Chad Reed and Blake Baggett came away with the overall wins at the opening round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Hangtown, as both Reed, on the TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Honda, and Baggett, on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, rode off with the second moto wins in their respective classes to lock up the overalls – Reed in the 450 class and Baggett in the 250 class.
Both riders went 2-1 on the day.Reed chased down both Ryan Villopoto and first-moto winner Ryan Dungey to take the lead in the deciding second moto then had to survive a late-race charge by a resurging Dungey before he could record his second straight overall win at the Hangtown track.
Villopoto, on the Monster Energy Kawasaki, was the early leader in the second moto, but lost the lead to Dungey and then second place to Reed before falling off the pace. Villopoto, who admitted afterwards that he was feeling a little under the weather all day, still finished third in the moto to take third overall with a 3-3.After having won the first moto, Dungey was in a position on his Rockstar/Makita Suzuki to take home the overall win if he could hold back Reed, but the defending champ gave way to the Australian but kept him in his sights the rest of the way. Dungey’s 1-2 gave him second overall, but Reed’s 2-1 gave him the overall win. Reed and Dungey, however, came away for the opening round tied on points with 47 each.Kevin Windham, who is temporarily filling in for the injured Trey Canard and Josh Grant on the factory Honda team, got the crowd on its feet when he grabbed the early lead in the first 450 moto and kept it there for a while before drifting back to sixth. He came back to finish a strong fourth in the second moto, which gave the 33 year old fourth overall.Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe had a successful return to racing after sitting out much of the Supercross series with an injury. The Aussie went 5-5 on the day for a strong fifth overall.
Davi Millsaps (4-7), Tommy Hahn (8-8), Christophe Pourcel (7-11), Ricky Dietrich (11-9) and Christian Craig (14-10) rounded out the top 10 overall.There was a lot of action in both 250 motos, which included many individual battles within the 40-rider pack, but when it was all over, it was the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team sweeping the podium with Blake Baggett going 2-1 for his first overall victory in the outdoor Nationals. His teammates Dean Wilson (1-3) and Tyla Rattray (5-2) filled out the podium in second and third, respectively.
Eli Tomac, who won the 250 class here last year, went 3-4 for fourth overall, while MX2 World Champion Marvin Musquin rounded out the top five overall with a 4-6.Musquin got caught up in a multi-rider crash in the second turn of the second moto, putting him near the tail end of the pack. The French rider put on a spectacular ride as he climbed through the pack to finish an impressive sixth.DNA Shred Stix/Troy Racing’s Gareth Swanepoel (9-5) finished sixth overall ahead of his teammate Kyle Cunningham (8-8).Volcom/FMF Honda rider Darryn Durham (10-9), Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle (13-7), and Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Cole Seely (13-7) completed the top 10 overall.
