Photo by: Four10 Photos
The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Lites West Regional Championship jumped off last night with the Anaheim I season opener at the Big A. The sold-out Angel Stadium was treated to one of the deepest arrangements of talent that the sport has ever seen. Over the last few weeks, fans grew nervous while one West Regional Lites rider after another came up injured, but when the Lites West region lined up for the first heat races of 2012, it was quickly apparent that the fans would not suffer.
The man that stood tall against the myriad of talent was the Troy Lee Designs/Honda rider Cole Seely. In 2011, Cole established himself in the Lites West Regional Championship with two wins, and has now cemented himself as a Championship contender with his win at the opener. After a top five start, the California native made short work of MotoConcepts’ Vince Friese and the two Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawaski riders—Dean Wilson and Tyla Rattray—before riding away from the pack for his third Lites Supercross win.
Behind Cole, the two Pro Circuit riders held strong for the majority of the main event in the final two podium spots. With the motocross specialist Tyla Rattray in second and his teammate—and three-time Lites main event winner—Dean Wilson in third, many thought it was only a matter of time before Wilson moved up, but that was not to be. Tyla Rattray would hang on riding consistent, fast laps to a solid second spot on the box while Wilson would fall victim to a late-race charge by GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Eli Tomac that left Deano picking his bike up off the ground.
All night, Eli Tomac was one of the fastest bikes on the track, and the main event would be no different. The Colorado youngster qualified out of the LCQ and was left scrambling in the main event after a horrible start. Eli used the the fastest lap times of the main event to claw his way forward for fifteen laps, and on lap fifteen, he forced Deano into a mistake and himself onto the final spot on the podium.
Outside the top three, there was no shortage of talent. Red Bull/KTM’s Marvin Musquin looked fast and smooth all evening, and for that, the former, two-time MX2 World Champion from France finished fourth in his AMA Supercross debut. Behind Marvin was the #1 qualifier coming into the night show, Star/Valli/Rockstar/Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes. After qualifying during the day with the fastest lap, Ryan struggled in his heat race and, like Eli Tomac, had to come through the LCQ to make the main. In the main event, Ryan was on fire from the back and salvaged a Championship-saving top-five inside Angel Stadium
With guys like Dean Wilson, GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Wil Hahn—who won heat—Rockstar Suzuki’s Martin Davalos—winner of heat one—and other big names, struggling to get into or stay in the top five in the main event, it showed the depth we’re dealing with out west. There is no way we can pick a Championship favorite with only one race complete, but one thing we can do is congratulate Cole Seely and rub our hands together in anticipation of round two in Phoenix next weekend.
Main Event Results: Anaheim I – Lites West Round 1
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1. Cole Seely 2. Tyla Rattray 3. Eli Tomac 4. Marvin Musquin 5. Ryan Sipes 6. Dean Wilson 7. Jason Anderson 8. Wil Hahn 9. Zach Osborne 10. Travis Baker
