Sign of the (Lap) Times: Steel City

August 28, 2007, 8:49am

This past weekend riders faced what was probably the most dynamic track of the season thus far on the AMA Toyota Motocross tour. Heavy rains Saturday night led to very wet conditions from practice throughout the first motos on Sunday morning. But as the day went on, the soil tightened up which translated into much faster lap times.

Lites

The first Lites moto of the day was probably the toughest conditions these riders faced all season. Deep ruts and very soft dirt meant the lines would be drastically changing every lap. This is one moto you wouldn’t want to have to work up through the pack, yet several top guns, including our points leaders, were forced to do just that after a huge first-turn pileup.

RV got the jump in Moto 2.

photo: Jackie Mims

It’s no surprise that Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto logged the fastest lap time both motos—again. And he continues to stretch the margin between himself and the second fastest rider. In the first moto his fastest lap was almost three full seconds faster than that of his rookie teammate and practice partner, Austin Stroupe, who had the second fastest lap time of the moto in his first-ever race as a professional. What’s amazing about Ryan’s fastest lap time was that it occurred on the last lap of the moto! Local favorite, Team Yamaha’s Broc Hepler, had the third fastest lap time, as he cruised home to his fifth-consecutive moto win at Steel City.

In the second moto RV was able to log a blistering 2:03.901 on the second lap of the moto, which is almost seven seconds faster than his first moto lap time. The track was probably in its best condition all day long, as the track crew touched it up a bit over intermission. BT101 picked up the pace as well with a 2:05.353, followed by Stroupe and Metcalfe. Check out the top 20 fastest Lites riders.

Pos.	Moto 1	Moto 2	Rider	Bike
1	02:10.763	02:03.901	Ryan Villopoto	Kawasaki
2	02:15.324	02:05.353	Ben Townley	Kawasaki
3	02:16.992	02:06.760	Brett Metcalfe	Kawasaki
4	02:13.238	02:06.625	Austin Stroupe	Kawasaki
5	02:17.270	02:09.016	Nico Izzi	Suzuki
6	02:17.056	02:09.798	Josh Grant	Honda
7	02:18.288	02:06.943	Martin Davalos	KTM
8	02:14.965	02:06.271	Broc Hepler	Yamaha
9	02:19.193	02:10.106	Jake Weimer	Honda
10	02:16.131	02:07.372	Trey Canard	Honda
11	02:19.092	02:11.124	Matt Goerke	Yamaha
12	02:14.250	02:06.870	Jason Lawrence	Yamaha
13	02:17.357	02:07.177	Tommy Hahn	Honda
14	02:18.841	02:10.368	Ryan Sipes	Honda
15	02:18.308	02:10.396	Broc Tickle	Yamaha
16	02:21.975	02:08.603	Zach Osborne	KTM
17	02:18.516	02:10.423	Kyle Chisholm	Kawasaki
18	02:20.537	02:12.518	Michael Willard	KTM
19	02:21.571	02:10.084	Joaquim Rodrigues	KTM
20	02:22.398	02:11.562	Matt Lemoine	Yamaha

AMA Motocross

Everything was clicking for Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi in the first moto at Steel City. Not only was he able to log the fastest first-moto lap time on his 450, but he also took his and KTM’s first-ever moto victory in the AMA Motocross class. It was an impressive moto for Alessi. Kevin Windham was second fastest the first time out, with Langston behind him.

This battle came down to the last corner on the last lap!

photo: Carl Stone

In the second moto it was SoBe No Fear/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Kevin Windham logging the fastest lap time with a 2:06.061. But you could throw a blanket over him, Langston and Alessi, as they all had lap times in the 2:06s. It was a great battle on one of the roughest tracks of the season. Check out the top 20 in the AMA Motocross class.

Pos.	Moto 1	Moto 2	Rider	Bike
1	02:10.269	02:06.941	Grant Langston	Yamaha
2	02:08.945	02:06.860	Mike Alessi	KTM
3	02:09.913	02:06.061	Kevin Windham	Honda
4	02:13.285	02:07.759	Andrew Short	Honda
5	02:10.479	02:10.208	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
6	02:13.663	02:08.512	Ivan Tedesco	Suzuki
7	02:15.145	02:08.926	Gavin Gracyk	Honda
8	02:14.747	02:12.852	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
9	02:15.304	02:10.046	Yoshitaka Atsuta	Honda
10	02:17.536	02:11.498	Josh Summey	Honda
11	02:14.574	02:11.566	Kyle Keylon	Honda
12	02:17.729	02:14.412	Justin Sipes	Kawasaki
13	02:19.437	02:11.947	Chris Blose	Honda
14	02:16.934	N/A	Jeff Alessi	KTM
15	N/A	02:12.121	Jason Thomas	Honda
16	02:18.847	02:12.296	Ryan Clark	Honda
17	02:16.585	02:14.320	Troy Adams	Suzuki
18	02:18.826	02:12.338	Michael LaPaglia	Yamaha
19	02:23.811	02:13.352	Antonio Balbi	Honda
20	02:20.132	02:14.150	Chris Whitcraft	Honda

It’s interesting to note that the Lites riders completed a 17-lap moto, while the AMA Motocross class’ second moto was only 16 laps.