ALL HANGTOWN, ALL THE TIME NEWS: All The Results & Lots Of Photos; J-Law DQ’ed (No Points Yet); Searle And Pourcel Penalized; Grant Wins Second Moto, But Doesn’t; Alessi Wins 450 Class; Pourcel Takes 250s

On May 30, 2009

HANGTOWN RESULTS: WILD THINGS HAPPENED AT SACRAMENTO (WITH THE RESULTS AND ON THE TRACK):

Hangtown history: In 2009 it was the place where Ryan Villopoto went home for the season with a knee injury.

AMA RULE OF THE DAY: “Yellow and Red Stripe Flag: Indicates a potentially hazardous situation on or near the racetrack in an area that is not clearly visible to on-coming riders.ÿ Both wheels of the motorcycle must remain on the ground over obstacles until the rider has passed the area of concern.”

Under beautiful skies and a packed Prairie City SVRA, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi captured his first career victory in the premier 450 Class at 41st Annual Hangtown Motocross ClassicTM, round two of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel, of France, grabbed his first American Motocross victory with a win in the 250 Class.

Alessi has been a perennial front-runner since joining the 450 class in 2007. On Saturday, he was able to set the tone with an impressive win in the first moto despite an early fall. In moto two, he chased longtime rival Josh Grant throughout the moto. The two engaged in a bar-to-bar battle, exchanging the lead on several occasions before Alessi settled into the runner-up position to secure the overall victory. However, the AMA penalized Grant one position for not adhering to a hazard flag during the latter stages of the moto, giving Alessi a 1-1 moto finish.

“I’m not even really tired,” boasted Alessi. “I didn’t even break a sweat in both motos. It was good to come in this weekend, get the holeshot and grab a victory. I knew I had the overall and (Josh) was being aggressive so I felt it wasn’t worth it to possibly lose more points than I could gain. This has been a long time coming.”

Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco secured second place overall while Chad Reed, of Australia, assumed third overall. With the penalty, Grant dropped from third to fifth overall.

Pourcel stayed steady throughout the day, biding his time and chasing down Geico Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia to win the first moto. In moto two, Pourcel settled into second behind Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey to ensure himself of the overall victory.

“Today was much better than Glen Helen for sure,” explained Pourcel. “The track got some good lanes and was a lot of fun to ride. I’m happy to have the chance to race on it. Barcia was awesome at the beginning of the moto and it surprised me so I just let him go and waited for him to get tired. I think it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to make a mistake and risk losing this championship so early in the season.”

Geico Honda’s Trey Canard captured his best career finish with a runner-up finish while Dungey took home third.

A total of seven riders were penalized one position in the second moto for not adhering to a hazard flag, including Pourcel, who as a result went from a tie atop the standings with Dungey to a two-point deficit.

In the WMX Class, Ashley Fiolek captured her second overall victory of 2009 with a 1-2 moto finish. Her closest competitor Jessica Patterson made a statement in moto two when she passed Fiolek early and took a convincing victory, placing her second overall (3-1). Vicki Golden finished third (2-3) for her first career podium.

“I got a good start in moto two and J.P. was sticking with me,” said Fiolek. “She also got a good start and got by me so I settled into second because I knew I had the overall. The track was definitely rough today, but not as rough as Glen Helen. They smoothed out some portions of the track today.”

Round three of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship takes place next Saturday, June 6 from Wortham, Texas for the Flagstar Bank Motocross National. Coverage of next weekend’s race can be seen live on SPEED, Saturday, June 6 at 9 p.m. ET.

QUOTE: “I’m light. I only weigh 150 lbs. He’s…I don’t want to talk trash, but he’s gained weight.” Mike Alessi on what his secret is for getting holeshots and how he compares himself to Ryan Villopoto.

QUOTE: “I’m ready to go, I’m ready to do a third moto!” Mike Alessi on his conditioning following his first overall win.

