Dirt Hammers Eat. Sleep. Ride

Ryan Dungey clinched his first 450 AMA Pro Motocross Championship after winning the first moto.

450 Motocross

A whole season’s worth of hard work and consistency led up to GEICO Powersports Honda’s Brett Metcalfe’s biggest race of the ‘10 season in the first moto at Southwick. Under excellent weather conditions in Massachusetts, Metcalfe nailed the holeshot and was followed by Lucas Oil TLD Honda’s Ben Townley and Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Tommy Hahn. Championship leader Ryan Dungey and Jagermeister KTM’s Mike Alessi also managed strong starts and settled into fourth-and fifth-place respectively in the opening lap. After having the worst gate pick, Honda Red Bull’s Andrew Short had a horrible start and was running mid-pack. A battle for the lead quickly developed between Metcalfe and Townley, which resulted in the #101 bike crashing out as he tried making a pass on the leader. After getting up, Townley once again went down after colliding with Short.

After making a pass on Hahn, Dungey moved into second place behind Metcalfe – a position which would give the Suzuki rider the 450 National title. But Dungey continued applying pressure and Metcalfe responded with a strong defensive ride with few mistakes. With less than half a lap left, Metcalfe’s first moto win of the season was robbed from him when his bike ran out of gas. Dungey went on to clench the moto win and the series championship, followed by Hahn who fought his way through the field to finish second.

The mad dash at the start of Moto 2 resulted in a massive pile-up in the first

Matt Goerke was able to repeat his podium finish results of last year at Southwick. Not bad for his first race back!

turn. Honda Red Bull replacement rider, Kevin Windham, and Metcalfe were unscathed in the mess and were out front early ahead of Townley and Dungey. Both Short and Metcalfe’s day continued to worsen as they crashed within seconds of each other during the opening lap. Afterward Dungey and Townely both made quick work of Windham to secure the two front positions, with Windham and Alessi rounding out the top-four heading into the halfway point. Alessi, who was having a very good day after taking third place in Moto 1, made it around Windham for third while Short and Metcalfe languished at the back of the pack in 20th and 25th, respecively. Also having a difficult second moto was Hahn, who was forced to call it quits after his clutch burned-out. As Townley and Alessi battled each other for second place, MotoConcepts Yamaha’s Matt Goerke wedged himself between the two for third.

“I’ve been riding for the last two weeks,” said Goerke who missed out on the Supercoss season and most of the Nationals due to a broken leg. “I’ve been riding my butt off.”

That might be the understatement of the season. It will be interesting to see if the MotoConcepts rider can repeat a podium finish next weekend at Steel City.

Dungey took the checkers for the second time on Saturday with more than a 25-second lead over Townley and the rest of the field. Alessi took second overall at Southwick in one of his strongest performances of the season, followed by Goerke and his teammate, Kyle Chisholm.

Mike Alessi finally made things click at Southwick with a second overall.

“I’m 20 (years old), and I really didn’t expect to accomplish this much so soon,” said the new champion. “The 450 was just something I was looking forward to back at the end of ’09. It was a challenge I had been looking forward to my whole life.”

With the championship already wrapped-up by Dungey, Short’s lead over Metcalfe in the series was cut down to just three points. Meanwhile, Alessi jumped two position in the standings and is now fourth in the championship.

“I woke up the next day after Unadilla and realized this is not where I want to be. I pretty much had the worst race of my career,” Alessi said about his upswing in the results. “I woke up the next morning and was like something has got to change.”

450 Motocross Southwick Results:
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) 1-1
2. Mike Alessi (KTM) 3-4
3. Matthew Goerke (Yamaha) 6-3
4. Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha) 4-6
5. Kevin Windham (Honda) 7-5
6. Nick Wey (Kawasaki) 8-9
7. Ben Townley (Honda) 34-2
8. Thomas Hahn (Suzuki) 2-32
9. Brett Metcalfe (Honda) 14-7
10. Daniel Reardon (Yamaha) 13-11
11. Justin Brayton (Yamaha) 16-10
12. Kyle Regal (Honda) 5-38
13. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha) 32-8
14. Shane Sewell (Yamaha) 12-18
15. Robby Marshall (Kawasaki) 9-33

450 Motocross Championship Points:
1. Ryan Dungey, 468
2. Andrew Short, 317
3. Brett Metcalfe, 314
4. Mike Alessi, 273
5. Ben Townley, 271
6. Josh Grant, 260
7. Kyle Chisholm, 216
8. Chad Reed, 204
9. Kyle Regal, 201
10. Ryan Sipes, 194

Pro Circuit’s Tyla Rattray rode hard all day and it paid off with the overall. Rattray went 2-2 for the win.

