Practice is complete here in New Orleans and we had some surprises. It started with Nico Izzi jumping to the top of the board not once but twice in the seeded 450 A sessions! The Star-Valli Yamaha rider actually topped SX Champion Ryan Villopoto in the first timed practice session, and then jumped to the top of the board immediately in session two. Eventually RV put the hammer down and got the top spot, and Davi Millsaps, Jake Weimer and Justin Brayton also logged fast laps. But Izzi has at least shown he has the speed to run at the sharp end of the pack tonight.
RV, of course, was fastest overall, continuing his dominance of the season. But since he has the title wrapped, the attention can shift to the Lites class, where Justin Barcia could wrap another championship of his own tonight.
But he’ll have some competition for the race win, as Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen ended up on top in both sessions. The Lites leader board changed up and down throughout the sessions, with Barcia, Blake Wharton, Justin Bogle and Kyle Cunningham also running near the top. But Roczen went fastest of all.
RV continues to roll.
Carl Stone photo
The track hasn’t presented many jumping options, and the hard dirt has some loose stuff on the top, which means riders will probably try to stick to the main race line—it will get slippery on the inside or outside of that. The start section, which features some tight stuff right after the first big sweeper, is also going to jam the field moments into the race. A bad start is always bad, but it will really hurt on this track.
Times are below. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @racerxonline for the live updates tonight.
SX Class
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX450F 52.681
2 21 Jake Weimer Kawasaki KX450F 52.857
3 18 David Millsaps Yamaha YZ450F 52.879
4 50 Nico Izzi Yamaha YZ450F 53.190
5 10 Justin Brayton Honda CRF450 53.625
6 29 Andrew Short Honda CRF450 53.689
7 11 Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki KX450F 53.763
8 81 Robert Kiniry Yamaha YZ450F 53.849
9 27 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki KX450F 53.950
10 24 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki RM-Z450 54.327
11 33 Joshua Grant Kawasaki KX450F 54.329
12 58 Wil Hahn Honda CRF450 54.468
13 800 Mike Alessi Suzuki RM-Z450 54.497
14 82 Justin Sipes Kawasaki KX450F 54.548
15 25 Broc Tickle Kawasaki KX450F 54.578
16 36 Kyle Regal Kawasaki KX450 54.593
17 801 Jeff Alessi Suzuki RMZ450 54.989
18 54 Weston Peick Yamaha YZ450F 55.193
19 9 Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki KX450F 55.352
20 87 Matthew Goerke Suzuki RM-Z450 55.373
Lites:
1 70 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 53.400
2 1 Justin Barcia Honda CRF250 53.647
3 956 Blake Wharton Suzuki RM-Z250 53.700
4 49 Justin Bogle Honda CRF250 53.802
5 12 Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX250F 54.123
6 37 Malcolm Stewart KTM 250 SX-F 54.209
7 19 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ250F 54.393
8 715 Phillip Nicoletti Honda CRF250 54.568
9 35 Darryn Durham Kawasaki KX250F 54.581
10 981 Austin Politelli Honda CRF250 55.108
11 60 Matthew Lemoine Kawasaki KX250F 55.209
12 74 Tyler Bowers Kawasaki KX250F 55.210
13 93 A Catanzaro KTM 250 SX-F 55.258
14 46 Les Smith KTM 250 SX-F 55.285
15 57 Jake Canada Honda CRF250 55.301
16 714 Shawn Rife Honda CRF250 55.346
17 30 Alex Martin Honda CRF250 55.595
18 96 Kyle Peters Yamaha YZ250F 55.654
19 126 Hunter Hewitt Suzuki RM-Z250 56.059
20 68 Shane Sewell KTM 250 SX-F 56.301
