The Hangtown Classic, round two of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, featured some of the tightest racing yet, and unfortunately the exit of a perennial favorite in round-one winner and three-time 250cc champ Ryan Villopoto with a knee injury.
250cc
GEICO Powersports Honda teammates Justin Barcia and Trey Canard battled it out for the holeshot in moto one, with Barcia getting the nod, and Canard getting pushed back to the third position by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel. In the opening laps, Barcia split, pulling a second or more every lap on Pourcel and Canard, who battled it out for second. Just past the halfway point, Pourcel began to gain on Barcia and pull away from Canard, and then finally made the pass with two laps to go, relegating Barcia to second place and taking the first-moto win.
Barcia hung on for second while Canard grabbed third. Then came Pourcel’s teammate Tyla Rattray and Barcia and Canard’s teammate Brett Metcalfe, making a top-five sweep by the Pro Circuit and Factory Connection squads.
Division 7/Star Racing Yamaha’s Broc Tickle was sixth, just in front of Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, who went down off the start and recovered for seventh.
Dungey battled it out for the holeshot with Barcia’s other teammate, Blake Wharton, in moto two, and Dungey took the lead early on while Wharton fended off Pourcel’s advances for the first few laps. By the time Pourcel got into second, though, he had nothing for Dungey and was forced to settle for second. However, Pourcel was one of six 250cc riders who were penalized for jumping under a new red/yellow flag and he was docked a position, officially ending the day with a 1-3 score, still good enough for the overall victory. Canard was second with a 3-2 (finishing third on the track in moto two but gaining a spot by virtue of Pourcel’s penalty), and Dungey’s 7-1 was good enough for third overall.
Justin Barcia was running eighth in moto two when he went down hard. He should be back for the Texas round next weekend.
Dungey retains the points lead heading to Texas.
250cc O/A:
1. Christophe Pourcel (1-3)
2. Trey Canard (3-2)
3. Ryan Dungey (7-1)
4. Brett Metcalfe (5-4)
5. Tyla Rattray (4-7)
6. Broc Tickle (6-6)
7. Blake Wharton (9-5)
8. Jake Weimer (8-8)
9. PJ Larsen (10-10)
10. Justin Barcia (2-29)
250cc Points:
1. Ryan Dungey (86/1 win)
2. Christophe Pourcel (84/1 win)
3. Trey Canard (75)
4. Tyla Rattray (70)
5. Brett Metcalfe (63)
6. Justin Barcia (54)
7. Jake Weimer (53)
8. Blake Wharton (52)
9. Tommy Searle (48)
10. Broc Tickle (47)
450cc
Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi got his characteristic holeshot to start moto one, but then fell while out front, handing the lead to Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco. Villopoto went down in the first turn and was never a factor in the race.
Tedesco led the first nine laps before Alessi finally chased him back down and passed him for the lead. A stall later in the moto didn’t derail Alessi either as he won the first moto going away, followed by Tedesco and his teammate Andrew Short, JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Cody Cooper, Matt Goerke, Chad Reed (who came through from a horrid start), GEICO Powersports Honda’s Dan Reardon, Jagermeister KTM’s Justin Brayton and Cooper’s teammate Josh Grant.
Without Villopoto on the line, moto two was all Grant on the start, grabbing the holeshot in front of Tedesco, Alessi, Short, Reed, TLD Honda’s Chris Blose, Reardon and the rest of the field. Grant fended off Alessi after the Suzuki rider moved into second, and the two traded spots a half-dozen times in one lap about halfway through the race before settling back into their previous positions. Grant ended up pulling away to win the moto, but was also docked a spot for jumping on the new yellow/red flag and the moto win was given to Alessi, who officially won Hangtown with a 1-1 score. Tedesco was second overall with a 2-4 while Reed was third with a 3-6. Grant fell from third overall (9-1) to fifth overall (9-2) because of the penalty. Short was fourth overall (3-6).
Alessi takes over the points lead heading into Texas.
450cc O/A:
1. Mike Alessi (1-1)
2. Ivan Tedesco (2-4)
3. Chad Reed (6-3)
4. Andrew Short (3-6)
5. Josh Grant (9-2)
6. Dan Reardon (7-5)
7. Matt Goerke (5-9)
8. Justin Brayton (8-10)
9. Tommy Hahn (11-8)
10. Cody Cooper (4-23)
450cc Points:
1. Mike Alessi (92/1 win)
2. Josh Grant (74)
3. Chad Reed (73)
4. Ryan Villopoto (55/1 win)
5. Tommy Hahn (52)
6. Andrew Short (51)
7. Dan Reardon (41)
8. Matt Goerke (41)
9. Ivan Tedesco (40)
10. Cody Cooper (37)
