2010 Thunder Valley WMX Race Recap

Thankfully Thunder Valley wasn't as painfully hot as Freestone was, but racers and fans still experienced a wide range of weather conditions. Sunny skies in the morning quickly turned into partly cloudy conditions with sporadic rain showers and gusty winds. Later in the afternoon the unpredictable rain showers turned into a downpour with the accompanied lightning and thunder. If the fans didn't bring umbrellas they sheltered under anything they could find, which wasn’t much on the exposed Colorado circuit. The ladies returned from their three-week break excited and ready to race. The question on everyone's mind was if Jessica Patterson could continue her winning streak at a track that Ashley Fiolek has dominated in the past.

As the gate dropped in Moto 1 it was Fiolek on her factory Honda who roared up the hill and crossed the holeshot line to claim the MotoUSA holeshot award. Patterson and Sara Price followed close behind the Red Rider. As the riders rounded the turn and headed back up the hill, Patterson turned on the gas attempted a pass for the lead. Unfortunately, another rider crashed into Fiolek shortly after and the young Red Bull pilot was having difficulty getting her bike back up. It was obvious that Fiolek was in considerable pain but she managed to pick up her CRF250R and get back to racing.

Meanwhile, Patterson began opening up a nice lead ahead of Kawasaki's Price. Surprisingly, veteran WMX rider Sarah Whitmore fought her way into third aboard her KTM machine and managed to keep her position for the first half of the race. A tense battle then developed between Whitmore and Jacqueline Strong. They rode shoulder-to-shoulder, but Strong eventually made the pass. Unfortunately, Whitmore would lose another position to a hard-charging Tarah Geiger.

As the battled raged, Patterson's lead had extended to over 18 seconds. Fiolek was racing deep in the pack and eventually worked her way to sixth where a quick battle with Whitmore developed for a top-five position as Fiolek fought to get around the KTM rider. Fiolek soared by when Whitmore singled a series of jumps. MotoConcepts rider Mariana Balbi, who had crashed at Freestone, struggled with a shoulder injury but managed to work her way into the seventh position but was unable to follow Fiolek past Whitmore. Patterson’s lead of 18 seconds grew to an astonishing 26 seconds ahead of Price at the checkered flag. Strong was third, Geiger fourth and Fiolek fifth.

As Moto 2 was about to begin and the ladies were lining up to do their sight lap, AMA officials delayed the start of the race due to the inclement weather. Everyone questioned why the race was delayed as it had not even begun to rain. Although there were dark clouds above, there was no sign of lightning. The ladies left the starting gate and headed back to the pits. After 15 minutes, race officials called the ladies back to the starting gate to get underway. Unfortunately, the 15 minutes was just enough time for the thunderclouds to actually release the lightning and rain, but officials determined that the race would continue regardless. If the race had begun as it was originally scheduled the ladies would have been racing on a difficult, but dry, track.

The dark clouds unloaded themselves and left the women to deal with slick mud. When the gate dropped, Patterson launched off the gate through the pouring rain and claimed the MotoUSA holeshot. Geiger was following her wake but crashed hard and cartwheeled into the mud. Patterson started opening up her lead as Price struggled to rein her in.

Fiolek rode around in sixth until she found her groove and began picking off riders, eventually passing Price for runner-up position while Geiger battled with Balbi for fourth. As the rain continued, the ruts that the 450 and 250 class had created became even more treacherous, claiming several riders. As the rain finally started to ease, Vicki Golden, who had removed her goggles, began putting the pressure on Whitmore. Eventually the Yamaha rider managed to pass the stubborn KTM and settled into third.

The ladies now head to Red Bud, in Buchanan Michigan. The WMX has never raced this facility before, so at the post race press conference everyone jokingly questioned if they would attempt LaRocco’s Leap. Most of the ladies were excited to be racing an unfamiliar track and said that they just might do the Leap if conditions were right. It’s history in the making, so get out and enjoy some spectacular racing. Heading into Round 4, Patterson’s perfect score continues, and it seems that nobody has an answer for the DNA Shred Stix Yamaha rider.