Busy Day for Monster Energy Kawasaki at High Point
By TMX Archives on 15th Jun 09
Pourcel earned his second overall win of the season as he went 1-1 at High Point Raceway. In the 450 class, Kawasaki's Dietrich finished sixth overall this weekend.
Pourcel continued his streak of winning thefirst moto, once again besting the field at High Point. Pourcel got agreat jump out of the gate and steadily pulled out to a comfortablelead. In the second moto, Pourcel got out of the gate well, but thistime settled in behind Trey Canard for nearly all of the 30 minutesplus two lap moto. Pourcel continued to pressure Canard eventuallygetting by and taking the overall win.
"It was fast today,” saidPourcel. "In the second moto I was focused on (Trey) Canard and triedto pass him, but I didn't find a way. Every time he made a mistake, Imade a mistake. Then with two laps to go I was on the gas and he made amistake and I'm sad that he crashed. I wasn't really thinking aboutanyone behind me. I just wanted to win to get the overall and pointslead.”
Dietrich came to High Point hoping to prove his resultsat Freestone weren't a fluke, and the 21-year-old rider did just thatscoring a sixth place overall. Dietrich got a good start in the firstmoto and was steadily moving up through the field before sliding outjust after the finish line. After a quick pause, Dietrich was back onthe bike and regained all of the positions he lost and more to finisheighth in the first moto.
"This race was important to me,” saidDietrich. "I wanted to back-up my results from last week. I think thatis why I rode tight in the first moto. Once I just relaxed, I startedriding a good pace and I started passing people. I think getting sixthoverall this week, after the top five last week, shows I have the speedto be competitive out here.”
Rattray continues to ride wellin his first season in the United States. The 2008 MX2 World Championhas earned three top-five finishes in four races this season.
"Itis getting good,” said Rattray. "I was really happy with my Kawasakithis weekend. It was running really well and we have a very goodsetting for this course. I just need to keep working on my turns. Thatis where I'm losing time to Christophe (Pourcel) and (Ryan) Dungy. Ihave to keep working hard and it will come my way soon. Today is aconfidence boost for the rounds coming up.”
Weimer's daystarted with a bang as he nailed the holeshot in the first moto andthen rode more than half the moto in second place. His day turnedquickly as the high-speed track got the best of him multiple timesduring both motos.
"I got the holeshot in the first moto,” saidWeimer. "I was running second and feeling pretty good. I fell, but wasable to stay in second. Then I fell again a couple of laps later andwent back to fifth. I fell one last time so it wasn't that great of aday. The second moto was kind of the same as I fell again. I'm hurtingright now.