MDK KTM Race Report – High Point

June 17, 2008 6:21am

Mt. Morris, PA – The MDK KTM Factory Team riders each earned their best finish of the season at the fourth round of the AMA Motocross Championships at the 32nd annual High Point National.

Martin Davalos

In a complete turn around from the week before, three MDK KTM Lites riders were within the top ten off the start of the first moto. Martin Davalos, in only his second race back since injury, came around the first turn in second and quickly moved into the lead. Not far behind him was his teammate Ryan Sipes in 5th and directly behind him was the orange #41 bike of Matt Goerke. The only MDK KTM Lites rider not inside the top ten was Justin Brayton, who unfortunately, had a poor start and checked in 31st place after the first lap.

Justin Brayton

As the moto continued, Davalos began to fade as he is still struggling with his conditioning since his return. However, his teammate Sipes, showed no sign of fading. Sipes continued his quick pace through the finish moving into 3rd position for a few laps before he was passed by Jason Lawrence. Sipes hard fight for a front position paid off when he finished moto one in 4th place. Goerke was not for behind him as he maintained a top ten position finishing 8th. Davalos crossed the checkers in 16th while Brayton worked his way up on the very rutted track from near last to 20th.

Matt Goerke

In moto two of the Lites class, KTM fans were pleased when all four MDK KTM riders again clustered near the front. Davalos was once again within the top five holding 4th, behind him Brayton was in 8th, Sipes 9th and Goerke 14th. Although Davalos slipped back a bit near the middle of the moto he was still running a good pace in 15th when he crashed hard off a jump causing him to not finish the race. He was able to walk off the track under his own power and was then sent off to the Asterisk Medical Unit for further care. Meanwhile, Brayton made a mistake that knocked him back to 12th, but did not knock him off his game. Sipes was charging forward and at the halfway point had moved into 6th. Goerke was also on the move and had passed from 14th to 9th. With three laps to go, Brayton and Goerke both picked up their pace determined to earn a great finish. Brayton passed two riders to take home 10th in the second moto while Goerke also passed two riders (Reardon and Moss) to finish 7th. Sipes held on to 6th. Each rider’s combined moto scores helped significantly move them up in points, not to mention, also set the benchmark for their best finish this year.

As the motocross class kicked off for moto one, MDK KTM Factory rider Nick Wey managed to get a respectable 13th place start. With this start, it did not take long for him to pick off a few riders and move into the top ten. On lap ten, he was able to get by Ryan Clark and Jeff Alessi which moved him into 8th. In his most aggressive ride of the season, he put a last minute charge on Ivan Tedesco and caught him for 7th a couple laps before the finish earning his best moto finish of the season.

Ryan Sipes

In moto two, Wey got a better start after lining up on the far inside gate and coming around in 7th at the end of lap one. He got passed by Josh Hill on lap four and then maintained his pace not letting anyone else get near him for the remainder of the moto. His 8th place finish in moto two combined with his 7th place finish from moto one earned him 6th overall for the day and moved him up one position in overall points to 8th.

“I had a lot of fun today. The track and the weather were great compared to last week. I feel more comfortable on my KTM than I have so far and I only hope to improve upon my results from here,” reported Wey after the race.