Kawasaki/Racer X Race Report
26th Annual AMA Air Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s
Last week, the top amateur motocross racers in the world all gathered in one place to answer the ultimate question: who is number one? It’s a yearly ritual, and it happens on a motocross track that offers no advantage to any one rider, as it is only used one time a year. The 26th Annual AMA/Air Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s is now in the books, and here’s a brief account of what went down.
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As we’ve seen in the past, the 51cc classes offered a lot of excitement, as no one rider was dominant. It’s a matter of consistency, and Jordan Bailey, Adam Bestafka and Mark Worth stood out among the rest, each taking moto wins on their way to the championship in each of their respective classes. You often see some very unusual moto scores in these classes. For example, Joey Crown finished 8-4-3 for second overall in the 51cc (7-8) Class 2. Weird.
In the 85cc classes, there were three riders who stood atop their respective classes. Florida’s Adam Cianciarulo is a name that you’ll be hearing a lot of in the years to come, and the young Team Green Kawasaki rider with the Ricky-like stature took two championships in the (7-11) classes.
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And in the (14-15) Modified and Supermini class, it was Colorado’s Eli Tomac winning two more championships for Suzuki. This kid is so polished, fast and charismatic that he’s going to have the factory teams ringing his phone off the hook the moment he steps aboard a big bike.
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In the Women’s class, it was a dominant performance by Yamaha’s Tarah Gieger, who carred a 1-1 into the final moto over her arch nemesis Jessica Patterson. Gieger then cruised home to second in the final moto, taking her third Loretta Lynn’s championship. And in the Girls (9-13) it was KTM’s Chiara Fontanesi taking home the title—straight to Italy! The girl is under the tutelage of Steffy Bau, and she was extremely fast. Remember her name: Chiara.
In the A, B and C classes, Honda-mounted riders were dominant all week long, as they combined for 10 championships, giving Honda bragging rights for the most championships in 2007. Red Riders contributing championships included Justin Wilson, Josh Lajiness and Garrick Noble, who won all the C classes; Les Smith and Vince Friese who won a total of three B classes; and fastest of all, Trey Canard and Ben Evans, who combined for three A-class titles.
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Honda – 10
KTM – 6
Kawasaki – 5
Suzuki – 5
Yamaha – 5
Cobra – 2
For complete results, please visit www.mxsports.com.
2007 Loretta Lynn's Champions
51cc (4-6) AMA Class 1
Jordan Bailey (Cob) Orlando, FL
51cc (4-6) Stock Shaft Drive
Adam Bestafka (Yam) Hudson, FL
51cc (7-8) AMA Class 2
Mark Worth (Cob) Queen Creek, AZ
65 (10-11) Stock
Jarek Balkovic (KTM) Camp Hill, PA
65 (7-11) Modified
Jesse Masterpool (KTM) Sparks, NV
65 (7-9) Stock
Alex Frye (KTM) Huntingtown, MD
85 (7-11) Stock
Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw) Port Orange, FL
85 (7-11) Modified
Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw) Port Orange, FL
85 (12-13) Modified
Jason Anderson (Suz) Edgewood, NM
85 (12-13) Stock
Jason Anderson (Suz) Edgewood, NM
85 (14-15) Modified
Eli Tomac (Suz) Cortez, CO
Supermini (12-15)
Eli Tomac (Suz) Cortez, CO
Schoolboy (12-15)
Blake Wharton (KTM) Pilot Point, TX
MX Lites Schoolboy (14-16)
Steven Clarke (Suz) Cairo, GA
Girls (9-13)
Chiara Fontanesi (KTM) Tallahassee, FL
Women (12 Plus)
Tarah Geiger (Yam) Vero Beach, FL
Four-Stroke
Tyler Wharton (KTM) Pilot Point, TX
Junior 25 Plus
Kevin Walker (Yam) Gray, TN
Vet B/C 30 Plus
Allan Assaf (Hon) Jacksonville, FL
Vet 35 Plus
Kevin Walker (Yam) Gray, TN
Senior 40 Plus
Doug Dubach (Yam) Tustin, CA
Senior 45 Plus
Ray Niebel (Kaw) Pittsburgh, PA
MX Lites C Stock
Justin Wilson (Hon) Camden, SC
MX Lites C Modified
Josh Lajiness (Hon) Deer Park, WA
Motocross C
Garrick Noble (Hon) Riverside, CA
MX Lites B Stock
Michael Hall (Kaw) Murrieta, CA
MX Lites B Modified
Les Smith (Hon) York, SC
Motocross B Stock
Vince Friese (Hon) Cape Girardeau, MO
Motocross B Modified
Les Smith (Hon) York, SC
MX Lites A
Trey Canard (Hon) Elk City, OK
MX Lites A Pro Sport
Trey Canard (Hon) Elk City, OK
Motocross A
P.J. Larsen (Kaw) Awendaw, SC
Motocross A Pro Sport
Ben Evans (Hon) Boise, ID