Short Finishes 5th and Alessi 7th at Jacksonville

March 21, 2011 9:40am
Factory Red Bull/KTM riders Andrew Short and Mike Alessi put in impressive rides at the 11th round of the AMA Supercross Series held in Jacksonville, FL with a 5th place performance by Short and a 7th place result for Alessi.

Both Red Bull/KTM riders had excellent heat races with both KTM 350 SX-F machines taking the holeshot in their heats. The #800 machine of Mike Alessi was up first in heat number one. He nailed the holeshot and took the early lead. He continued to lead for the first half of the race before he was passed on lap five. “I began to get arm pump on the fifth lap and fell off the pace a little bit,” remarked Alessi. “I was still happy to run up front for the time that I did and to finish 5th overall in the heat.”

Andrew Short followed Alessi’s start strategy and grabbed the holeshot in his heat. He led James Stewart briefly on the first lap before dropping to 2nd position. Short and Reed battled on the next two laps before Reed made the pass and Short settled into 3rd. Once in 3rd, Short hung tight to the spot and finished in that position to take a nice qualifying spot into the main event.

In the main event, Alessi duplicated his heat race start and pulled the holeshot around the first corner. Short was a few spots back in 6th position. On the first lap, Alessi and Davi Millsaps came together and allowed Short to pass into 4th. Short remained in 4th through the first half of the race before Kevin Windham made a pass on the tenth lap. Short was able to ride a consistent race through the remaining laps to finish 5th overall marking his sixth top five finish this season. Meanwhile, Alessi spent the majority of the race in 8th position before closing in on Austin Stroupe with a few laps remaining. With one lap to go, Alessi was all over Stroupe. On the final corner he cut underneath Stroupe and made the pass just in time to cross the finish. That pass moved Alessi up to 7th for the night marking his season best finish.

Next Event: Toronto Supercross – March 26, 2011

Overall Results Supercross Class –

1)    Trey Canard

2)    Chad Reed

3)    Ryan Dungey

4)    Kevin Windham

5) Andrew Short – KTM

6)    Ivan Tedesco

7) Mike Alessi – KTM

8)    Austin Stroupe

9)    Nick Wey

10) Chris Blose

11) Fabien Izoird

12) Michael Byrne

13) Jason Thomas

14) Jarrod Browne

15) Cole Seely

16) Kyle Partridge

17) Davi Millsaps

18) Matt Goerke

19) Weston Peick

20) James Stewart

Overall Point Standings Supercross Class –

1)    Ryan Villopoto – 221

2)    Chad Reed – 214

3)    Ryan Dungey – 203

4)    James Stewart – 198

5)    Trey Canard – 194

6) Andrew Short – 145

7)    Justin Brayton – 121

8)    Kevin Windham – 121

9)    Davi Millsaps – 118

10) Brett Metcalfe – 107