Livin' on a Prairie
By TMX Archives on 4th Jun 09
THE second of the 12 round of the Lucas Oils AMA Pro Motocross championship was held at Hangtown in Sacramento, California, and just like last weekend's opening event, Justin Barcia was the fastest man out of the gates in the 250 class.
However, it was Kawasaki pilot Christophe Pourcel who came through to claim his first ever outdoor AMA national win. Barcia also claimed his best finish to date in second overall.
As the first moto got under way, it was Barcia who led the way until three laps to go when Pourcel clawed back some ground and passed him. Barcia managed to hold on to a well deserved second whilst Trey Canard claimed third and Tyla Rattray fourth. Meanwhile, last week's winner, Ryan Dungey, suffered a poor start and could only manage a seventh place finish
In moto two it was a different story as Dungey claimed the win over Canard and Pourcel. The win wasn't enough though as Dungey ended the night in third overall.
Britain's factory KTM pilot Tommy Searle had a disappointing round with a 30th place finish in moto one. The Brit did manage to salvage some much needed points in moto two with a ninth, leaving him a long way down in 13th overall. Max Anstie finished just three places down on Searle in 16th overall.
In the 450 class, Mike Alessi did the double as he took both moto one and moto two wins. The win didn't come easy though as Alessi crashed on the first lap of the first moto. The mistake allowed Ivan Tedesco the chance to take over the lead.
Alessi remounted sharply and kept the pressure on Tedesco before he was able to make a pass and regain the lead. The final podium position was claimed by Andrew Short. Last weekend's winner, Ryan Villopoto, was suffering from a knee injury and finished a disapointing 16th. Ryan was unable to continue though and took no part in the second moto.
Moto two unfortunately ended in confusion. Josh Grant nipped in front of Alessi and grabbed the holeshot, and then held the lead until the flag, ahead of Alessi and Chad Reed. However, Grant was docked a place due to jumping under new flag rules and the win was awarded to Alessi.
"It means a lot getting my first-ever 450 motocross overall win,” said an elated Alessi. "It's great, I felt like I was riding my own race and it feels good to finally win. I rode a really consistent race, and rode really smart and I never really put myself in a position where I was riding over my head at all, so it's just awesome to come out with the overall.”
Further down the field Adam Chatfield qualified for the main event and took two consistent 29th places to finish 31st overall.