Pourcel Finishes It Off; Dungey Bounces Back

Kit Palmer | June 26, 2010

Christophe Pourcel finished them off in the 250cc class, while Ryan Dungey rebounded to take the overall win in the 450cc class after the second round of motos at the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship round in Colorado.The second 450cc-class moto started much like it did in the first moto with Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short nailing the holeshot and setting the pace up front with Dungey in second. The first turn, however, gathered up a number of riders and lying at the bottom of the pile was first-moto winner Josh Grant on the Muscle Mile/Toyota/JGR Yamaha.Grant restarted his bike in last place but made good headway through out the moto and charged up to 10th where he would finish out the moto. His 1-10 netted him fourth overall.Short, meanwhile, led for a few laps until Dungey kicked it up a notch and overtook the Honda rider.Once out in front, Dungey stretched out his lead and would go on to take the win with room to spare over second-place finisher Ben Townley on the Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda.Townley moved into second place after passing Short before the halfway point, but by that time, Dungey had already checked out and Townley had little hope of catching the Suzuki rider. Townley, who crashed twice in the first moto, ended up second overall for the day with a 6-2.Joining Dungey and Townley on the 450cc-class podium was GEICO Powersports Honda’s Brett Metcalfe who put in two solid rides on the day. Despite getting a flat front tire late in the first moto, Metcalfe was able to pull down third overall with a 4-4.Despite two promising starts, Short had to be satisfied with fifth overall after going 8-3. In the second moto, he found himself in a big battle with Metcalfe after getting passed by Dungey and Townley and managed to hold him off.Kyle Regal, on the Merge Racing Honda, again rode well and again held off Chad Reed to finish sixth in the moto and sixth overall (9-6).Like the first moto, Reed had a bad start but it was still much better than in his first moto, but the defending champion could not put together any kind of charge through the pack and went 10-7 for ninth overall. Reed was not available for comment after the race.Kyle Chisholm, on the MotoConcepts Yamaha, finished out the day seventh overall after going 7-8, which was slightly better than Mike Alessi’s 12-5.Alessi’s KTM 350 noticeably struggled against the bigger 450s on the mile-high and horsepower-robbing track, but Alessi said it was his health that prevented him from perhaps getting on the podium more than it was anything else. He says he hasn’t been feeling well since the Grand Prix at Glen Helen three weeks ago. Alessi ended up eighth overall, one spot ahead of Reed.Rounding out the top 10 overall was Justin Brayton (13-9) on the JGR Yamaha.Tommy Hahn, who finished third in the first moto, did not finish the second moto.In the 250cc class, Christophe Pourcel, on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, again won and with it captured the overall victory. But he had to work a little harder for it this time, thanks to GIECO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard, who got out in front early and opened up a large lead, while Pourcel started off in fifth.Pourcel made some aggressive passes early and soon had control of second but still had some work left to do in order to catch Canard, but he was more than prepared to get the job done. The former World champ slowly but surely reeled in Canard and passed him just past the halfway point. From there, Pourcel jetted away from Canard and rode off with the win.Canard, who finished third in the first moto, went 3-2 for second overall.Dean Wilson made it two Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s on the podium at the end of the day. Last week’s winner, Wilson, again rode well at Colorado and went 2-3 for third overall.And yet another Pro Circuit Kawasaki was found near the front of the 250cc pack and this one was ridden by Tyla Rattray who was consistently fast all day. Rattray finished fourth both motos for fourth overall.Rounding out the top five overall was GEICO Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton, his 6-5 good enough for fifth overall.Rounding out the top 10 overall in the 250cc class was Broc Tickle (5-6), Martin Davalos (8-8), Eli Tomac (7-9), Cole Seely (9-12), and Justin Barcia (16-7).Results:450 Overall:1. Ryan Dungey (Suz)2. Ben Townley (Hon)3. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)4. Josh Grant (Yam)5. Andrew Short (Hon)6. Kyle Regal (Hon);7. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)8. Mike Alessi (KTM)]9. Chad Reed (Kaw)10. Justin Brayton (Yam)11. Daniel Reardon (Yam)12. Tommy Hahn (Suz)13. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)14. Nick Wey (Kaw)15. Grant Langston (Yam)16. Steven Clarke (Suz)17. Ryan Sipes (Yam)18. Weston Peick (Yam)19. Derek Anderson (Kaw)20. Kyle Summers (Yam)250 Overall:1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)2. Trey Canard (Hon)3. Dean Wilson (Kaw)4. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)5. Blake Wharton (Hon)6. Broc Tickle (Yam)7. Martin Davalos (Yam)8. Ely Tomac (Hon)9. Cole Seely (Hon)10. Justin Barcia (Hon)11. Vince Friese (Yam)12. Alex Martin (Hon)13. Killy Rusk (KTM)14. Hunter Hewitt (Suz)15. Darryn Durham (Hon)16. Max Anstie (Yam)17. Jake Weimer (Kaw)18. Matthew Lemoine (Suz)19. Les Smith (Hon)20. Jake Canada (Kaw)