FREESTONE, TX, JUNE 5 – The first moto in the scorching humidity at Freestone went to Ryan Dungey. After starting his outdoor season with a less than stellar performance at Hangtown, Dungey has showed that he is certainly capable of taking another championship in 2010. After getting out to a third-place start, and spending nearly half the moto trying to get around Brett Metcalfe for the lead, Dungey finally made his way around.It looked as though he may have wasted too much time trying to get around Metcalfe, as Ben Townley had whipped through the pack and was pulling up on Metcalfe. But once in the clear air, Dungey set sail and pulled away to take a near 30-second win.
The action behind Dungey for the remaining podium positions heated up as Townley fought his way through, and like Dungey, spent several minutes on Metcalfe’s heels looking for a way around. Davi Millsaps, Chad Reed and Mike Alessi were buried in the pack off the start; Reed was the only one who managed to climb up the ranks at a steady pace. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider found a sweet spot on the track and was using it to make a pass each lap.
Reed was simply on fire, and worked his way through getting around Tommy Hahn, Metcalfe and eventually Townley to move into second. That is as far as he would advance, however, as Dungey had stretched his lead to 27 seconds by the time Reed was in the runner up position.
Reed settled for second while Townley held on for third.
Alessi had a rather misfortunate first moto, as he struggled to break into the top 10. The factory KTM rider was trying an aggressive outside line to get around Millsaps, but washed out in a corner and hit the ground. Another disappointing first moto went to Andrew Short who wasn’t even able to make the start of the first moto due to unspecified mechanical problems.250 Moto 1The opening 250 moto saw even more action – believe it or not. Current championship leader Eli Tomac got away with the holeshot followed by Cole Seely, Blake Wharton and Christophe Pourcel.
Tomac was off and running while Pourcel took a few laps to get into second. Tomac capitalized on his early lead and opened up a gap before his fellow red-plate holder got behind him, and Tomac had stretched his lead to nearly seven seconds, so Pourcel had some work to do.
Behind them, battles raged on. Nico Izzi and Wharton duked it out for fourth, with the nod going to Izzi. From there Izzi went after Seely while Wharton was left to deal with his teammate, Trey Canard in the battle for fifth.
Riders from fourth through tenth remained tight, and there was more passing going on than anyone could keep track of. But steadily coming through the pack at a blistering pace was Blake Baggett. The Suzuki rider whipped through the crowd and had come from ninth to fourth.
Baggett kept his charge going, but had an disappointing end to his moto when his RM-Z250 slowed to a stop with a mechanical issue. Izzi was also making progress, but hit the ground and slipped back in the pack.
Canard, Dean Wilson, Seely, and by this time Tyla Rattray and Wil Hahn kept in a tight battle for the rest of the race.
Meanwhile, Pourcel had caught up to Tomac. The rookie Honda rider had faded just enough to allow Pourcel to sneak by for the lead. By then, Tomac backed down and rode a steady pace to second behind the Frenchman.
Wilson got by Canard to steal the final podium position followed by Canard. Jake Weimer picked off his Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate, Rattray to finish fifth.
450 Moto 1
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Chad Reed
3. Ben Townley
4. Tommy Hahn
5. Josh Grant
6. Kyle Regal
7. Brett Metcalfe
8. Michael Byrne
9. Kyle Chisholm
10. Davi Millsaps
250 Moto 1
1. Christophe Pourcel
2. Eli Tomac
3. Dean Wilson
4. Trey Canard
5. Jake Weimer
6. Tyla Rattray
7. Blake Wharton
8. Broc Tickle
9. Wil Hahn
10. Justin Barcia