OVERALL BEST LAP TIMES: 450
1. Chad Reed…2:04:830
2. Mike Alessi…2:04:998
3. Josh Grant…2:05:261
4. Jason Lawrence…2:06:486
5. Ryan Villopoto…2:06:971
6. Cody Cooper…2:07:216
7. Ivan Tedesco…2:07:317
8. Andrew Short…2:07:539
9. Jimmy Albertson…2:07:577
10. Matt Goerke……2:08:228

WHO DID NOT MAKE THE 450 MAIN
ÿÿ There were 76 riders (out of a possible 80) trying to make the field of 40. Here are the riders who failed to get in on time or the LCQ. Jesse Casillas, Kyle Keylon, Michael LaPaglia, Daniel Blair, Sean Kranyak, Gavin Gracyk, Jason Thomas, Justin Soule, Robby Bell, Jeff Loop; It took a 2:11.946 to get in–the slowest non-qualifier (Mac James) had a 2:34.042.

OVERALL BEST LAP TIMES: 250
1. Christophe Pourcel…2:05:246
2. Ryan Dungey…2:06:129
3. Trey Canard…2:07:326
4. Blake Wharton…2:07:379
5. Broc Tickle…2:07:531
6. Austin Stroupe…2:07:540
7. Tyla Rattray…2:07:548
8. Justin Barcia…2:07:899
9. Jake Weimer…2:07:942
10. Tommy Searle…2:08:013

WHO DID NOT MAKE THE 250 MAIN
ÿÿ There were only 69 riders (out of a possible 80) trying to make the field of 40. Here are the riders who failed to get in on time or the LCQ. Ryan Newton, Jared Minor, Ricky Yorks, David Wood, Adam Conway, Josh Brown, Hiroki Ogawa, Cody Tithof, Mitchell Rask, Spencer Daly; It took a 2:14.892 to get in–the slowest non-qualfier (Todd Carlson) had 2:45.197. The inability to get 80 riders in the USA to show up to race a National is a clear sign that the Alphabet organizations have rejected too many privateers in the past (and should have treated them better). They need to start accepting every entry of any rider that they sold an AMA Pro Racing license to–it’s almost criminal to sell a guy an $380 Pro license and then reject his entries to race the events. Find a way to let every “AMA Pro Racing” Pro into the program–after all you don’t have a full field anyway and there aren’t that many license holders. Too many riders is a sign of health–too few is not good.ÿ

250 CONSOLATION
1. Brad Nauditt
2. Buddi Bruner
(Travis Freistat was third)

450 CONSOLATION
1. Tyler Wharton
2. Sean Hackley
(Kyle Keylon was third)

FIRST MOTO: 250
1. 377- Pourcel- Kaw
2. 151- Barcia- Hon
3. 39- Canard- Hon
4. 411- Rattray- Kaw
5. 24- Metcalfe- Hon
6. 43- Tickle-Yam
7. 10- Dungey- Suz
8. 19- Weimer- Kaw
9. 61- Wharton- Hon
10. 87- Larsen- Kaw
11. 981- Stroupe- Kaw
12. 41 – Matt Lemoine – Yam
13. 350 – Ben Evans – Hon
14. 85 – Sean Borkenhagen – Hon
15. 77 – Steve Clarke – Suz

SECOND MOTO: 250

Starting off moto two Dungey got the holeshot, while Barcia was squeezed off at the first corner. Broc Tickle made an aggressive pass on Barcia for 6th.ÿOn the third to last lap, Barcia (while running 7th) and Stroupe crashed in the same corner. Stroupe broke his visor and was clearly in pain, while Barcia had trouble starting his bike, leaving both riders out for the rest of the moto.

1. 10- Dungey- Suz
2. 39- Canard- Hon
3. 377- Pourcel- Kaw
4. 24- Metcalfe- Hon
5. 61- Wharton- Hon
6. 43- Tickle- Yam
7. 411- Rattray- Kaw
8. 19- Weimer- Kaw
9. 123- Searle- KTM
10. 87- Larsen- Kaw
11. 41- Matt Lemoine – Yam
12. 119 – Max Anstie- KTM
13. 50 – Wil Hahn – KTM
14. 350 – Ben Evans – Hon
15. 77 – Steve Clarke – Suz

The following riders were docked one position for jumping the red/yellow “wheels on the ground flag:” Tommy Searle, Christophe Pourcel, Jake Weimer, Brad Kelly, Eric Nye and Topher Ingalls.

