Reed, Pourcel sweep wins at Unadilla
COLUMBUS – Two years away from Unadilla Valley Sports Center has done a lot to change the perspective of Aussie rider Chad Reed.
Reed, the current 450MX points leader in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, padded his lead with a pair of 1-1 finishes Saturday afternoon. Reed’s overall victory, his fourth this season, preceded a dominant 250MX moto sweep by France’s Christophe Pourcel.
“I have to be honest, I didn’t miss this past the last two years at all,” Reed, 27, said, who did not compete in the outdoor nationals the past two seasons. “This is one of those tracks that you struggle with from the very first lap at practice to the last lap of the moto.”
Reed took the lead from Davi Millsaps on lap six, and did one better in moto 2 passing Andrew Short on lap five in cruising to a sweep. “Today I was excited to come here because the bike I have is the best outdoor bike I have had, and I wanted to test myself,” Reed said. “I am really happy to win here today, especially with the history this track has.”
Andrew Short, who is recovering from a thyroid condition, was second with a 5-2 finish in the two motos.
Unadilla Valley Sports Center marked its 40th year of operation over the three-day event, and celebrated the occasion on Saturday with a “retro” theme. Many of the professional riders donned old-school garb, although Pourcel was state-of-the-art in his first appearance on the track.
Running his first outdoor AMA 250MX season, Pourcel broke away from co-points leader Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) with a pair of one-one moto finishes. Dungey was plagued by relatively slow starts in each moto, particularly the second race.
Meanwhile, Pourcel, on the eve of his 21st birthday assumed command of the first moto on the second lap, and cruised to an easy victory. Pourcel grabbed the hole shot in the second moto, and easily extended his lead to nearly 30 seconds at one point.
“One-one is pretty good,” said the young Kawasaki rider. “I was just focused on the start and it was my day. I felt awesome on the track.”
On the next-to-last lap, Pourcel took a brief spill losing about eight seconds off his sizable lead over Dungey. In spite of the lead, Pourcel probably had enough time for a bite of a croissant and a sip of tea as Dungey was still over 20 seconds behind.
“I got a little careless,” Pourcel said. “It wasn’t a big mistake, maybe I lost my focus.”
Dungey shared the overall points lead with Pourcel entering the day, and had a lot of work to do in the second moto to salvage second place and lose just three points. Running in fifth place, Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki) and Blake Wharton (Honda), running fourth and third respectively, each dumped their bikes allowing Dungey to move up. Dungey eventually got past eventual third-place finisher Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) to secure a runner-up performance.
“I was able to do some damage control,” Dungey said. “It was one of those days where I tried as hard as I could, and I just came up short.”
The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship travels to Mechanicsville, Md. for round 10 on Saturday, Aug. 22 from Budds Creek MX Park for the Monster Energy Motocross National. Live coverage can be seen on NBC at 4 p.m. EST.
Results
450 Class
(Name, home, factory ride, finish in each moto)
Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki (1-1)
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (5-2)
Michael Byrne, Australia, Suzuki (4-3)
Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM (8-4)
Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Honda (3-11)
Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Kawasaki (7-6)
Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda (6-8)
Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Yamaha (10-5)
Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki (2-16)
Timmy Ferry, Largo, Fla., Kawasaki (11-7)
250 Class
Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (1-1)
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (2-2)
Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (3-3)
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (4-4)
Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (9-5)
Kyle Cunningham, Ft. Worth, Texas, Kawasaki (6-8)
Tommy Searle, Great Britain, KTM (10-7)
Justin Barcia, Cairo, Ga., Honda (7-10)
Matt Lemoine, Collinsville, Texas, Yamaha (14-9)
PJ Larsen, Stanley, N.C., Kawasaki (13-11)
Reed, the current 450MX points leader in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, padded his lead with a pair of 1-1 finishes Saturday afternoon. Reed’s overall victory, his fourth this season, preceded a dominant 250MX moto sweep by France’s Christophe Pourcel.
“I have to be honest, I didn’t miss this past the last two years at all,” Reed, 27, said, who did not compete in the outdoor nationals the past two seasons. “This is one of those tracks that you struggle with from the very first lap at practice to the last lap of the moto.”
Reed took the lead from Davi Millsaps on lap six, and did one better in moto 2 passing Andrew Short on lap five in cruising to a sweep. “Today I was excited to come here because the bike I have is the best outdoor bike I have had, and I wanted to test myself,” Reed said. “I am really happy to win here today, especially with the history this track has.”
Andrew Short, who is recovering from a thyroid condition, was second with a 5-2 finish in the two motos.
Unadilla Valley Sports Center marked its 40th year of operation over the three-day event, and celebrated the occasion on Saturday with a “retro” theme. Many of the professional riders donned old-school garb, although Pourcel was state-of-the-art in his first appearance on the track.
Running his first outdoor AMA 250MX season, Pourcel broke away from co-points leader Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) with a pair of one-one moto finishes. Dungey was plagued by relatively slow starts in each moto, particularly the second race.
Meanwhile, Pourcel, on the eve of his 21st birthday assumed command of the first moto on the second lap, and cruised to an easy victory. Pourcel grabbed the hole shot in the second moto, and easily extended his lead to nearly 30 seconds at one point.
“One-one is pretty good,” said the young Kawasaki rider. “I was just focused on the start and it was my day. I felt awesome on the track.”
On the next-to-last lap, Pourcel took a brief spill losing about eight seconds off his sizable lead over Dungey. In spite of the lead, Pourcel probably had enough time for a bite of a croissant and a sip of tea as Dungey was still over 20 seconds behind.
“I got a little careless,” Pourcel said. “It wasn’t a big mistake, maybe I lost my focus.”
Dungey shared the overall points lead with Pourcel entering the day, and had a lot of work to do in the second moto to salvage second place and lose just three points. Running in fifth place, Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki) and Blake Wharton (Honda), running fourth and third respectively, each dumped their bikes allowing Dungey to move up. Dungey eventually got past eventual third-place finisher Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) to secure a runner-up performance.
“I was able to do some damage control,” Dungey said. “It was one of those days where I tried as hard as I could, and I just came up short.”
The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship travels to Mechanicsville, Md. for round 10 on Saturday, Aug. 22 from Budds Creek MX Park for the Monster Energy Motocross National. Live coverage can be seen on NBC at 4 p.m. EST.
Results
450 Class
(Name, home, factory ride, finish in each moto)
Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki (1-1)
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (5-2)
Michael Byrne, Australia, Suzuki (4-3)
Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM (8-4)
Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Honda (3-11)
Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Kawasaki (7-6)
Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda (6-8)
Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Yamaha (10-5)
Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki (2-16)
Timmy Ferry, Largo, Fla., Kawasaki (11-7)
250 Class
Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (1-1)
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (2-2)
Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (3-3)
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (4-4)
Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (9-5)
Kyle Cunningham, Ft. Worth, Texas, Kawasaki (6-8)
Tommy Searle, Great Britain, KTM (10-7)
Justin Barcia, Cairo, Ga., Honda (7-10)
Matt Lemoine, Collinsville, Texas, Yamaha (14-9)
PJ Larsen, Stanley, N.C., Kawasaki (13-11)
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