Photo: Supercross.com
The 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship went to Wortham, Texas today for round number two of the series and the Freestone National. Heading into Texas, the momentum from round one was in the hands of Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawaski’s Blake Baggett after their 1-1 dominance at Hangtown, but the question was, could they carry that momentum through the blazing heat of Texas.
In the 450 Class, we had two incredible 35-minute battles between James Stewart and Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey, but in the end, Stewart answered with another 1-1 performance. In each of the two motos, James got out front early and was hounded by the KTM for every lap. While Dungey was able to stay glued to Stewart’s rear wheel all day long, he was never able to make a pass stick on the 2008 450 AMA Motocross Champion. There were a couple occasions when Dungey got a nobby ahead of Stewy, but the #7 was never phased. When the dust settled, James Stewart had won his fourth-straight moto and Dungey had gone 2-2 for another second overall.
Finishing behind Stewart and Dungey to score his second podium in as many weeks was MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi. In moto one, Mike was late for the call for the gate and forced to start in the 40th gate pick. Still, he ripped a top-ten start. Mike rode a solid moto one to finish fifth behind a very surprising fourth place finisher, Star/Valli/Yamaha’s Nico Izzi. Nico was backing that finish up in moto two and running fourth again, but a mistake pushed him back to finish twenty-fifth—netting him ninth overall. Mike backed up his fifth in moto one with a wire-to-wire third place in moto two. His 5-3 score was good enough for third overall.
Finishing the day in fourth and fifth overall were two green machines: Monster/Kawasaki’s Jake Wiemer and JWR/Kawasaki’s Josh Grant. In moto one, both got off to great starts. Wiemer held on to record his best-ever 450 outdoor finish with a third while Grant finished sixth. In moto two, it was a very different start, but similar results. Through turn one, Grant was back in tenth while Wiemer was buried around thirtieth. The two put on an incredible display of fitness, charging up to finish fourth (Grant) and sixth (Wiemer). Wiemer’s 3-6 edged out Grant’s 6-4 for fourth overall.
In the 250 Class, it was GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Eli Tomac putting a smack down on the competition. Eli went 1-1 and finally conquered the scorching Texas heat that had melted him down two years ago. Back in 2010, Eli went to Freestone the week after becoming the first rider in history to win an AMA National in his first try. There, he was hit with a rude awakening. The rookie suffered a heat stroke and was essentially ruined for the rest of the year. Since then, Eli had not been back to the top of the box, but he got his redemption today. Eli was on another level—clicking off lap times faster than both Stewart and Dungey—and easily walking away from the field in both motos. Eli’s 1-1 moved him up to third place in the points behind Baggett and Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen.
Finishing behind Eli Tomac in both motos was last week’s winner, Blake Baggett. In both motos, Blake made an uphill battle for himself, though. The red plate holder rounded turn one in each moto around mid-pack and found himself working on his passing skills for the first twenty minutes of the race. By the time Baggett found his way up to second place, Eli was long gone and on cruise control. Still, his 2-2 on the day keeps the red plate on his Pro Circuit Kawasaki, and he still extended his lead in the Championship.
Finishing third overall for the second-straight week was the German-import, Ken Roczen. Ken was consistent on the day with a third in moto one and fourth in moto two, but unlike last week at Hangtown, the Red Bull/KTM rider was never a factor for the win in Freestone. While California was warm, Texas had to be more of a “you’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto” moment for the kid that has spent his life racing in the mild temperatures of Europe. Expectations are high for the #70 with some expecting wins out of the 2011 MX2 World Champion, but overall, Roczen is getting the job done. He leaves the toughest national of the year with his second-straight podium and sits second overall in the points.
