KTM Race Report – Washougal Motocross

July 26, 2010, 10:07am

Washougal, WA – Jagermeister/KTM rider Mike Alessi’s 11th place overall race result does not do justice for the effort and speed he brought to the Washougal Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship round over the weekend.

Alessi was running practice times within the top five before crashing and tweaking his knee in the first practice session on Saturday morning. He took it easy in the second practice and eventually was credited with 13th gate pick going into moto one.

When the gate dropped for the first moto Alessi came around the corner in 10th place. He rode strong throughout the moto and was able to make up four positions to move into 6th place before the checkered flag.

In the second moto Alessi had a good jump but, oddly enough, came together with his brother Jeff Alessi in the second corner and once restarted was way back at the tail end of the pack. He spent the first half of the moto picking up every position he could and once he had passed about half of the pack he made another mistake that sent him to the ground. Now even more determined Alessi put on a hard charge and ran lap times consistent with the 2nd place runner. He eventually finished 13th for the second moto unable to make up the time lost from the crashes.

"I felt a lot more comfortable today and was glad to finally put down some good lap times. I have suffered from too many crashes over the past few weeks and have found myself at the back of the pack too many times. I need to work on riding more relaxed to help keep it on two wheels. I am just disappointed with my results lately and am more determined than ever to show that my KTM belongs on the podium," commented Alessi.

His FMF/KTM teammate Tommy Searle had a decent showing in the 250 class in only his second week back from injury. Searle rode to a solid 10th place finish in moto one but turned heads in the second moto when he went from about 13th to 7th. His moto scores earned him 8th overall for the day. "I am still working on my endurance since returning from my shoulder injury. Each day I feel better and I am getting stronger in the end of the race. I hope to be back within the top five at the next round," remarked Searle.

Overall Results 450 Class –
1. Ryan Dungey (1-1)
2. Andrew Short (2-2)
3. Brett Metcalfe (3-5)
4. Thomas Hahn (7-3)
5. Nick Wey (10-6)
6. Ryan Sipes (5-11)
7. Kevin Windham (9-9)

8. Kyle Chisholm (8-10)
9. Dan Reardon (12-7)
10. Kyle Cunningham (11-8)
11. Mike Alessi (6-13)
12. Josh Grant (4-16)
13. Justin Brayton (17-4)
14. Weston Peick (16-12)
15. Ben Evans (15-18)

Overall Results 250 Class –
1. Trey Canard (1-1)
2. Christophe Pourcel (2-2)
3. Tyla Rattray (4-3)
4. Blake Wharton (5-4)
5. Dean Wilson (6-6)
6. Jake Weimer (3-11)
7. Eli Tomac (7-9)
8. Tommy Searle (10-7)
9. Vince Friese (12-12)
10. Martin Davalos (22-5)
11. Nico Izzi (9-18)
12. Darryn Durham (38-8)
13. Tommy Weeck (15-14)
14. Travis Baker (8-37)
15. Les Smith (17-13)