While Chad had taken over the points lead with a 1-1 day, Mike thought if he could ride through the pain in Lakewood, he’d still have a shot at the title. He and his crew did all they could, with therapy, a special knee brace, and grip tape over the whole left shroud. The only thing they seemed to be lacking was time for healing. Everyone seemed to be holding their breathe, and waiting to see what would happen.
The message on his Pro Taper bar pad? “100%. Fight for it.”
Unfortunately, that plan lasted for about half a lap in the first moto. That’s when he and Josh Grant crossed lines and Mike hit the ground. He did get up, remount, and do an additional lap or two, but finally (and we think wisely) pulled into the pits.
Honda's Ivan Tedesco and Andrew Short went 1-2 in each moto on Saturday to narrow Chad Reed's points lead.
With Mike out of the action, you’d sort of expect that Chad Reed would run away with things, right? Not so fast there. Chad wasn’t feeling particularly hot, and you had a pair of motivated Honda Red Bull Racing riders in Andrew Short and Ivan Tedesco. Ivan has been looking better and better over the last few rounds, and he put it all together in Colorado, making it a 1-1 day in two motos that looked more like time trials than actual races. He led every lap of both motos, and grabbed his first 450 moto wins, and overall. Colorado native (and fan favorite) Andrew Short followed him home, with a 2-2 day, though he did have to battle with Canidae Motosport Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn in the second moto.
Speaking of Hahn, he’s been looking stronger and stronger during the outdoor season, and he and Chad Reed traded thirds and sevenths in the two motos, with Tommy getting the nod for the final podium spot with the higher second moto finish.
Chad Reed now has a 14-point lead over Short in the 450 class point standings.
(top) The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team of Christophe Pourcel and Jake Weimer ran side-by-side in Moto 1 to take the 1-2 followed by Yamaha's Broc Tickly.
(bottom) Poucel got stuck at the gate in Moto 2.
While the 450 class had some of the attention via the Alessi drama, the 250 class was where it was at for out ‘n out awesome racing. In the first moto, Christophe Pourcel and Jake Weimer ran comfortably in the 1-2 spots. Division 7 / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Broc Tickle had been making strides forward this season, and was the guy in third for the whole moto, closely pursued by Geico Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton. Behind that? Well, it resembled something akin to a moto blender. There was Muscle Milk MDK KTM’s Tommy Searle, Geico Powersports Honda’s Brett Metcalfe and Justin Barcia, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray, and more. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey made it to sixth, but he didn’t get there until late in the moto, after starting from mid-pack.
As good as the first moto was to watch, it didn’t compare to the second moto, where Jake Weimer got out to another good start, but this time around his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate, Christophe Pourcel, got stuck in the gate. Afterwards, Christophe Pourcel mentioned several times on the podium and press conference that with the problems, he was expecting the race to be red-flagged. But after watching replays of the incident, it didn’t look like the gate dropped completely, and bounced back up after Christophe hit it with his front wheel. When it caught under the bike, it almost pitched him over the bars. But after starting dead last, he rapidly moved forward, passing 22 riders on the first lap alone.
Jake Weimer earned his first career 250 class win going 2-1.
Up front, Weimer led for the first two laps, but a quick crash allowed Justin Barcia to get by and lead the next six laps. Weimer was able to quickly remount and chase down the Geico Powersports Honda rider, giving him the overall win with a 2-1 score. Barcia, however, had finished ninth in the first moto, so the race for the final podium spots was on. A huge cluster of riders including Searle, Dungey, Metcalfe, Pourcel, Lemoine, Tickle, Rattray, and Martin Davalos was so tightly packed, it was like watching a precision flying exhibition…and they were like that for quite a few laps.
After his rough start in the moto, amazingly Christophe Pourcel was able to charge back to sixth, which was good for second overall. Tommy Searle didn’t succumb to the altitude or pressure, and nabbed third overall. This time he even got to enjoy the podium without fear of disqualification (like he’d had to deal with at High Point after jumping past a “no jump” flag.
Pourcel has extended his points lead over Dungey to nine markers, but if you factor in things like the position he got docked at Hangtown, or the possible points lost by his start issues at Lakewood, and it could be an even larger margin.
It was a little harder this time, but Ashley Fiolek still managed to sweep another round of Women's Motocross.
In the Women’s class, Ashley Fiolek had another 1-1 race, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. In the second moto she dropped to third place at one point, but battled back to the lead. She was also kept on her toes by a very rapid Mariana Balbi all the way to the checkers in moto two.
Other notes from the weekend? Luke George, the 250 points leader down in Australia, made it up here for this race, and finished 16th overall with a pair of 17th-place moto finishes.
Vicki Golden scored a ride on Trey Canard’s bike after Trey got hurt at High Point, and will fill in on the Geico Powersports Honda team for the remaining rounds of the Women’s series, as well as the X Games. Her fractured wrist (that she’s been riding with nearly all season) is also doing much better, after taking most of the week off following High Point.
Next week the series will reach the halfway point as it moves to Red Bud for the second round of the Monster Triple Crown at Red Bud.
