A couple of first-timers came up big tonight at round five of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships at Lakewood, Colorado’s Thunder Valley Raceway.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd, and on an artificially lit track, Team Honda’s Ivan Tedesco rode away with a pair of dominating moto wins, giving him his first overall win since taking a Lites victory at Washougal in 2005.
Meanwhile, in the 250 division, it was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer doing the deed, going 2-1 to keep Mitch Payton’s team perfect in national competition in the 250F class at the venue.
Tedesco was quick off the line in both 450 motos, claiming holeshots in both races, and afterwards the New Mexico native admitted that doing so made his job a lot easier. Pushing Tedesco early in each race was his teammate Andrew Short (pictured at right), however Tedesco was able to break away rather quickly in both races, winning by a comfortable margin in each case.
Short held on for second overall with a 2-2 score, however he spent a good part of moto two holding off Canidae Motosports Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn. In fact, Hahn passed Short at one point, but Short was soon retaliated and pulled away to a safe second by the finish.
Hahn ended the day a surprise third overall with a 7-3 finish, edging Suzuki’s Chad Reed on the second moto tie-breaker. Reed, who struggled with the track all day (and in fact, only qualified 11th in practice), finished fourth overall with a 3-7.
Reed’s teammate, Michael Byrne, continues to improve and rode to fifth overall with a 6-4, beating JGR/Yamaha’s Josh Grants 5-5.As for Mike Alessi, who was trying to ride with a kneecap he broke just two weeks ago, the Suzuki rider fell on the opening lap of the first moto and was too sore to continue. Alessi also sat out moto two.In the 250 class, the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team has won every 250F-class national held at Thunder Valley Raceway and Jake Weimer kept that streak alive, going 2-1 for his first-ever overall win. Weimer finished second to his teammate Christophe Pourcel in the opening moto, however Pourcel hit the gate at the start of moto two, almost going over the bars, forcing him to work from back in the pack to an eventual sixth for second overall.
MDK/KTM’s Tommy Searle made the podium for the second race in a row, coming out on top of a battle with Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey to place third in the second moto, giving him third overall with a 5-3 finish.
GEICO Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia was ninth in the opening moto but led much of moto two before settling into a safe second, giving him fourth overall.
Dungey was fifth overall via 6-4 finishes, while Star Racing Yamaha’s Broc Tickle was sixth overall after going 3-8.
Results:
450 Class: 1. Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 2. Andrew Short (Hon); 3. Tommy Hahn (Kaw); 4. Chad Reed (Suz); 5. Michael Byrne (Suz); 6. Josh Grant (Yam); 7. Ricky Dietrich (Kaw); 8. Jimmy Albertson (Yam); 9. Kyle Summers (Yam); 10. Jake Moss (Hon).
250 Class: 1. Jake Weimer (Kaw); 2. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw); 3. Tommy Searle (KTM); 4. Justin Barcia (Hon); 5. Ryan Dungey (Suz); 6. Broc Tickle (Yam); 7. Brett Metcalfe (Hon); 8. Blake Wharton (Hon); 9. Tyla Rattray (Kaw); 10. Darryn Durham (Yam).
