This is it, the final round of the 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships at Lake Elsinore, California. A brand new renovated Lake Elsinore facility (there’s actually nothing that even resembles the old track) has greeted the racers and with the new layout and the rising temperatures -- the teams and riders have a lot to deal with today. Lap times almost three minutes in length ensures that we’re going to truly witness the very best that these guys have.
Of course the 450 motocross title has been long wrapped up by Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey and MotoConcepts' Mike Alessi has second place in the bag as well. The real drama is the battle for third in the points between Monster Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer and Chaparral Honda’s Andrew Short. Six points is the margin that Short has on Weimer and it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
The excitement today lays with the fight for the 250 motocross title as GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac (winner of four out of the last six motos) tries to continue his desperate charge to grab the championship. He’s fourteen points down to Monster Pro Circuit’s Blake Baggett and he’s got his teammate Justin Barcia to worry about as well. Combine these three riders with the Red Bull KTM’s of Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin and you have yourselves quite a race. All season long it’s been very exciting to watch this class and we expect more fireworks today.
In the 450’s it was Alessi again with the best time for the second week in a row with a time almost two seconds better than second. The #800 will go to the gate with the first pick and is hoping to get his second moto win of the year. Behind him was Dungey, Monster Pro Circuit’s Broc Tickle and JWR’s Josh Grant.
In the 250’s it was, who else? Eli Tomac with the best time and he was 1.4 seconds faster than the next rider Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen. The top five riders all season long (Baggett, Tomac, Barcia, Roczen and Musquin) were, once again, the top five racers in practice also. It’s been a bit of remarkable consistency by all of them out there and we’re seeing it here again today.
All in all, it’s shaping up to be a great day of racing and we’re excited for the upcoming motos.
450 Qualifying Times
1 800 Mike Alessi Suzuki RMZ 450 2:36.696
2 5 Ryan Dungey KTM 450 SX-F 2:38.495
3 25 Broc Tickle Kawasaki KX 450F 2:39.751
4 33 Josh Grant Kawasaki KX 450F 2:40.712
5 28 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki KX 450F 2:40.871
6 10 Justin Brayton Honda CRF450R 2:41.728
7 21 Jacob Weimer Kawasaki KX 450F 2:42.010
8 50 Nico Izzi Yamaha YZ 450F 2:42.333
9 52 Ben LaMay Yamaha YZ 450F 2:42.464
10 29 Andrew Short Honda CRF450R 2:42.730
250 Qualifying Times
1 17 Eli Tomac Honda CRF250R 2:36.655
2 70 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 2:38.094
3 38 Marvin Musquin KTM 250 SX-F 2:38.579
4 12 Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX 250F 2:38.852
5 20 Justin Barcia Honda CRF250R 2:39.097
6 44 Jason Anderson Suzuki RMZ 250 2:40.758
7 58 William Hahn Honda CRF250R 2:41.057
8 19 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ250F 2:41.118
9 49 Justin Bogle Honda CRF250R 2:41.859
10 37 Malcolm Stewart KTM 250 SX-F 2:44.268
