Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM Race Report
Coming off a podium finish in Daytona, Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM rider Martin Davalos lined up for the first Lites heat ready to take the win. He had a great start taking the holeshot and then leading the pack around the first few turns. Unfortunately Davalos and Nico Izzi came together shortly into the first lap and both riders went down. When Davalos recovered he was in 16th. After three fast laps Davalos had moved back into qualifying position and was sitting in 8th place moving forward. On the fourth lap, misfortune struck as another rider came together with Davalos forcing him to crash off course. Davalos was down for some time and went off with the medical unit for closer observation.
In the second heat race Hahn just barely missed a first turn pile up to come around inside the top ten. By the end of the first lap he was sitting in 7th. With five laps to go Hahn crept his way forward to earn 5th overall for a decent qualifying position into the main event.
Davalos returned to the track for the LCQ where he was joined on the line by three other top ten riders Matt Lemoine, Stephen Clarke and Nico Izzi. Davalos got a good jump once the gate dropped but was slowed up after a first turn pile up. Once around the down riders Davalos quickly moved into the top five. By the second lap he was in 3rd and quickly catching Vince Friese who sat in a qualifying position. As he came up to pass for 2nd the two riders came together and both riders went down. Davalos recovered in 6th position but with only one lap to go he was not able to climb up into the top two. He finished 5th not transferring into the main event.
Justin Brayton, in his first-ever Supercross class heat race, came flying off the line and moved into the lead by the second corner of the race. Brayton continued to impress the crowd as he held the lead until the third lap at which point he was passed by Chad Reed. Now sitting in 2nd, Brayton found himself in a battle with Kevin Windham. The two riders went back and forth with Windham eventually taking over the position on the sixth lap. Brayton held on to his 3rd place finish to easily qualify into his first Supercross main event.
In the Lites Supercross main event Hahn topped his best ride of the season to earn his second consecutive 5th place finish. Hahn started within the top ten and maintained his speed as he continued to move forward. Hahn spent the majority of the race in 6th place and moved his KTM into 5th place on the final lap. “I saw Durham was struggling on the last lap and knew that was my opportunity to make a pass. I am happy to be in the top five but am ready to step it up and finish on the podium,” commented Hahn.
Brayton got off the line quickly in the Supercross main event and rounded the first turn in 4th place. In a remarkable first appearance he stayed within the top five for the first few laps and then dropped to 8th place where he stayed the remainder of the race. “I wish I could have finished inside the top five tonight. However, I am happy with my results for my first race in this class. I plan to race St. Louis as well and hope to improve my result there,” stated Brayton.
Next Event: St. Louis Supercross March 21, 2009
Overall Result Lites Supercross –
- A. Stroupe
- B. Jesseman
- B. Wharton
- C. Pourcel
- W. Hahn – KTM
- D. Durham
- D. Blair
- B. Tickle
- M. Goerke
- S. Clarke
- L. Kilbarger
- D. Jonon
- T. Wharton
- J. Saylor
- T. Parks
- C. Ward
- M. Lemoine
- P. Nicoletti
- B. Johnson
- J. Thomas
Overall Points Lites Supercross -
- C. Pourcel – 115
- A. Stroupe – 84
- N. Izzi – 82
- B. Jesseman – 73
- W. Hahn – 68
- B. Wharton – 66
- M. Davalos – 57
- M. Lemoine – 51
- S. Clarke – 51
- M. Goerke – 50
Overall Results Supercross –
- J. Stewart
- C. Reed
- B. Hepler
- K. Windham
- A. Short
- M. Alessi
- J. Grant
- J. Brayton – KTM
- R. Villopoto
- M. Boni
- J. Hill
- N. Wey
- I. Tedesco
- T. Bowers
- N. Ramsey
- H. Voss
- T. Adams
- D. Millsaps
- K. Chisholm
- R. Kiniry
