Pro Circuit Race Report: Vegas
Corona, Calif. (May 11, 2010) – For the first time in AMA Supercross Lites history a single team swept the top four positions in a main event, that team was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Jake Weimer led the way with Josh Hansen finishing second, Christophe Pourcel third and Dean Wilson fourth.
Since the Las Vegas event is the Dave Coombs Sr. Memorial East/West Shootout, the riders rode their heats and practices by which region they raced and then everyone came together for the main event.
"Tonight was sick," said Hansen. "This team is the best team in the pits and we showed everyone that tonight. It was fun racing against my teammates because we all knew we would race each other clean. I battled with Chris (Pourcel) and Willy (Wilson) to get up to second, it was amazing."
Pourcel was the fastest of all the riders while Wilson was fourth fastest from the East. In the West Coast practices, Weimer was second fastest with Hansen fourth quick. In the East heat race, Pourcel jumped out to an early lead but then he crashed and went over the bars. He was able to recover in time and ride to a sixth place finish. Wilson also had a good start and he took over the lead when Pourcel went down, never looking back and getting the heat race win.
The West Coast heat was a sign of things to come as Weimer and Hansen both got out of the gate well and grabbed the top-two spots. Hansen would stay on Weimer’s rear fender throughout the six-lap heat as the duo finish 1-2.
In the main event, Weimer rocketed to the holeshot and he was followed closely by Pourcel and Wilson. Hansen was sixth after the first lap, but he methodically made his way up fourth by lap three. For the final 12 laps, the team pulled away while putting on an amazing race at the front. On lap six, Wilson made a move on Pourcel that stuck and Hansen the got Pourcel on the next lap. The order stayed the same until the final lap when both Hansen and Pourcel were able to get by Wilson.
"I couldn’t be any happier than I am right now," said Weimer. "This was my last supercross lites race and I wrapped up my career with a win. That No. 1 plate is heavy, and everyone handles it differently. I was fired up to come here. Since there are no points here, I was able to just concentrate on getting the win. I wanted to make a statement."
With another successful supercross season in the books, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki squad finished with two championships, 10 main event wins, 17 podiums and 20 heat races wins on the way to being named the Team of the Year.
Next up for the team is the outdoor season, which begins May 22 at Hangtown.
