Ah, it’s always cool to visit Washougal, since it’s one of the most scenic tracks in the country, with its tall pine trees, grassy hillsides, and awesome views all around. One item we were happy to hear about was that they’ve finally resolved all the legal challenges to the track (after over $400K in legal fees), and will be hosting racing well into the future.

One of the surprises of the weekend was the appearance of Honda-mounted Clement Desalle, who rides for LS Motors Honda in the MX GPs. The Belgian rider had a weekend off from the World circuit, and has apparently wanted to do National for quite some time. He brought over some suspension from his GP team bike, a pipe, and his gear bag. The bike was supplied by Jesse Black and The Dirt Lab, a shop in Phoenix, AZ; and he was camped off to the side of Ryan Clark’s Team Solitaire semi. The engine was shipped there, and the rest of the bike came in a variety of plastic tubs and was assembled at the race.

After the first practice, Clement opened plenty of eyes with the fastest time. What was maybe even more notable was his riding style. Where the riders here are frequently on the rev limiter, Clement sounded like he was on a trail ride, with extremely low revs, lots of torque, and a very smooth riding style.

He finished a very creditable third in the first moto, and had some troubles in moto two and finished 25th, but we’re sure he garnered lots of attention from the teams (and team managers) on hand. Apparently he also garnered plenty of attention from the AMA, since we saw him getting sound tested post-race (which is fairly common these days), and the AMA also had an official in his pits after the race, watching as the engine was torn down to ensure that it was all legal. Apparently it was way more stock than you might expect, and he has a very talented right wrist.

Way to go, Clement…and Dirt Lab.

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Josh Hill was told by his doctors to sit out the next several rounds to let his back heal up. That opened the door for Scott Champion, and the privateer 250 rider scored a factory ride for the weekend aboard Hill’s 450. He’d already been on hand at Washougal as a test rider for VitalMX.com for a Yamaha YZ250F intro earlier in the week, and was familiar with the track. Yamaha worked him up some new suspension to account for the 30-pound difference between Scott and Josh, and let him loose.

The good news? He easily qualified for the National. The first moto was a little rough, with a crash and a stall. They also discovered that the track was much rougher than expected, and they further softened up the suspension for the second moto. There, he scored a top-20 spot, and seemed pleased with the improvement. It seemed like a fun experiment both for the team and for Scott, and we’d guess it’s an opportunity he won’t soon forget.

Kawasaki test rider Ryan Beat was also playing a fill-in role, as Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich was in Las Vegas beginning the defense of his Endurocross title.

The weekend was also the introduction of lots of new gear, with Fox, Fly, and No Fear all showing new gear on the track.

Oh, racing? Yep, there was plenty of that, with Rockstar Makita Suzuki ‘s Chad Reed taking a pair of moto wins in the 450 class, and further extending his already substantial points lead to 65 ahead of JGRMX Toyota/Yamaha’s Josh Grant, who finished second with a 5-2 day. Jason Lawrence (Boost Mobile / ampm / Monster Energy / Troy Racing) scored the final podium spot with a tenth and a third.

In the 250 class it was Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey taking the overall win with a first and a fifth, edging out Blake Wharton (Geico Powersports Honda) by a single point. Blake’s 3-3 was good enough to edge out Christophe Pourcel (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and his 8-1 score. Now with eight motos left to run, it’s all back to even in the 250 class, as Dungey and Pourcel are tied in points.

The Women’s class also returned for their annual visit to Washougal, and Jessica Patterson (Honda of Houston) and Ashley Fiolek (Honda Red Bull Racing) traded moto wins and second-place finishes, but it was Patterson who edged out Fiolek for the overall. Ashley still has a solid lock on the points lead, however.

Both the women and the men will turn their attention to action at ESPN’s X Games 15 in Los Angeles this week, and it’ll be interesting to see the second time around for the women, as well as whether Josh Hansen can defend his gold medal from last year’s event. We’ll also be watching to see how James Stewart handles his intro to Supermoto. It should be pretty entertaining.

Oh, one more tidbit before we go. It looks like the early contenders for Team USA in the ’09 Motocross of Nations are Josh Grant, Ivan Tedesco, and Ryan Dungey. We’ll see who’s up for representing Team USA in the chase for another Chamberlain Cup.
 

Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Washougal, WA

450 Results
1. Chad Reed (Suzuki) 1-1
2. Josh Grant (Yamaha) 5-2
3. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha) 10-3
4. Justin Brayton (KTM) 9-8
5. Michael Byrne (Suzuki) 15-4
6. Jimmy Albertson (Yamaha) 8-10
7. Nick Wey (Yamaha) 13-8
8. Tommy Hahn (Kawasaki) 2-38
9. Ivan Tedesco (Honda) 3-25
10. Clement Desalle (Honda) 3-25
11. Matt Goerke (Suzuki) 4-32
12. Andrew Short (Honda) 7-18
13. Jarred Browne (Suzuki) 23-5
14. Ben Lamay (Yamaha) 17-9
15. Jake Moss (Honda) 6-28
16. Davi Millsaps (Honda) 21-7
17. Jeff Alessi (Honda) 16-12
18. Jason Thomas (Honda) 12-31
19. Antonio Balbi (Honda) 12-31
20. Adam Chatfield (Kawasaki) 22-13

450 Point Standings
1. Chad Reed 337
2. Josh Grant 272
3. Andrew Short 267
4. Ivan Tedesco 258
5. Michael Byrne 207
6. Tommy Hahn 171
7. Cody Cooper157
8. Justin Brayton 152
9. Nick Wey 149
10. Mike Alessi 142

250 Results
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) 1-5
2. Blake Wharton (Honda) 3-3
3. Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki) 10-2
4. Brett Metcalfe (Honda) 4-4
5. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) 10-2
6. Tommy Searle (KTM) 6-6
7. Broc Tickle (Yamaha) 7-8
8. Darryn Durham (Yamaha) 5-10
9. Max Antsie (KTM) 9-9
10. Kyle Cunningham (Kawasaki) 2-34
11. Justin Barcia (Honda) 16-7
12. Steven Clarke (Suzuki) 13-11
13. P. J. Larsen (Kawasaki) 15-14
14. Ben Evans (Honda) 12-17
15. Michael Hall (Yamaha) 18-12
16. Matt Lemoine (Yamaha) 11-32
17. Alex Martin (Honda) 4-13
18. Tye Hames (Kawasaki) 17-18
19. Vince Friese (Honda) 14-22
20. Topher Ingalls (Yamaha) 36-15

250 Point Standings
1. Christophe Pourcel 337
2. Ryan Dungey 337
3. Brett Metcalfe 251
4. Tommy Searle 243
5. Jake Weimer 215
6. Justin Barcia 210
7. Broc Tickle 199
8. Blake Wharton 198
9. Tyla Rattray 175
10. Trey Canard 139

WMX
1. Jessica Patterson (Honda) 2-1
2. Ashley Fiolek (Honda) 1-2
3. Mariana Balbi (Honda) 3-3
4. Haruna Masu (Honda) 6-5
5. Sara Whitmore (KTM) 4-8
6. Sherri Cruse (Suzuki) 5-7
7. Sara Price (Kawasaki) 10-4
8. Jacqueline Strong (Honda) 8-6
9. Sayyaka Kaneshiro (Suzuki) 13-9
10. Ashley Boham (Kawasaki) 12-10
11. Jackie Ives (Yamaha) 11-14
12. Jessica Smith (Honda) 15-11
13. April Zastrow (Honda) 14-12
14. Elizabeth Bash (Kawasaki) 7-21
15. Hailey Larson (Yamaha) 9-24
16. Penni Cyrus (Kawasaki) 18-13
17. Lauren Volentir (Kawasaki) 16-16
18. Kristine Wright (Kawasaki) 17-18
19. Alyssa Fitch (Honda) 17-18
20. Danielle Sawicki (Kawasaki) 24-17

WMX Point Standings
1. Ashley Fiolek 294
2. Jessica Patterson 245
3. Sherri Cruse 224
4. Vicki Golden 192
5. Sara Price 175
6. Elizabeth Bash 161
7. Sara Whitmore 149
8. Mariana Balbi 126
9. Penni Cyrus 116
10. Tatum Sik 101