For the third week in a row, Jake Weimer captured the Lites-class main-event win tonight at Angel Stadium. And for the third week in a row, he made it look pretty easy.
The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider cut underneath teammate Josh Hansen in the first turn of the main event and led the rest of the way. It was as simple as that.
Weimer slowly inched his way from the rest of the field once he took the point position and had little trouble the rest of the way, taking another mistake-free win in dominating fashion. He officially took the checkered flag 3.539 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Wil Hahn.
“So far, so good for me,” said Weimer. “I wanted to come out here and win, and that is what I have earned. I am really excited about this. This is a huge step in the right direction.”
Hahn, on the Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda, battled with Hansen for a while before coming up the inside of the Kawasaki rider and snatching second place. Hahn pulled away from Hansen but could never really threaten the leader, Weimer.
Hansen, meanwhile, was hoping to get on the podium and was holding his own until Trey Canard, on the GEICO Powersports Honda, got around Frenchman Gautier Paulin for fourth and started to close in him. By the 10th lap, Canard, who was riding with a sore foot that was run over the week before at Phoenix, was pressuring Hansen. Canard soon saw his chance and ran Hansen high in a berm and took over third for good.
Hansen nearly fell when Canard made the pass, but he stayed upright and went on to finish fourth.
Fifth place went to Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Cole Seely, followed by Paulin, DNA Shred Stix/Division 7 Yamaha’s Max Anstie, GEICO Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton, Motoconcepts Yamaha’s Travis Baker and DNA Yamaha’s Broc Tickle.
After three of eight rounds, Weimer enjoys a comfortable 19-point lead over both Canard and Hahn who are tied for second. Weimer has 75 points and both Canard and Hahn have 56. Blake Wharton is fourth with 51 and Ryan Morais is tied with Broc Tick for fifth with 42 each.
Morais, who was second in points going into the race, did not qualify for the main event. Morais crashed in his heat race and was hit by another rider. He was taken to the hospital with a chest injury but is reported to be okay.
ResultsHEAT 1 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Josh Hansen (Kaw); 2. Cole Seely (Hon); 3. Trey Canard (Hon); 4. Travis Baker (Yam); 5. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 6. Sean Borkenhagen (KTM); 7. Ryan Clark (Hon); 8. Robert Kiniry (Suz); 9. Jeff Mann Jr. (Kaw); 10. Phillip Nicoletti (KTM); 11. Joshua Clark (Kaw); 12. Eric McCrummen (Hon); 13. Josh Greco (Hon); 14. Lance Phillips (Hon); 15. Jason Potter (Hon); 16. Taylor Painter (Hon); 17. Cameron Rodriguez (Hon); 18. Landen Powell (KTM); 19. Chad Gores (Hon); 20. Ryan Morais (Suz)
Race Time: 6 min., 07.382 sec.
Margin of Victory: 2.663 sec.
HEAT 2 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Jake Weimer (Kaw); 2. Broc Tickle (Yam); 3. Wil Hahn (Hon); 4. Max Anstie (Yam); 5. Jeff Alessi (Yam); 6. Antonio Balbi (Kaw); 7. Hunter Hewitt (Suz); 8. Tanner Reidman (Hon); 9. Jake Canada (Kaw); 10. Hugo Dagod (KTM); 11. Daniel Hendrix (Kaw); 12. Ronnie Goodwin (Kaw); 13. Mitchell Rask (Kaw); 14. Corey Pennington (Kaw); 15. Blake Wharton (Hon); 16. Jason Langford (Kaw); 17. Ben Evans (Suz); 18. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 19. Jared Boothroyd (Hon); 20. Tommy Searle (KTM).
Race Time: 5 min., 58.353 sec.
Margin of Victory: 1.965 sec.
LCQ (4 laps, 1-4 transfer): 1. Blake Wharton (Hon); 2. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 3. Hugo Dagod (KTM); 4. Daniel Hendrix (Kaw); 5. Jason Potter (Hon); 6. Mitchell Rask (Kaw); 7. Lance Phillips (Hon); 8. Josh Greco (Hon); 9. Joshua Clark (Kaw); 10. Jared Boothroyd (Hon); 11. Jason Langford (Kaw); 12. Taylor Painter (Hon); 13. Phillip Nicoletti (KTM); 14. Landen Powell (KTM); 15. Eric McCrummen (Hon); 16. Corey Pennington (Kaw); 17. Ronnie Goodwin (Kaw); 18. Ben Evans (Suz); 19. Cameron Rodriguez (Hon); 20. Chad Gores (Hon); 21. Tommy Searle (KTM); 22. Ryan Morais (Suz).
Race Time: 4 min., 06.111 sec.
Margin of Victory: 5.752 sec.
MAIN (15 laps): 1. Jake Weimer (Kaw); 2. Wil Hahn (Hon); 3. Trey Canard (Hon); 4. Josh Hansen (Kaw); 5. Cole Seely (Hon); 6. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 7. Max Anstie (Yam); 8. Blake Wharton (Hon); 9. Travis Baker (Yam); 10. Broc Tickle (Yam); 11. Robert Kiniry (Suz); 12. Jeff Alessi (Yam); 13. Antonio Balbi (Kaw); 14. Sean Borkenhagen (KTM); 15. Ryan Clark (Hon); 16. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 17. Hunter Hewitt (Suz); 18. Tanner Reidman (Hon); 19. Jeffery Mann Jr. (Kaw); 20. Jake Canada (Kaw).
Race Time: 14 min., 54.492 sec.
Margin of Victory: 3.539 sec.
