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What a day! The Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship is now in full effect, and let us be the first to tell you it is going to be a great season of outdoor motocross. The Hangtown National has now come and gone, and round one is officially in the books. Driving into Hangtown this morning, we had all those questions that come with the first round of any motocross season, and as we drove away from the Prairie City ORV park in Rancho Cordova, California some of the answers were not what we expected. If there is anything 2011 has shown the fans, it’s that they should expect the unexpected.
There was an unreal moto vibe flowing through the air as the first 450 outdoor moto of the year went to the line for moto one. You could look from hillside to hillside and would be hard pressed to find one person not standing when the big 450s came to life. By the time the thirty second card-girl sprinted off the track and the gate fell, you could literally taste the anticipation. The first holeshot of the 2011 season was executed by the man they call K’dub. Kevin Windham‘s holeshot ignited the already overly excited crowd to a decibel level that could easily be heard over the top of the forty roaring 450’s. Behind the number fourteen Factory Honda came the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki teammates, Brett Metcalfe and Ryan Dungey, followed by Chad Reed‘s Two-Two Motosports/Honda and the Monster/Kawasaki of Ryan Villopoto.
Kevin looked right at home leading and would hold onto the top spot like he owned it for the first six laps. Behind the number fourteen, Dungey was on the charge. The 2010 Champ would push his teammate back to third and, three laps later, move Kevin back to take the lead. Behind all of this, RV2 was on the move. He would go by Reed and Metty and move up to third, but Reedy wouldn’t let RV2 by without a fight. Chad passed RV2 back and would also go by K’dub for second. RD1, though, was too far gone for Reed to mount any kind of real charge for the top spot. RV2–now in third after going by K’dub–would never have an answer for the 2009 450 Outdoor Champ Reedy. RD1 and Reed would finish 1-2, and RV2 would settle for the third spot on the box in the opening moto.
Back behind these three, K’dub had faded late in the moto–we heard reports of a mechanical issue–and hang on for sixth. Just ahead of Windham–in his first race back from injury–Brett Metcalfe would finish fifth. The surprise of moto one was JGRMX/Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps. Coming off a less than stellar SX season, a fourth may be just what Davi needed to get the MX season started. Great ride, “Big Bear!”
When the gate dropped on the first moto of the 2011 250 Outdoor Motocross season, it was Suzuki City’s Malcolm “Mookie” Stewart and GEICO Powersport/Honda’s Eli Tomac battling for the first holeshot of the year. While Tomac was the first one into the first turn, it was Mookie leading everyone up the famous Hangtown hillside. Tomac and Monster/ProCircuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson would begin their “Mookie hunt,” and by the end of lap two, they would occupy the top two spots. Tomac was looking to make the 2011 round one look just like 2010’s round one, but Wilson would have different plans. Stewart, after being passed by Tomac and Wilson, would begin to make his way backwards with random mistakes. He would finish the race having scored only one point.
Round one has always been a battle for mental supremacy, and by lap four, it became apparent that Wilson was deep into Tomac’s head. By lap five, Wilson was in the lead and quickly “gone baby, gone.” He would go on to the moto one win. Behind Deano there were a myriad of good rides and battles going on. Eleven-10 Mods backed Darryn Durham and Justin Barcia played an awesome game of full-contact moto tag, fighting for third place for three or four laps before both made mistakes and finished outside the top five.
The best ride of the day, though, was put in by Monster/PC’s Blake Baggett. Baggett would start eighth, charge up to third, fall over, remount ninth and begin a charge through the pack that was just incredible to watch. After throwing up the fastest times of the moto at the 30 minute mark of the race, he would catch and pass Tomac for second. Tomac would have no answer for Baggett’s late race charge and would have to settle for the last spot on the podium. It was a ride that let the field and fans know that Blake had arrived.
There were a fair amount of questions answered and statements made in moto one, but with those answers came a whole new list of question. One of the questions we heard rumbling through the crowds before Moto 2 was whether or not RV2 could answer back on Reed and Dungey. When the number two lead everyone through turn one, it looked like he was on a quest to do just that. For the first few laps, Ryan looked like the outdoor specialist we all know him to be and was pulling away from the RD1 and CR22, but by lap four, he was feeling the pressure. Both Dungey and Reed were right there, and while Dungey was trying to find a place to set up Villopoto, Reed was able to set up Dungey and make a pass stick for the second spot. Reed was definitely feeling the flow, and within two laps, would make a pass stick for the lead in the moto.
With Reedy up front showing the fastest outdoor riders on the planet how to go even faster, K’dub was having another Windhamesque performance in fourth. He would stay there to the flag, with Metcalfe in fifth and the 450 rookie Jake Weimer–in his outdoor 450 debut–holding down sixth. The number thirty-two Monster/Kawasaki looked right at home on the 450, and would stay there in sixth through the wave of the checkered flag.
Up front, there was no stopping Reed and Dungey. Once the current and past 450 AMA Motocross champs got around RV2, they were gone. Villopoto would hang on to third in Moto 2 and third overall, but would be almost a full minute behind as Reed crossed the finish line with Dungey in tow. Chad Reed was the man of the day. The second in Moto 1 was solid in itself, but to come from behind and win in Moto 2 was the kind of first round statement that title runs are built on.
In the final race for the 250s, it was GEICO Powersports Justin Barcia with a huge holeshot. Barcia would lead the first three laps, but a big mistake on lap three would push him back out of the top spot. Behind Barcia through turn one was Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray. Tyla finished a solid fifth in Moto 1 and was looking to improve on that by four spots with a win in Moto 2 when he went around the flailing Barcia for the lead. Behind Tyla, Tomac, Wilson and Baggett were in full attack mode, hounding the former World Champ from South Africa for the lead. Tomac would hang to second for a couple laps, but the pace of Wilson and Baggett was just too much. At the fifteen minute mark, it was all Pro Circuit with Rattray, Wilson and Baggett securing the top three spots.Tomac and the other South African rider, Gareth Swanepoel, rounded out the top five.
DNA/Shred Stix/Star Racing’s Swanepoel was just back from a SX injury and looked very comfortable with the top five pace. He would stay there until the checkered flag. Up front, though, Tyla was on fire. Behind him, Wilson would hit a tough block and fall back to third, allowing Baggett to secure the second spot. From that point on, the race was all Baggett and Rattray. Baggett would try every move in the book on his teammate, and finally make a pass stick right before the two-lap board came out. Baggett came into round one on to make a point, and with a win in Moto 2 and the overall win on the day, that point was clearly made. Tyla would secure the third spot on the podium with a fifth and a second. Completing the Pro Circuit podium sweep with a first and a third for second overall was Dean Wilson. The Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki squad made the first statement of 2011, and it was a loud one.
Full results from all four motos here: http://motoxaddicts.com/2011/05/22/results-hangtown-mx/