OVERALL RESULTS:ÿ250
1. Christophe Pourcel – 1-3
2. Trey Canard – 3-2
3. Ryan Dungey – 7-1

4.ÿBretÿMetcalfe – 5-4

5. TylaÿRattray – 4-7

6. Broc Tickle – 6-6

7.ÿBlake Wharton- 9-5

8. Jake Weimer- 8-8

9. PJ Larsen – 10-10ÿ

10. Justin Barcia- 2-29
11. Matt Lemonine 12-11
13. Tommy Searle 30-9
14. Steve Clarke 15-15
15. Austn Stroupe 11-30
16. Max Anstie 39-12
17. Eric Nye 16-17
18. Sean Borkenhagen 14-19
19. Wil Hahn 40-13
20. Kyle Cunningham 18-18
ÿÿ Other notables: Alex Martin 25-16, Cole Seely 19-23, Bruce Rutherford 34-20, Vince Friese 22-37, Darryn Durham 27-36, Drew Gosselaar 38-34.

FIRST MOTO: 450

1. 800- Alessi- Suz
2. 9- Tedesco- Hon
3. 29- Short- Hon
4. 21- Cooper- Yam
5. 34- Goerke- Suz
6. 22- Reed- Suz
7. 122- Reardon- Hon
8. 114- Brayton- KTM
9. 33- Grant- Yam
10. 75- J. Hill- Yam
11. 48- T. Hahn- Kaw
12. 27 – Wey – Yam
13. 88 – Bonds – Yam
14. 47 – Albertson – Yam
15. 18 – Millsaps – Hon
16. 2 – Villopoto- Kaw
Lawrence DNF’ed (40th) with no rear brakes from crash with Villopoto.

SECOND MOTO: 450

Josh Grant stole the second moto holeshot from Mike Alessi. Meanwhile, Jason Lawrence jumped the starting gate by almost two full seconds and received the black flag as a result. Davi Millsaps suffered an early crash which injured his wrist. Midway through the second 450 moto Grant fumbled and did a Hoppalong Cassidy move, opening the door for Alessi to try to make a pass. Grant and Alessi passed back and forth, with Grant’s passes getting closer and closer to Alessi (to the point that Alessi decided to sit back for awhile). Grant consolidated his lead until the very end when Alessi closed on Grant and Reed closed on Alessi. Josh Grant took the moto win and despite a second place finish, Alessi still came out with the overall. Chad Reed did a great job chasing the two leaders down. Alessi takes the red leader’s plate to Texas for round three (and leads points standings by 18 over Josh Grant, 19 over Chad Reed and 37 over Villopoto). After the race was over, Josh Grant was docked a place for jumping the “Wheels on the Ground” flag.

1. 33- Grant- Yam (replaced by Alessi)

2. 800- Alessi – Suz (Grant moved to second in moto two)

3. 22- Reed- Suz

4. 9- Tedesco- Hon

5. 122- Reardon- Hon

6. 29- Short- Hon

7. 42- Moss- Hon

8. 34- Hahn – Ka

9. 48- Goerke – Suz

10. 114- Brayton- KTM
11. 63 – Blose – Hon
12. 59 – Adams – Hon
13. 47 – Albertson – Yam
14. 26 – Byrne – Suz
15. 27 – Nick Wey – Yam

The following rider was docked one position for jumping the red/yellow “wheels on the ground flag:” Josh Grant.
ÿ

OVERALL RESULTS: 450 (provisional)

1. Mike Alessi – 1-1 (moved up one spot in moto two)*
2. Ivan Tedesco- 2-4
3. Chad Reed- 6-3
4. Josh Grant- 9-2 (moved back one spot in moto two)*
5. Andrew Short- 3-6
6. Dan Reardon- 7-5
7. Matt Goerke- 5-8
8. Justin Brayton- 8-10
9. Tommy Hahn- 11-8
10. Codyÿ Cooper- 4-23
11. Jimmy Albertson- 14-13
12. Nick Wey- 12-15
13. Jake Moss- 24-7
14. Chris Blose- 19-11
15. Josh Hill- 10-20
16. Troy Adams- 20-12
17. Michael Byrne- 18-14
18. Bobby Bonds- 13-19
19. Davi Millsaps- 15-35
20. Jeff Alessi- 22-16
ÿÿ Other notables: Ryan Villopoto 16-D, Tyler Wharton 21-28, Robbie Reynard 33-25, Tyler Bowers 31-32, Justin Sipes 30-36, Weston Peick 39-34.

