FLASHBACK FRIDAY: MIKE ALESSI’S EARLY YEARS

Mike Alessi racing in Pontiac.

Few riders had the hype Mike Alessi had entering his professional career. In 2005, KTM signed Alessi on to hopefully catapult the Austrian brand into the limelight. While KTM had won their first 125 National Championship in 2003 with Grant Langston, they had been outmatched  in Supercross. KTM was looking for a rider who could dominate the 125/250 class and then ultimately move up and achieve success in the premiere class. KTM fielded a rag tag group of riders in 2005, with Nathan Ramsey (the obvious star), Josh Hansen, Ryan Mills, Jay Marmont and Mike Alessi. Expectations were most high for Alessi, who was one of the most successful Amateur racers of all time. Mike garnered 11 Loretta Lynn’s titles and immediately made waves at the end of 2004 when he turned Pro and finished third overall at Steel City in the 250/450 class.

In 2005, technology was rapidly changing. Two-strokes fell out of favor for four-strokes, and KTM  unveiled their all-new 250SXF four-stroke. Everyone on the Red Bull KTM team rode the 250SXF. Alessi skipped the Supercross series that year, opting to focus solely on the 125/250 Nationals. He made his 125/250 debut at Hangtown on May 22, 2005. The day should have gone much better for Alessi. He jumped out to a sizable lead in the second moto, only for Grant Langston to catch Mike on the final lap. Langston slammed into Alessi, and both went down. Grant got up first and won the overall, while a gutted Alessi only managed 15th. However, that incident cost Langston the chance to win the 2005 outdoor title, as he suffered a bad leg injury during impact with Alessi. Take a look at the video below of the second moto from Hangtown in 2005. You can fast forward to the 17:45 mark to see the drama.

After placing ninth at Hangtown, Alessi was determined to do better. He came out swinging in the second round of the series, held at High Point. It marked Mike’s first 125/250 National win. By the penultimate round in Steel City, Alessi was within striking distance of Ivan Tedesco for the outdoor title. There was only one race left–Glen Helen–Alessi’s home track. It was going to be a battle for the ages.

Moto one at Glen Helen went pretty well for Alessi. He caught up to Grant Langston and made an aggressive pass that knocked Langston off the track. Grant cut the next uphill and swerved out in front of Alessi. After the first moto the AMA assessed Langston a five-second penalty–enough time to give Alessi the first moto win. Meanwhile, points leader Tedesco floundered with a 22nd place finish. The gap had closed to 10 points.

In the second moto, Mike Alessi got pinched off on the start by several Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders. Working his way toward the front, Alessi held the throttle wide open going down a long straight. He had no intention of backing off as he saw Ivan Tedesco directly in front. Mike harpooned his Red Bull KTM into Tedesco’s Monster Energy Kawasaki, and both went down in a heap. Then Alessi reached for Tedesco’s bike, perhaps in an effort to hit the kill switch or damage Ivan’s bike. It got heated, and eventually Tedesco’s teammate, Matt Walker, saw what was happening and turned around on the track to help Tedesco. What resulted was a disqualification for Mike Alessi and a 125/250 National title for Ivan Tedesco. Watch below to see the action.

Mike Alessi made an immediate impact in the sport when he turned Pro, although his approach was a bit misguided. Had things played out differently, Alessi would have won the 2005 National title. Regardless, it was a wild season full of drama, take-outs and penalties.