Grabbing his first top five of the young season was the local Texan Rockstar/Suzuki’s Blake Wharton. In moto one, the #956 went from tenth around turn one to finish the 30 + 2 in sixth, but it was moto two that turned heads. After avoiding a huge first turn pile-up and ripping the holeshot, Blake reminded everyone of his speed by leading the first six laps. He was passed by Tomac on lap seven and a little mistake on the final lap allowed Baggett to sneak by for second. Still, a 6-3 for fourth overall was a huge step in the right direction man they call Slash.
The last man in the top five overall was GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Justin Barcia. In moto one, Barcia got a horrible start, and in moto two, he went down in the first-turn causing a huge pile-up. In both instances, though, Barcia showed his desire and clawed his way forward from the rear of the pack. It was a championship-winning kind of ride that may go down as the ride of the year. The score card only read 4-5 for fifth overall, but considering what he overcame, it is as good as a win. Justin salvaged a lot of points and sits fourth in the points as the Championship moves to round three in Colorado next weekend.
450 Overall – Freestone Full Freestone 450 Overall Results
1 7 James Stewart Haines City, FL, US 2 5 Ryan Dungey Waconia, MN, US 3 800 Mike Alessi Victorville, CA, US 4 21 Jacob Weimer Twin Falls, ID, US 5 33 Josh Grant Riverside, CA, US 6 29 Andrew Short Colorado Springs, CO, US 7 32 Tommy Hahn Great Bend, KS, US 8 24 Brett Metcalfe Australia, AU 9 50 Nico Izzi Rochester, MI, US 10 53 Ryan Sipes Vine Grove, KY, US 11 26 Michael Byrne Australia, AU 12 81 Robert Kiniry Syracuse, NY, US 13 10 Justin Brayton Fort Dodge, IA, US 14 25 Broc Tickle Holly, MI, US 15 36 Kyle Regal Kemp, TX, US 16 241 Derek Anderson Arvada, CO, US 17 160 Cole Thompson , CA 18 60 Mathew Lemoine Baton Rouge, LA, US 19 11 Kyle Chisholm Clearwater, FL, US 20 71 Kevin Rookstool Klamath Falls, OR, US
450 Points After Two Rounds Full 450 Championship Points Standings
1 7 James Stewart 100 2 5 Ryan Dungey 86 3 800 Mike Alessi 70 4 21 Jacob Weimer 61 5 29 Andrew Short 61 6 33 Josh Grant 58 7 24 Brett Metcalfe 53 8 25 Broc Tickle 43 9 50 Nico Izzi 39 10 32 Tommy Hahn 39
250 Overall – FreestoneFull Freestone 250 Overall Results
1 17 Eli Tomac Cortez, CO, US 2 12 Blake Baggett Grand Terrace, CA, 3 70 Ken Roczen Germany, US 4 956 Blake Wharton Pilot Point, TX, US 5 20 Justin Barcia Monroe, NY, US 6 38 Marvin Musquin France, FR 7 136 Jessy Nelson Paso Robles, CA, 8 58 William Hahn Wichita, KS, US 9 57 Jake Canada Sun City, CA, US 10 19 Kyle Cunningham Aledo, TX, US 11 31 Martin Davalos Ecuador, EC 12 44 Jason Anderson Edgewood, NM, US 13 51 Travis Baker Temecula, CA, US 14 96 Kyle Peters Greensboro, NC, US 15 30 Alex Martin Millville, MN, US 16 404 Zack Freeberg Riverview, FL, US 17 23 Gareth Swanepoel South Africa, ZA 18 37 Malcolm Stewart Haines City, FL, US 19 9 Ivan Tedesco Murrieta, CA, US 20 126 Hunter Hewitt Irving, TX, US
250 Points After Two RoundsFull Championship 250 Points Standings
1 12 Blake Baggett 94 2 70 Ken Roczen 80 3 17 Eli Tomac 79 4 20 Justin Barcia 76 5 956 Blake Wharton 55 6 38 Marvin Musquin 52 7 58 William Hahn 46 8 19 Kyle Cunningham 42 9 9 Ivan Tedesco 41 10 57 Jake Canada 41
