MDK KTM Race Report: Round 3

June 10, 2008, 5:29am

Wortham, TX - MDK KTM rider Nick Wey earned a commendable 9th place overall at round 3 of the AMA Motocross Championship at Freestone County Raceway.

The third round of the motocross series was the toughest yet as rider’s battled through blazing temperatures well into the 100s. In moto one of the Motocross class, Wey unfortunately stalled his bike off the start but quickly caught up to the pack and picked off riders to come around the first lap in 24th. In the near 40 minute moto, Wey worked his way up from his poor start to finish 14th overall.

Nick Wey

In moto two, Wey came around 20th on the start but did not take much time to begin his move forward. By the halfway mark Wey had moved into 11th and showed no sign of slowing down, despite the scorching heat. At the end of the moto, he managed to move two positions higher to pick up 9th place. His 14-9 scores gave him 9th overall for the day. Wey now sits 9th in series points, just 3 points shy of 8th place.

Justin Brayton

It seemed the heat played a major factor in both Lites motos no matter who you were. MDK KTM Lites rider Ryan Sipes was out front early in moto one but had to pull off a few laps later due to a bike problem. His teammate Martin Davalos was also up front early, but was not able to hold the pace of the front runners at his first race back since a practice injury he suffered in preparation for the season opener at Glen Helen. Davalos hung on to finish moto one in 20th position. Matt Goerke and Justin Brayton were not as fortunate on their starts as their teammates, but they were both able to break through the pack to improve their final position. Goerke charged his way up into 12th and Brayton finished 16th at the moto end.

Martin Davalos

In moto two, the crowd witnessed the orange MDK KTM 250 SX-F machine of Sipes pull the holeshot followed by Davalos in 2nd. The two stayed up front for a lap until Davalos faded off the pace and Sipes made a bobble that pushed him back to 3rd. Goerke and Brayton had mediocre starts and were beginning to make their charge toward the top ten. Near the halfway point, Brayton hit his already injured ankle on a hay bale and had to be carted off by Asterisk for medical attention. As the race wore on, Sipes and Davalos would also not finish the moto as the heat became too much for both riders and they pulled off from heat exhaustion. Goerke was the last rider left and was running in a solid 8th place when he experienced a bike problem and was unable to finish. Despite, his DNF he still finished 17th overall for the day, not bad, considering almost half of the field did not finish the second moto.

Matt Goerke

“When things go bad, you just have to point out the positive in your day and look forward to the next round. We were happy with how our MDK KTM Lites riders started today but realize the overall endurance of our riders need help. The bike issues suffered can be fixed and are not major. We know what we need to improve and we intend to perform better each week,” commented MDK KTM Lites Team Manager Danny Paladino.