The Lucas Oil AMA Motocross action at Unadilla Valley Sports Center was dominated by two riders – Rockstar Makuta Suzuki’s Chad Reed in the 450 class, and Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel in the 250 division. Both riders leave with 1-1 scores and the respective class points leads.
Reed had a little bit of work cut out for him at the start of the second moto as KTM’s Justin Brayton grabbed the holeshot and Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short got away with the early lead. Short tried to run away with the lead in the opening laps, but Reed was patient and didn’t take long to get around Brayton and eventually Short to secure the lead. From there, Reed never looked back and stretched his confortable lead throughout the charge.
The action behind Reed was interesting, as Short, Ivan Tedesco and Brayton kept it tight in the battle for second. Behind them, Rockstar Makuta Suzuki’s Michael Byrne was closing in to join the battle. Byrne capitalized on the big uphill double, where he passed Brayton and set his sights on Red Bull Honda’s Tedesco.
In the latter stages of the moto, Tedesco appeared to run out of steam, and began slipping back. After securing third behind his teammate, Short, the factory Honda rider started to struggle, letting both Byrne and Brayton slip by. In a disappointing final two laps of the moto, he also gave weay to Kawasaki privateer rider Kyle Regal, World motocross rider Gareth Swanepoel and Monster Kawasaki’s Timmy Ferry, going from third to eighth.Christophe Pourcel
Third-place finisher Tommy Hahn was in a position to back up his impressive second place finish in the first moto, but he went down and lost valuable time getting his KX450F uprighted and running. He then had to pull into the pit area for some quick repairs, and wound up salvaging 16th in moto two.
Reed finished with a perfect score at Unadilla – a feat which gives the Australian an even more dominant lead in the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship.
“[Unadilla] has so much history and it’s a really, really challenging track,” Reed said. “It can bite you. I’ve always struggled and coming here, I really wanted to conquer it. So I’m really excited to come out here and go 1-1.”
450 Moto #2 Results:
1. Chad Reed (Suz)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Michael Byrne (Suz)
4. Justin Brayton (KTM)
5. Kyle Regal (Yam)
6. Gareth Swanepoel (Kaw)
7. Timmy Ferry (Kaw)
8. Ivan Tedesco (Hon)
9. Jarred Browne (Suz)
10. Robby Marshall (Suz)
11. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
12. Westone Peick (Hon)
13. Jimmy Albertson (Yam)
14. Antonio Balbi (Hon)
15. Nick Wey (Yam)
16. Tommy Hahn (Kaw)
17. Adam Chatfield (Kaw)
18. Jason Thomas (Hon)
19. Ronnie Stewart (Suz)
20. Jay Weller (Suz)
250 Class Moto #2
Two riders came into round nine at Unadilla with red number plates in the 250 division. Both Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel lined up with red backgrounds as they shared the championship points lead coming in to the Unadilla Valley Sports Center. But Pourcel was able to make important ground in the championship by taking a dominant 1-1 victory, and six valuable points over his rival, Dungey, in New York. 250 Podium
On a rough and rocky course, Pourcel seemed to float his way around taking back-to-back victories, taking moto two by nearly 30 seconds and lapping all the way up to 15th place (in the form of Kevin Windham). Pourcel grabbed the holeshot followed by his Pro Circuit teammates, Jake Weimer and Austin Stroupe. Blake Wharton and his GEICO Powersports Honda teammate Justin Barcia also ran out front early on, joined by Dungey.
Wharton dropped out of the battle for second after crashing on lap five, but the Factory Connection Honda rider was able to re-join the race. Weimer and Dungey battled it out for second, with the nod going to Dungey. By the time Dungey had secured the runner-up position, Pourcel had a 25-second lead and was in cruise control.
Dungey finished second with Weimer rounding out the podium. Metcalfe and Yamaha-mounted Broc Tickle filled out the top five.
250 Moto #2 Results:
1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)
2. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
3. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
4. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)
5. Broc Tickle (Yam)
6. Austin Stroupe (Kaw)
7. Tommy Searle (KTM)
8. Kyle Cunningham (Kaw)
9. Matt Lemoine (Yam)
10. Justin Barcia (Hon)
11. PJ Larsen (Kaw)
12. Steven Clarke (Suz)
13. Alex Martin (Hon)
14. Ben Evans (Hon)
15. Tommy Weeck (KTM)Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Unadilla Results Summary
Unadilla Retro Motocross National
Unadilla Valley Sports Center – New Berlin, N.Y.
August 15, 2009
Round 9 of 12
450 Class (Overall And Moto Finish)
1. Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki (1-1)
2. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (5-2)
3. Michael Byrne, Australia, Suzuki (4-3)
4. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM (8-4)
5. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Honda (3-11)
6. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Kawasaki (7-6)
7. Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda (6-8)
8. Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Yamaha (10-5)
9. Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki (2-16)
10. Timmy Ferry, Largo, Fla., Kawasaki (11-7)
450 Class Championship Standings
1. Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki, 387
2. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 305
3. Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda, 286
4. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 272
5. Michael Byrne, Australia, Suzuki, 245
6. Thomas Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki, 198
7. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 183
8. Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Yamaha, 163
9. Cody Cooper, New Zealand, Yamaha, 161
10. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki, 142
250 Class (Overall And Moto Finish)
1. Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (2-2)
3. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (3-3)
4. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (4-4)
5. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (9-5)
6. Kyle Cunningham, Ft. Worth, Texas, Kawasaki (6-8)
7. Tommy Searle, Great Britain, KTM (10-7)
8. Justin Barcia, Cairo, Ga., Honda (7-10)
9. Matt Lemoine, Collinsville, Texas, Yamaha (14-9)
10. PJ Larsen, Stanley, N.C., Kawasaki (13-11)
250 Class Championship Standings
1. Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki, 387
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 381
3. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 287
4. Tommy Searle, Great Britain, KTM, 268
5. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 255
6. Justin Barcia, Cairo, Ga., Honda, 235
7. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha, 227
8. Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda, 214
9. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki, 175
10. Kyle Cunningham, Ft. Worth, Texas, Kawasaki, 162
