Short and Pourcel Lead at Budds Creek

Jean Turner | June 19, 2010

The first course has been served at Budds Creek in Mechanicsville, Maryland and Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short and Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel now have the upper hand.

450 Moto 1

The first 450 moto saw Andrew Short take the holeshot, and there’s not much more to say about his race. Shorty built up a comfortable five second lead and rode the cushion all the way to the checkered flag while the battle for second was the one to watch. Brett Metcalfe, Chad Reed and Mike Alessi made up second through fourth and Dungey was quickly slicing his way through as was Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Ben Townley.

Reed had a mishap on the second lap allowing Dungey to get by, and he then pulled up on Alessi to battle him for second. The two put on a show throughout the moto, and though Dungey had several windows of opportunity, he wasn’t able to get his Rockstar Makita Suzuki around him into second. Alessi held the point all the way to the finish to take the runner-up position followed by Dungey who remained right on his back wheel.

Townley was in the battle for the podium early on, even running in front of Dungey for a lap. But luck wasn’t on the New Zealander’s side as he experienced an unspecified problem late in the moto and slipped all the way back to a disappointing 14th.

Chad Reed finished a modest fourth ahead of Josh Grant, who rounded out the top five.

Davi Millsaps had a bad crash in the first moto and was carted off the track. The opening moto also didn’t go well for Grant Langston and Tommy Hahn, both of whom retired early after hitting the ground.

250 Moto 1

True to form, Eli Tomac grabbed the holeshot in the 250 moto but Christophe Pourcel came charging through like a man possessed making sure he took the lead early and for good. The Frenchman – also true to form – built up a gap of a few seconds and made sure to maintain it to the finish for the win. Unfortunately for Tomac, his race only lost momentum from the first lap and he slid back in the pack.

Star Yamaha’s Max Anstie ran an early second place and was looking phenomenal on the rough and rutted Budds Creek track. Justin Barcia had moved into third and closed in on the British rider to challenge him for second. The two ran side by side heading into the back section, and when they came back into view, Anstie had the point and Barcia had slipped back to fifth.

Anstie’s luck ran out not long after, however, and while battling with Tyla Rattray, who had reeled him in, Anstie washed out in an off-camber turn and handed second to Rattray with only three laps to go.

Pourcel topped the moto followed by his South African teammate, Rattray and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia worked his way back up through the pack well enough to claim the final podium position.

450 Moto 1 Results:

1. Andrew Short (Hon)

2. Mike Alessi (KTM)

3. Ryan Dungey (Suz)

4. Chad Reed (Kaw)

5. Josh Grant (Yam)

6. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)

7. Ryan Sipes (Yam)

8. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)

9. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)

10. Justin Brayton (Yam)

 

250 Moto 2 Results:

1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)

2. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)

3. Justin Barcia (Hon)

4. Dean Wilson (Kaw)

5. Wil Hahn (Hon)

6. Broc Tickle (Yam)

7. Trey Canard (Hon)

8. Max Anstie (Yam)

9. Martin Davalos (Yam)

10. Eli Tomac (Hon)

Jean Turner | Contributor

A former staffer at Cycle News, Turner continues to contribute to the website and magazine as a columnist and someone we can count on to whip up a few thousand words on an off-road race when needed.