Cosworth’s 250 Lites Race Report

2/4/12 Anaheim 2, the fifth stop on the west cost lites tour. Crowds poured in as always when the Supercross race comes to Southern California. After a good finish in Oakland, the Star Valli Yamaha riders felt that there Cosworth powered bikes were the bike to beat.

In lites qualifying it was Cosworth’s Nico Izzi fastest with a 56.57 then Cosworth’s Ryan Sipes with a 56.69 right behind him. “We were super strong in practice and felt good” said Izzi and Sipes. Izzi and Sipes felt so good, they were two seconds faster in this session!

In heat one; it was Wilson, Cosworth’s Ryan Sipes on the Yamaha and Davalos in the top three. Sipes came from sixteenth in the pack to finish second at the end. Sipes was riding so fast around the track it was obvious if everything went right in the main he was going to be the rider to beat.

In heat two; it was Tomac, Musquin, Seely, and Cosworth’s Nico Izzi on the Yamaha. “Izzi is riding great, he has looked so good today” said Cosworth’s Donovan Norris. With both riders have a great practice and strong finish in the heats, we were looking good for the main.

In the main the first turn was a tough one. Everyone was smashed together and as always, it was anyone’s game to clam the holeshot. Seely charged through and ended out front. It was Tomac, Musquin and Cosworth’s Nico Izzi on the Yamaha for the top four. Behind Izzi, it was Wilson then Leib and Cosworth’s Sipes.

In practice, the track had whoops that looked unforgiving for most. With a little help for FIM the whoops were smoothed out a bit. Even with the whoops tamed down, the surface was still slick and marble like in most places. “I wasn’t pushing it to hard out there because I didn’t want to do anything to fall, I just wanted to try and come out with a top-five finish” Izzi said. And that’s what the Cosworth rider did. Izzi had a great ride and finished with a fifth.

Cosworth’s Ryan Sipes also had an impressive ride at Anaheim. Although his final results did not show it in the end, Sipes was still the rider to beat with everyone wishing for a better result. In the main Sipes road 13 fast laps and was ripping through the pack. From the bottle neck start, this is what had to be done to get to the front. Sipes was crazy fast and as fast as the leaders if not faster! A mistake in the sand section and he went down. As soon as he was up he went down again. “Hey, that’s racing and we had to push it,” said Cosworth’s Donovan Norris. At the end race, Sipes finished11th in the main.  Cosworth’s Gareth Swanepoel had a tough night also with a fifteenth finish but gave it his all.

We are very proud of the effort the StarValli Yamaha Team is putting in. All of the riders are fast and the team and mechanics are first rate. It’s definitely a pleasure to be affiliated with Yamaha team.

Cosworth Components can be purchased right here in the US. Go to www.cosworthusa.com