Easy as 1-2-3 For Kawasaki Pro Circuit in Texas
By TMX Archives on 8th Jun 10
On a hot and humid day, Kawasaki Pro Circuit stayed cool and swept the podium. Pourcel finished 1-5 to take the overall victory with Rattray and rookie Wilson finishing second and third overall.
Jake Weimer finished 5-12 after falling inthe first turn of the second moto, finishing eighth overall. In the 450class Kawasaki's Chad Reed maintained his points lead by going 2-3 andfinishing second overall. Nick Wey went 11-13 to finish 12th overall.In the WMX class, Kawasaki's Sara Price went 5-5 to finish fifthoverall.
For the second time in its last three races, Kawasakiswept the overall podium aboard the dominant Kawasaki KX250F. The teamfinished the AMA Supercross Lites season with a sweep of the top fourpositions in Las Vegas and continued its dominance at Freestone takingthe top three spots.
"My bike is amazing,” said Rattray. "AfterHangtown I knew I had to work on some things, but I knew I had a bikecapable of winning. I got a moto win and now it's time to get anoverall.”
In the first moto, Pourcel went off the track latein the race while running second, but recovered quickly and was able totake the lead on the very next lap. In what has become a habit forPourcel, he held on to win the first moto. In the second moto, theFrench rider went down in the first turn and slowly picked his waythrough the field moving up to fifth. The finish gave him just enoughpoints to claim the overall victory.
"I was surprised I was ableto catch the leader so fast after going off the track,” said Pourcel. "The races didn't really go how I wanted them too, but I was able toget the win. There are a lot of fast riders out there so recoveringfrom mistakes and moving up through the pack is hard.”
Reedrode an incredible race in the first moto as he moved up from amid-pack start steadily picking off riders and moving into second bythe checkered flag. In the second moto, Reed got a better start but hewas unable to duplicate his charge as he came home third.
"Thetrack was really smooth in the first moto so I had to be patient,” saidReed. "Once it got rougher I was able to find some good lines and moveto the front. In the second moto I tried to find even more good linesbut I wasn't able to.”
Rattray came out of the Hangtown eventfocused on improving his starts and riding with a faster pacethroughout the motos. In the first moto he was able to get out near thefront and he raced most of the moto with his teammates Wilson andWeimer. In the second moto, Rattray got a good start and rode strongeras the race progressed, making a last lap pass to take his secondcareer moto win.
"I knew I needed to be faster on the openinglaps of the motos,” said Rattray. "That is something I've worked on thelast two weeks and it paid off today. In the second moto, I didn't seeDean at all until the last lap. I made up a lot of time on him and helet me by in the back. I was kind of surprised.”
Wilson, an18-year-old rookie, making only his second career start, was inposition to claim his first moto and overall win during the secondmoto. Wilson believed he had a sizable advantage on the field anddidn't realize until it was too late that his teammate Rattray andanother rider were racing him for position. Wilson wound up third inthe moto and third overall.
"When I saw Tyla get the checkeredflag, my heart shattered,” said Wilson. "I made a rookie mistake todayand I'm crushed right now. We have another race next week though, so Ihave to put this behind me and move on. My bike was great today and Irode strong, so I'm just going to keep working to get my first win.”
Withtemperatures forecast to hit triple digits, the talk of the Texas pitswas how the riders were going to handle the heat. Though the heat andhumidity were both high, the riders were well conditioned and were ableto handle it.
"Today wasn't much different from most of myriding during the week,” said Reed. "It's not like I live and train inFlorida because I like the humidity. Riding during the week in weatherlike today not only prepares you for races like this, but it alsoconditions you for the cooler races as well.”
Price rode twoconsistent motos in the WMX class as she came home fifth in both. The17-year-old sophomore didn't get the start she was looking for in thefirst moto, but she was able to move up to fifth on the rough track. Inthe second moto, she did get a good start just missing the holeshot,but the lingering effects from a shoulder injury relegated her back tofifth.
"I'm happy to be in the top-five,” said Price. "But Iknow I have more speed. Since I injured my shoulder I haven't been ableto ride much during the week. I only got two days of riding in betweenHangtown and this weekend, so it's like I'm starting from scratch. Wehave a three-week break now so I should be ready to go at Colorado.”
Weimerrode a consistent first moto battling nearly the entire time with histeammates. In the second moto he went down in the first turn and had tocarve his way through the pack. Weimer took creative lines throughoutthe moto to get to 12th and secure a top-10 overall finish.
"Todaydidn't go as planned,” said Weimer. "I still need to improve my starts.It's tough when you put yourself in a hole early and then spend therest of the race trying to climb out of it. The track was rough todaywhich is good, but that makes it even harder to get through the fieldif you don't get a good start.”
Wey had a good first motothat saw him battling for position nearly every lap. Riding consistenttimes throughout the moto he was able to move into the top 10 beforegetting caught out by a lapper of the final lap and losing a spot. Withhis confidence growing after the first moto, Wey was ready to challengein the second moto until he went down in the first turn. From there hepushed to make up as much time as he could.
"I had a decent racein the first moto, but a small mistake cost me a top 10,” said Wey. "Inthe second moto I crashed in the first turn, but I was able to workthrough the pack. The Monster Energy Kawasaki crew has really helped meimprove my riding since Hangtown and they also worked hard to find acomfortable suspension setting. I'm expecting to be in the top 10 thisweek at Mt. Morris.”