* Josh Grant (9-2) was penalized for jumping under a red/yellow and was bumped from first giving Mike Alessi a 1-1. Jason Lawrence (40-37) was black flagged for jumping the gate.

HOW THE FOREIGN RIDERS DID

450 CLASS:
3. Chad Reed…Australia
6. Dan Reardon…Australia
10. Cody Cooper…New Zealand
13. Jake Moss…Australia
22. Antonio Balbi…Brazil
35. Jonny Linde… Sweden
40. Jason Lawrence…Zardoz 5

250 CLASS:
1. Christophe Pourcel…France
4. Brett Metcalfe…Australia
5. Tyla Rattray…South Africa
13. Tommy Searle…Great Britian
16. Max Anstie…Great Britain

ZAP’S HANGTOWN PHOTO GALLERY

This guy obviously didn’t make the new shirt list because this was the “41st” running of the Dirt Diggers sponsored Hangtown Classic. The track was awesome,ÿthe weather was perfect and the second 450 moto was live on TV – it was a good day!

The new yellow/red cautionÿflag was discussed at the rider’s meeting, but it would have major repercussions throughout the day.

Just as he did at Glen Helen, Justin Barcia stole the holeshot and ran away with the first moto until he tired and got caught. Smooth he isn’t, but that will come in time – the kid is blazing fast.

Dungey’s first moto start ended in a heap in turn to. He picked himself up and put his head down. Ryan rode from last to seventh. The Suzuki rider ran away with the second moto and will take the points leader red plate to Texas.

Ivan Tedesco had a rotten Supercross season and Glen Helen so the Honda guys were ecstatic when he was leading the first moto. Despite a “wardrobe malfunction” in the first moto that had him losing his pants, Ivan rode well for a surprising second place finish. Hopefully his second overall finish will remind him that he has the talent to run up front.

Pourcel truly is remarkable. Despite getting sick on the first moto warm-up lap and throwing up, he rode a smooth and smart race to win the first moto before staying up front in moto two (which he didn’t do at Glen Helen) to finish third and take the overall win.

J-Law’s weekend was filled with more Keystone Cops antics on and off the race track (his sponsors must be so proud). The expenditure of team effort week in and week out with such a total lack of results is amazing.

Despite repeated attempts by Mike Alessi to get by, Josh Grant held on to win his first 450 National moto…well, until he was docked a position for not obeying the new yellow/red caution flag.

Broc Tickle was the top placing Yamaha rider in the 250 class at sixth overall.

Austin Stroupe (981) is having a horrible year so far. Crashes have done him in for two weeks in a row. His 11th in moto one was followed with a bad crash in moto two where had to be helped off the track.

Canidae/Motosport’s P.J. Larsen was a model of consistency with 10-10 finishes for ninth overall.

Ben Evans is a good, hard workingÿkid. At Hangtown, the Idaho rider was the top (real) 250 class privateer in 12th. Ben said he’s doing the best he can by raising money from all his friends back home to keep him on the road.

ÿÿ

Tim Ferry came out to ride practice, but he is still having problem with his ankle inury. He was also wearing his third pair of boots so far this year (Scott, Gaerne, 661). With RV out and Ferry still mending, things are looking good for all of Team Kawasaki to take that vacation in Hawaii a little early this year

And still number one….Ashley Fiolek rode a smart race to go 1-2 for the overall.

Hangtown borrowed a corner design from Glen Helen and gave the riders three choices of berms in a single turn.

The 250 class will undoubtedly continue to be a big battle week in and week out. Right now only Yamaha and KTMÿhave yet to play a role.

Mike Alessi finally did it. With Villopoto out for the season, everyone feels the 450 title is Mike’s to lose. Look for Chad Reed to start giving his teammate some serious competition.

Look for more Hangtown outtakes in Wednesday’s Mid-Week Report.