Rockstar Makita Suzuki High Point Report
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Dungey 3rd overall in MX Lites
Round 4 – AMA Motocross Series
Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania
High Point Raceway
June 14 - 15, 2008
At High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s Mike Alessi gave an impressive repeat performance of the previous weekend’s race. The California rider again holeshot both motos, again brought home two second-place finishes to, again, take second place overall. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Michael Byrne carded a top-10 overall result, thanks to eighth- and 13th-place moto finishes. Alessi remains in second place in the overall championship points and Byrne maintains his sixth-place position.
In the Motocross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey overcame a first-moto get-off to finish in sixth place, and then secured a second-place finish in moto two for an overall podium result. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Nico Izzi returned to racing after sitting out last weekend’s event due to injury, and carded an impressive third-place finish in the first moto but struggled in the second moto and ended up with eighth overall.
Mike Alessi:
“It was a really good weekend. I was happy with both of my starts on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450. It’s good to get four holeshots in a row. Now I just need to keep working on getting faster overall so we can get a win. But I’m happy with my race strategy, which is basically to just race my own race and focus on myself and not worry about what everyone else is doing.”
Michael Byrne:
“The first moto was OK, I didn’t start as well as I’d have liked to but I passed a few guys at the end and finished strong on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450. In the second moto, I got a better start but someone fell in front of me and I didn’t have anywhere to go so I fell also. Later on, I just slid out in the mud. The second moto was a little bit rough but I tried to salvage as many points as possible.”
Ryan Dungey:
“Overall it was a decent weekend. I got the holeshot in the first moto but I got taken out and fell. I think I could have gotten second place if that didn’t happen because I was having a good ride. In the second moto, I was closing in on the leader slowly but I wasn’t able to get it. But a holeshot with a fall and still a podium – that’s pretty good. Also, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 was really awesome; one thing that I was really happy about was that we didn’t need to make any adjustments to the bike all week because it was working so good that I was able to ride it as I hard as I needed to.”
Nico Izzi:
“The first moto was awesome. I almost got the holeshot and I was running second for almost the whole moto. But I got passed and settled for third. I think I wasn’t quite ready to come back yet from the crash at Hangtown but at the same time, I was pumped to just be out there racing – I don’t want to just sit on the couch for a couple weeks. I also didn’t want to push it, crash and hit my head again. We made some progress this weekend, I was fourth in qualifying and that’s the first time I’ve been in the top five. Now we have a weekend off, which is more time to get ready for the next race.”
AMA Motocross Top 10 (Moto Finishes)
1. James Stewart, Kawasaki, 1-1
2. Mike Alessi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 2-2
3. Davi Millsaps, Honda, 3-3
4. Timmy Ferry, Kawasaki, 4-4
5. Andrew Short, Honda, 5-5
6. Nick Wey, KTM, 7-8
7. Sean Hamblin, Yamaha, 6-9
8. Cody Cooper, Suzuki, 10-7
9. Josh Hill, Yamaha, 13-6
10. Michael Byrne, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 8-13
AMA Motocross Lites Top 10 (Moto Finishes):
1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki, 1-1
2. Jake Weimer, Honda, 2-5
3. Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 6-2
4. Austin Stroupe, Kawasaki, 9-3
5. Brett Metcalfe, Kawasaki, 7-4
6. Ryan Sipes, KTM, 5-6
7. Matt Goerke, KTM, 8-7
8. Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing, 3-15
9. Dan Reardon, Honda, 11-8
10. Jake Moss, Yamaha, 10-9