Practice has ended here at the O.CO Coliseum in Oakland, and just like last week, a single brand owned the fastest laps of the afternoon in both classes. The difference this week is that those laps came from green machines, not orange ones.
In the first 250 practice Jason Anderson was fast right away, but it was Dean Wilson who ended the session in the top spot. Justin Hill looked fast and did his best to put boost his number to the top of the board on the final lap, but fourth fastest with a 57.970 was the best he could muster in this session.
In session two it was it was the Anderson-Wilson show again, with the two going back and forth as they battled for the fastest time. As the session was drawing to a close Anderson put down a seriously fast lap, and it looked like he’d be the fastest 250SX rider of the afternoon. But Wilson put together some final-lap heroics of his own and stole the top spot from Anderson with a 54.613, a time that would end up being the fastest (including the 450 times) of the afternoon.
Both Wilson and Anderson were excellent in the long whoop session, which contributed to their scorching times that were over a second faster than Justin Hill (56.097), who was third fastest. Cooper Webb had a big crash at the end of the second qualifier when he got out of control and went over a berm onto the hard plywood. He popped up right away, but instead of grabbing his bike he walked straight to the Asterisk Medical Mule. After a few minutes he walked away limping under his own power and rode his bike back to the pits.
In the 450SX ranks it was Ken Roczen who was fastest for most of the session, but Ryan Villopoto came in near the end to nab the fastest time with a 56.808. Afterward Villopoto said he thought the Oakland track was the best so far this year. James Stewart ended up fourth fastest behind Justin Brayton in this qualifier with a 57.300, but he didn’t turn a whole lot of fast laps. He spent substantial time cruising and eyeballing the track.
In the final qualifier Stewart took the early lead with a 55.454, but it didn’t take Villopoto long to best that with a 55.261. Later in the session Villopoto would better his own time with a 54.830, which would hold as the fastest 450SX lap. Broc Tickle’s ribs are still sore from his big crash at A2, so if it appears as if he’s riding in pain tonight, it’s because he is.
To stay updated on the action from Oakland, be sure to keep it locked on Racer X Online and follow us on Twitter, @racerxonline. For complete list of overall qualifying times, go here.