250 Motocross
Under perfect weather conditions for the 250s Will Hahn secured the holeshot in Moto 1 and led out of the first turn. Hahn was immediately followed by GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard and Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson, Tyla Rattray and Christophe Pourcel. With track conditions rapidly deteriorating, the Frenchman crashed out as Hahn began extending his lead over Canard. Halfway into the contest the order was Hahn, Canard, Rattray, DNA Shred Stix Yamaha’s Nico Izzi and Wilson. Canard continued riding the rear wheel of Hahn, not letting up until he made a clean pass for the lead. Also advancing in the ranks were Eli Tomac and Justin Barcia, who had taken over fourth and seventh, respectively, with 10 minutes remaining. In the end Canard took the Moto 1 victory, with Rattray and Hahn both putting in solid performance to round out the podium. Despite crashing early on, Pourcel led an aggressive charge through the field, and finished in seventh, but he lost valuable points in the championship race.

In a repeat performance, Hahn got the holeshot again in the second moto followed by Barcia, Pourcel, Wilson, Rattray and Canard. In the first minutes of the moto Hahn made multiple mistakes which allowed Barcia to jump into the lead during the opening lap. Rattray continued to ride solidly and was challenging his teammate Pourcel for third place continuously throughout the first few laps. Meanwhile, up front Barcia was extending his lead over the pack as Pourcel and Rattray shot

GEICO’s Trey Canard was third overall after a  ninth place finish in Moto 2.

past Hahn to move into second and third, respectively. Canard’s second moto proved more difficult than his first after he and Wilson collided with each other while battling it out for fifth place. A determined Rattray made an impressive pass on Pourcel for second in the last few minutes of the race, but by then Barcia’s lead would prove too much to overcome. The Honda rider took the win in the second moto and was followed by a sea of green as Rattray, Pourcel and Wilson rounded out the top four finishers.

Rattray took the overall win with two second-place finishes, followed by Barcia and Canard. After coming in fifth-place overall at Soutwick, Pourcel’s lead in the championship was sliced down to just 13 points ahead of Canard.

“I kind of struggled all day,” Canard said about his performance today. “I never really felt comfortable.”

Rattray was not present at the post-race press conference; instead he was on his way to the airport. His fiance had given birth to his first child this morning, and he was understandably in a rush to get home. It was a great day for the Rattray family with a healthy newborn and second overall win of the 2010 season. Congratulations Tyla!

250 Motocross Southwick Results:
1. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki) 2-2
2. Justin Barcia (Honda) 4-1

GEICO Powersport’s Justin Barcia grabbed a great start in Moto 2 and led every lap, holding off Tyla Rattray at the end. The Wild Child finished second overall.

3. Trey Canard (Honda) 1-9
4. William Hahn (Honda) 3-5
5. Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki) 7-3
6. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki) 5-4
7. Eli Tomac (Honda) 6-7
8. Gareth Swanepoel (Yamaha) 10-6
9. Martin Davalos (Yamaha) 11-8
10. Brock Tickle (Yamaha) 8-11
11. Blake Wharton (Honda) 14-12
12. Tommy Weeck (Honda) 13-13
13. Cole Seely (Honda) 9-17
14. Ian Trettel (Suzuki) 17-10
15. Les Smith (Honda) 15-18

250 Motocross Championship Points:
1. Christophe Pourcel, 399
2. Trey Canard, 386
3. Tyla Rattray, 364
4. Dean Wilson, 363
5. Justin Barcia, 291
6. Eli Tomac, 262
7. Blake Wharton, 259
8. Broc Tickle, 232
9. Martin Davalos, 210
10. Jake Weimer, 195

James Stewart has officially withdrawn from AMA Motocross competition, the San Manuel Yamaha rider not returning to racing action until the 2011 Supercross season. A team press release cites slow recovery of Stewart’s broken wrist, which terminated his previous Supercross campaign and the Motocross season thus far, as the determining factor in the decision.

Injured for seven months, James Stewart will stay out of action after a brief return at Unadilla, the Yamaha star sitting out the rest of the 2010 AMA Motocross season.

Stewart made a much-heralded return to Motocross last round at Unadilla. The former champ logged a third-place result in the first moto, tussling over second with FIM MX wild card Clemente Desalle. Stewart was unable to finish the second moto, however, pulling off the track after four laps. An official statement from Team San Manuel Yamaha announcing his permanent exit from the 2010 season explained the Unadilla Moto 2 DNF as “lack of physical preparation and challenges with the bike set up forced him off the track in Moto 2.”

