MTA WORLD FOUR-STROKE CHAMPIONSHIP: Austin Stroupe Decimates 250 Field: Weston Peick Shocks The 450 Faithful at Glen Helen; Brits Go Two-Four In 250s, But It Isn't "Tommy Gun" Who Impresses The Fans
Austin Stroupe picked up exactly where he left off at Glen Helen last year at this time.
WORLD FOUR-STROKE CHAMPIONSHIP: Austin Stroupe Decimates 250 Field: Weston Peick Shocks The 450 Faithful at Glen Helen; Brits Go Two-Four In 250s
The MTA-sponsored World Four-Stroke Championship got its name from the days when only the hearty or crafty could build a four-stroke that was raceable. The title and race remain on the schedule because it has turned into a warm-up race for the opening AMA outdoor National of the year (and from the looks of the physical fitness of many aspiring National riders at Glen Helen this weekend—they need a lot of warm-up races to get ready). Don't take the results too seriously; this is after all a pre-season race and is being used as a chance for riders to test themselves and their machinery. Riders who did poorly today, might have learned something that will help them in three weeks when the Big Show starts.
Next year the date of the MTA World Four-Stroke race will be moved to the week after the Supercross series ends...that way every rider can attend.
Max Anstie may not have been able to keep Austin Stroupe in sight, but he was hard to see for the rest of the 250 pack.
THE JAM-PACKED 250 PRO CLASS
Team Pro Circuit’s Austin Stroupe made quick work of the 30 250 pros at the MTA World Four-Stroke race at Glen Helen (which has in reality become the old Prequel race). Stroupe won both motos, although for a few laps World Mini Grand Prix winner Dean Wilson got to lead, followed by brief interludes with England’s Max Anstie in the front. Unfortunately, once Stroupe got rolling, he was unstoppable. It should be noted that Austin Stroupe won the AMA 250 National at Glen Helen last year.
Max Anstie rode well enough to stay clear of the rest of the pack for a commendable 2-2 for the day. Canadian Dean Wilson got third place money with a 7-3 in front of Tommy Searle. Searle has a lot of Glen Helen laps under his belt, but had never seen the full Glen Helen National layout. His 6-4 day was good enough for fourth overall, but for all respects he was invisible most of the day.
Tommy Searle was good, but not great. With lots of star-power missing from the 250 class (compared to an AMA National), Searle has some work to do in the next three weeks.
Matt Lemoine got fifth with an 8-5, Jake Canada was sixth (9-6), Bobby Garrison was seventh (10-7), Kyle Mace was eighth (12-9), Austin Howell was ninth (11-10) and Chris Gosselaar was tenth (15-8). It is interesting to note that just a few years ago, Chris Gosselaar had Austin Stroupe’s ride at Team Pro Circuit.
The Goose was loose. Chris went 15-8 for tenth overall.
OTHER 250 NOTABLES:
Blake Baggett was awesome in moto one. He was super strong and scored a third behind Stroupe and Anstie. Unfortunately, he DNF’ed moto two.
Broc Tickle tried to race REM a few weeks ago, but suffered mechanical woes. Guess what? He only got one moto in at the World Four-Stroke race.
Broc Tickle also suffered second moto troubles after a solid fourth in moto one.
Travis Baker had a good first moto, where he finished fifth, but joined the ranks of the riders with no scores in moto two.
This is not the type of power that Blake Wharton wants to use to get his bike to move.
Blake Wharton wasn’t as lucky as Baggett, Tickle or Baker—Blake only made in four laps before his bike expired.
Tyla Rattray was a no-show—reportedly he suffered an injury when testing for the race at Glen Helen on Thursday.
THE HARD FOUGHT 450 PRO CLASS
Weston Peick took home $1500 for winning the 450 Pro class (the 450 class paid more than double the 250 Pro class--to encourage all the pros to race in the “run what ya brung" 450 class).
Weston Peick...remember that name.
Peick, who last year won the 450 B class at Loretta Lynn's (beating Malcolm Stewart) is now a true-to-life professional. Although Weston didn’t win a moto, his 2-2 was no joy ride. In fact, in the second moto, while chasing leader Trent Pugmire, Weston tried to squeeze between Pugmire and a bank of dirt at the bottom of the Mt. Saint Helen downhill. It was a brave and foolhardy move as Pugmire, through no fault of his own, pushed Peick into the dirt wall. Peick’s bike flipped front wheel up and climbed the bank, while Weston flew off and landed above it. Then, miraculously Weston and the bike fell back onto the track (with Weston suddenly back on board). He was up and going in a split second. The crash and rebound allowed Pugmire to win the moto, but Peick’s Hopalong Cassidy-remount earned him the overall victory.
Where was everybody else? First moto winner Dean Wilson (who was double-classing the four 30-minute motos), DNF'ed the second moto.
Pugmire’s second moto win, along with his first moto fifth, was good enough for second. Travis Baker (another double-classer) was third with a 4-5. Tommy Weeck went 8-4 for fourth. Bobby Garrison (double-classer) was fifth with a 6-6.
Jeff Northrup (7-7), Nick Brozovich (9-8), Mason Phillips (11-10), Jeff Loop (10-11) and Richie Leech (12-13) rounded out the top ten.
THE REST OF THE 450 CLASS
Sean Kranyak was 11th (hounding both Leech and Loop for a top ten spot).
Kyle Summers DNf’ed the first moto, but came back for a strong third in moto two. DNF’s were the order of the day at Glen Helen.
Blake Baggett was another ambitious double-classer. If you take the third he got in the first 250 moto and the third he got in the first 450 moto, Blake had a good day. Unfortunately, you don’t get to mix-and-match. Instead Blake had two 3-DNF scores for the day.
The big Mt. Saint Helen uphill is now the big Mt. Saint Helen downhill..
As for the track, it used almost the complete AMA National layout including the wildest start in the sport. The steeply banked first turn led straight up a steep hill and then plunged down from Shoei to only return back to the bottom of the banked turn. It was fast, weird and wide, but there were no first turn crashes or incidents.
The only part of the AMA National track that wasn’t used was Mt. Whitney (on the REM side of the track). It is still being constructed.
The triple step-up jump is now a triple step-down, but because of the large number of amateur classes it was designed so that only one of the three levels could be jumped.
The old Glen Helen downhill is now an uphill. Two rollers made getting up the 20-story hill very tricky (and that is exactly what they were put there for).
The upcoming AMA National track will feature more obstacles, longer lap times and will also incorporate everything that was learned from the World Four-Stroke guinea pigs (who were testing the layout for the first time and their input will be used for the May 23 National track).
