Justin Barcia was unable to find a win at Vegas, but his third-place finish in the East Coast Lites main was more than enough to secure the title.
The final round of the 2011 West/East Lites Championship in Las Vegas featured some of the tightest racing of the evening. During the 15-lap East Coast Lites race Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett managed a late pass on Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes for the win. Geico Honda’s Justin Barcia claimed third-place, more than enough to take the Lites East Championship. The West Coast Lites race saw Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen grab the holeshot and the victory. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle and Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham rounded out the podium. The second-place finish by Tickle seized the championship, six points ahead of Geico Honda’s Eli Tomac.
East Coast Lites
In the East Coast Lites main event, Honda’s Justin Barcia jumped out to the early lead. It looked like Barcia would check out in typical fashion, but Bam Bam ran into problems on Lap 4 when he washed out in a corner. With Barcia down, Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes rocketed past with Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett in tow.
Lucky for Barcia, he managed to keep his CRF250R running and rejoined the race in third. Sipes maintained the lead with Baggett right behind and Barcia a lonely third. Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson, the only rider with a legitimate shot at the East Coast title besides Barcia, had a poor start and was buried back in seventh in the opening laps.
Sipes and Baggett kept tussling for the win as the laps wore on. With five to go the running order was Sipes, Baggett and Barcia, with Wilson moving past Malcolm Stewart into fourth. Meanwhile Honda privateer rider Lance Vincent made a good impression at the season finale, holding off Kawasaki's Matt Lemoine for much of the race in sixth.
Sipes and Baggett entered the final lap with the Yamaha in the lead, the Kawasaki sniffing around for an opening. Sipes ran too wide in a corner, just the mistake Baggett needed, and the two nearly came together. But the Kawasaki made the move stick, with Sipes unable to get a run by his rival in the high-speed section of the track.
Baggett took the Vegas win followed closely by Sipes. Barcia rode it home to a third-place finish, his worst result of the year, but more than enough to claim the East Coast crown in a dominating season. Wilson had to settle for fourth at Vegas, finishing the year second overall and 22 points down on Barcia in the title race.
2011 East Coast Lites Vegas Results:
1. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki)
2. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)
3. Justin Barcia (Honda)
4. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)
5. Malcolm Stewart (Suzuki)
6. Matt Lemoine (Kawasaki)
7. Lance Vincent (Honda)
8. Hunter Hewitt (Suzuki)
9. Les Smith (Honda)
10. Justin Sipes (Kawasaki)
11. Chris Gosselaar (Suzuki)
12. Taylor Futrell (Honda)
13. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)
14. Tyler Bright (Honda)
15. AJ Catanaro (Honda)
2011 East Coast Supercross Lites Points:
1. Justin Barcia, 205
2. Dean Wilson, 183
3. Ryan Sipes, 163
4. Blake Baggett, 159
5. Blake Wharton, 125
West Coast Lites
Mitch Payton and his powerhouse Pro Circuit Kawasaki team was nearly shut out of a Lites title, but Broc Tickle came through in the West Coast series.
Ken Roczen snagged the holeshot in the West Coast Lites main event, the KTM rider followed by Honda's Cole Seely. A Pro Circuit Kawasaki trio filled the three, four and six spots, with Josh Hansen, Tyla Rattray and the points leading Broc Tickle. Honda’s Eli Tomac was fifth, though the leading contender to Tickle blitzed past Rattray in the opening laps. Rattray then let his teammate Tickle past.
Roczen maintained the front position, but the KTM rider went down in a corner, surrendering the lead to Seely. Meanwhile the championship battle began to heat up between Tomac and Tickle, as Tomac found himself in the unenviable position of being sandwiched between the Pro Circuit duo of Hansen in front and Tickle behind. Hansen was blocking the line with Tickle pouring on the pressure. In the meantime, Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham charged his way up into the mix – making it a four-rider battle for third-place.
On Lap 7 the four riders started swapping positions, Tomac doing his best to get around Hansen. The former points-leading Hansen ran off track in the tango, with Cunningham making the most of the situation and taking third. Tomac managed to escape the three green riders, however, and secure third, with the rookie opening up a gap on Tickle for fourth.
Up at the front Seely took a digger and Roczen ran back into the lead. Then Tomac got embroiled in another battle with Cunningham and Seely. As the three battled, Tickle took advantage and got around the group taking the points lead with him.
On the last lap Tickle held an advantage over Tomac, but the Honda contender was in the hunt. The positions continued to move as Cunningham played potential spoiler. In the end, however, Tomac couldn’t make up enough ground on the final high speed section, with Tickle holding second, followed by Cunningham and then Tomac. Roczen was unchallenged as the race winner in the final laps.
2011 Supercross Lites West Coast Results:
1. Ken Roczen (KTM)
2. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki)
3. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)
4. Eli Tomac (Honda)
5. Cole Seely (Honda)
6. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)
7. Ryan Morais (Suzuki)
8. Travis Baker (Honda)
9. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)
10. Josh Hansen (Kawasaki)
11. Bruce Rutherford (Kawasaki)
12. Nick Paluzzi (Yamaha)
13. Jake Canada (Kawasaki)
14. Ben Evans(Kawasaki)
15. Casey Hinson (KTM)
2011 Supercross Lites West Coast Points:
1. Broc Tickle, 187
2. Eli Tomac, 181
3. Josh Hansen, 162
4. Cole Seely, 147
5. Ryan Morais, 138
East/West Lites Shootout
Ryan Sipes saw a victory slip away in the East Coast Lites main event at Vegas, but the Yamaha rider found glory in the first-ever East/West Lites Shootout.
The best of the Lites classes faced off in the first-ever East/West Lites Shootout. The 10-lap event started with the new Number-1E rider Justin Barcia grabing the holeshot. Lance Vincent, the surprise of the East Coast main, had a terrific start running second before a major bobble held him up. The other new Number 1 plate, West Coast champ Broc Tickle, had a terrible start back in 19th and was a non-factor.
As with the East Coast main, Barcia looks like a sure thing for a run-away win, but the Honda ace tossed it away in a bowl turn. Barcia dumped his CRF on Lap 3 – a repeat even of the same mistake earlier in the East Coast main event. The newly crowned champ remounted in seventh as Ryan Sipes took over the lead. Cole Seely and Martin Davalos battled for second, followed by the West Coast main event winner Ken Roczen and Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson. As for the other Lites main event winner, Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett, like Tickle he was an irrelevant player in the Shootout lapping near last place.
As Sipes opened up a gap up front, another major player fell out of contention when Barcia crashed again and had to pull off track momentarily to have his clutch lever worked on. Meanwhile, Roczen provided some of the best racing in the shootout – working on getting around Seely for second, with Wilson running fourth and Davalos fifth.
And that’s how the running order would stay across the checkers, with Sipes redeeming himself with the win, having tossed away the East Coast main on the final lap. Seely took second, followed by Roczen, Wilson and Davalos. Eli Tomac, runner up to Tickle in the West Coast title hunt, would go on to finish sixth in the Shootout. As for Tickle, the Pro Circuit rider would rebound from his poor start to finish 10th followed by his teammates Rattray and Baggett.
2011 East-West Shootout Results:
1. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)
2. Cole Seely (Honda)
3. Ken Roczen (KTM)
4. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)
5. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)
6. Eli Tomac (Honda)
7. Lance Vincent (Honda)
8. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)
9. Travis Baker (Honda)
10. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki)
11. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)
12. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki)
13. Nick Paluzzi (Yamaha)
14. Matt Lemoine (Kawasaki)
15. Ryan Morais (Suzuki)