In the statement, Stewart goes on to issue a formal apology to fans and sponsors: “I hope my fans will understand. I have said before that I wanted to be on the track starting in Sacramento. But the slow healing nature of my wrist injury made it impossible to do that. Watching race after race and not being a part of the series was very hard. All along my motivation was to get back to racing and return to the Motocross National Series for my fans and sponsors. The reality is, though my wrist is feeling great, I’m not ready to race at this level. As much as I’d like to be out there, I need more time to prepare so that I don’t put my entire career at risk by getting injured again. A younger James might not have been mature enough to make this decision, but I’ve learned a lot in recent years and sometimes you have to do what’s right, despite what’s in your heart. I’d like to apologize to my fans, the Outdoor National series and my sponsors. You’ve been incredibly supportive of me throughout these recent months. I am sorry if what I’ve said or done has disappointed anyone in any way, but I’ll be back on the track at Anaheim 1 and ready to race. I plan to work hard over the next few months and do what I know I need to do to prepare for a chance at the next Supercross Championship title”

Team San Manuel Yamaha Team Manager Larry Brooks goes on to say: “We had every intention of racing Southwick and beyond, but sometimes you have to see the bigger picture and make a decision based on what’s right, not on what you’d like to do at the time. We’re a Team and we have to do what we feel is best to ensure we have every opportunity to win the next Championship.”

Passed over for the Motocross of Nations squad, Stewart is now gone for the remaining Motocross Nationals.

Stewart made headlines after Unadilla when he criticized his being passed over for the 2010 Motocross of Nations squad. In earlier statement from Team San Manuel Yamaha regarding the MXoN snub (Stewart Feels ‘Lied to’ Over MXoN Decision), Stewart went so far as to say “I feel like I was straight-up lied to.” The statement also made clear that a factor in Stewart’s return for the final four motos of the 2010 season was his chances of making the MXoN team.

“But the other main reason I chose to come back for the last four, beginning with Unadilla, was because of a discussion I had with the decision makers for Team USA in Colorado this year regarding the Red Bull Motocross of Nations. At the time, I was told that if I was to make my recovery, begin testing, and get back to racing by Unadilla, that I would be given a spot (or at least a shot at a spot) for the final team. Being on the MXoN team in the past has been one of the greatest experiences of my entire career, so after they told me I had a shot, my team and I were excited, and began to get ready to race outdoors!”

With Stewart’s withdrawal from the remaining MX rounds and his absence from the MXoN, J Stew fans will have to wait until the January 8th opener at Anaheim 1 to see Number 7 back in action.

Russell Bobbitt kept his title hopes alive – barely – by taking the win at round nine of the AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Series in Noble, Maine. Charlie Mullins came into the event riding a five-round win streak and owning a 29-point lead in the series standings. The Obermeyer Am Pro/FMF Yamaha rider needed only to finish ahead of Bobbitt and Bobbitt’s FMF/KTM teammate Cory Buttrick to have a chance at wrapping the title up early, however, Mullins had an off day, while Bobbitt returned to his 2009 form, winning the final two tests to claim his first win of the year.

Mullins ended the day in fifth, while eight-time national champ Michael Lafferty finished second ahead of fellow Husaberg rider Nick Fahringer and FMF/KTM’s Nate Kanney.

“It feels good to finally get on top of the box,” said Bobbitt. “I didn’t really feel like the day was going fantastic. The last two tests I feel I was riding well, but it took a while to adjust to the rocks in the early tests.”

Bobbitt’s only major setback was an ugly cartwheel in the fourth section. Luckily, the defending champ landed in a soft section of dirt and was able to get back into the hunt after a few minor adjustments.

“I just had to adjust my levers to get going again, but it could have really been nasty,” added Bobbitt.

Despite the off day, Mullins still carries a 17 point lead into the series finale in Indiana and needs only to finish eight to wrap up the title.

“I struggled a little – I just wasn’t comfortable in the rocks,” said Mullins. “I just had a bad day and had a hard time finding my groove. It was an experience coming up here, but it was fun. I just need to get it together for the final round.”

Lafferty won the first two tests of the 78-mile event and held the lead until crashes in the fourth and fifth tests dropped the New Jersey rider to second behind Bobbitt. With the finish, Lafferty moved into third overall in the series standings.

“I crashed in the last couple of tests, but I felt good today and I’m really happy with how our set-up is on the bike. Russ definitely put the pressure on and he deserves to win, he rode well.”

Like Bobbitt, Fahringer got faster as the day went on and he actually came from behind to beat out Kanney in the final two tests to claim third, which made for his third podium of the year.

Kanney, riding the new KTM 350 SX-F, held on for fourth ahead of Mullins and FMF/KTM’s Cory Buttrick.

The final round of the series is set for Saturday, October 2, in Matthews, Indiana.

O/A
1. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
2. Michael Lafferty (Hsb)
3. Nick Fahringer (Hsb)
4. Nate Kanney (KTM)
5. Charlie Mullins (Yam)
6. Cory Buttrick (KTM)
7. Andrew DeLong (KTM)
8. Pat Timothy (KTM)
9. Shane Hufford Jr. (KTM)
10. Jim Senecal (G_G)