Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM St. Louis Report
Hahn currently sat 5th in points heading to St. Louis and was looking to increase his total. Although he turned the 6th fastest practice time earlier in the day the heat race would not allow him time to show his speed. Hahn got a great jump in his heat and rounded the first turn in 4th, however, a turn later he lost the front end and lost his qualifying position. He remounted in 19th and had already passed four riders when he crashed once more with another rider. This time he was not able to continue the race and was forced to go to the LCQ.
The LCQ was no more promising than the heat when Hahn suffered a bad start and had to charge through the pack in the quick four lap sprint. He was able to move up to 6th by the end which was not enough to qualify into the main event. “I didn’t ride as well as I could have in my heat as a result of two crashes. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the main tonight and I am pretty bummed because I was 5th in points. I will use this as motivation for next weekend where I hope to do much better,” commented Hahn.
West Lites teammates Brayton and Sipes showed up as teammates in St. Louis but this time on big bikes. Both riders had decent practice times and even better heats. Brayton was up first in heat number one. Brayton had a mid-pack start and remained just outside the top ten for the majority of the race. On lap six Brayton received a gift when three riders in the top qualifying positions went down right in front of him. He was able to safely get around them and move into 9th place to qualify into the main event.
Sipes was on fire in Supercross heat number two. He got a top five start and remained 4th throughout the race. “Getting a start is very important on this track and I got my KTM up front early and then maintained my speed to qualify in a decent position,” commented Sipes.
Both Brayton and Sipes did not get the start they needed in the main event but they stayed close together in 15th and 16th place respectively. By the second lap they both moved up and Sipes had also passed Brayton for 13th. The two would stay in position within half a second of each other for the majority of the race. It wasn’t until lap thirteen when Brayton passed Sipes back and began to close in on the 12th place rider. Sipes encountered a couple of problems on the last few laps which lost him a couple of positions and he eventually finished 16th overall. Brayton remained consistent and moved into 11th after making two passes on both Broc Hepler and Matt Boni in the final laps of the race.
Next Event: Toronto Supercross – March 28, 2009
Overall Results Lites Supercross –
- Blake Wharton
- Austin Stroupe
- Nico Izzi
- Matt Goerke
- Christophe Pourcel
- Matt Lemoine
- Stephen Clarke
- Daniel Blair
- Darryn Durham
- Shane Sewell
- Chad Ward
- Jason Thomas
- Cody Gilmore
- Teddy Parks
- Jacob Saylor
- Vince Friese
- Spencer Dally
- Kyle Keylon
- Tyler Wharton
- Kyle Gills
Overall Points Lites Supercross
- Christophe Pourcel – 131
- Austin Stroupe – 106
- Nico Izzi – 102
- Blake Wharton – 91
- Brandon Jesseman – 73
- Matt Goerke – 68
- Wil Hahn – 68
- Matt Lemoine – 66
- Stephen Clarke – 65
- Daniel Blair – 63
Overall Results Supercross –