US Motocross Lites Series: 5th round Lakewood, CO
By TMX Archives on 29th Jun 09
Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM rider Tommy Searle earned his second consecutive podium of the year with a 3rd place finish at the fifth round of the AMA Motocross Series held at the Thunder Valley Motocross Park.
In moto one, Searle started 7th quickly passing the J-Law Racing/KTM ride of Max Anstie on the second lap. Near the middle of the moto he caught and passed Brett Metcalfe and moved to 5th where he would finish the moto after a great battle holding off both Ryan Dungey and a recharge from Metcalfe. Searle's teammate, Wil Hahn, was as far back as 20th in the beginning of the moto and found the speed to charge through the pack and finish 11th by moto end. The third member of the team, Martin Davalos, returned to racing after sitting out the last four rounds to recover from surgery after Glen Helen. Unfortunately he was involved in a first turn pile up which damaged his front brake system and ended his first moto early. Anstie went on to finish the first moto in 12th.
Justin Brayton
Searle came out flying the second moto starting in 5th position. He quickly moved into 4th position and stayed there the majority of the race. With a few laps to go, Searle moved into 3rd after passing Metcalfe. Davalos had a much better start in the second moto coming around the first lap in 3rd. He even held 2nd at one point when current leader Jake Weimer made a mistake that allowed him to get around. He eventually faded back to 10th where he finished the second moto. "I am happy with my finish today. My leg didn't give me any trouble. I knew I would be off he pace since I haven't been able to ride much lately, but thanks to my KTM and my good start I was able to finish inside the top ten second moto. I plan to continue to improve and increase my endurance as the series continues," commented Davalos. Hahn had horrible luck in the second moto after a first turn crash where he fell and got run over by the other riders; he still found the determination to remoun t and charge his way back through the pack. He came around the first lap in 38th position and was able to charge back up to 18th by the moto end and finished 14th overall for the day.
Race 1
POS. RIDER MANUFACT. NAT.
1 377 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki
2 19 Jake Weimer Kawasaki
3 43 Broc Tickle Yamaha
4 61 Blake Wharton Honda
5 123 Tommy Searle KTM
11 50 Wil Hahn KTM
Race 2
POS. RIDER MANUFACT. NAT.
1 19 Jake Weimer Kawasaki
2 151 Justin Barcia Honda
3 123 Tommy Searle KTM
4 10 Ryan Dungey Suzuki
5 24 Bret Metcalfe Honda
11 50 Wil Hahn KTM
Standings
POS. RIDER MANUFACT. NAT. POINTS
1 377 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki 217
2 10 Ryan Dungey Suzuki 208
3 411 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki 160
4 123 Tommy Searle KTM 153
5 61 Blake Wharton Honda 144
12 50 Wil Hahn KTM 70
25 577 Martin Davalos KTM 11
Jagermeister/MDK/KTM rider Justin Brayton started mid-pack off the gate drop of the first 450 Motocross moto. He moved forward quickly but his charge was halted when his bike encountered an engine problem shortly into the start of the moto. Brayton had to pull off and did not finish the race.
In the second moto, Brayton had a bad start and ran into the fallen ride of Tim Ferry. When Brayton crashed his bike fell down a ledge and he spent approximately half a lap trying to get his bike out. He eventually remounted and returned to action only to crash once more and eventually charge back to 24th. "I had some bad luck today. I felt really good coming into this race but just wasn't able to get anywhere. I am looking forward to next week and hope to make up for it at Red Bud," stated Brayton.
Overall Results 450 Motocross Class
1. Ivan Tedesco (1-1)
2. Andrew Short (2-2)
3. Thomas Hahn (7-3)
4. Chad Reed (3-7)
5. Michael Byrne (6-4)
6. Josh Grant (5-5)
7. Ricky Dietrich (11-6)
8. James Albertson (10-9)
9. Kyle Summers (9-10)
10. Jake Moss (4-33)
Overall Points 450 Motocross Class
1. Chad Reed - 195
2. Andrew Short - 181
3. Ivan Tedesco - 160
4. Josh Grant - 151
5. Mike Alessi - 142
Next Event: Red Bud Motocross, Buchanan, MI - July 4, 2009