Welcome to The Weekly Dirt, the place to go each Wednesday to catch up on the latest happenings in the realm of off-road motorcycling. This week’s Dirt is coming from the RedBud National Motocross in Buchanan, Michigan. What better place to spend the Fourth of July weekend?
Chad Reed, seen here leading Ryan Dungey, turned 1-3 moto finishes into the overall win at RedBud over the Fourth of July weekend. Photo by Shan Moore
Chad Reed was impressive on a deeply rutted RedBud course and took advantage of a first-lap crash by series rival Ryan Villopoto to score a 1-3 overall victory at the sixth round of the 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships. The TwoTwo Motorsports Honda rider held off a pesky Ryan Dungey in the opening moto, blocking the Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s final lap pass attempt to score the moto win, and then rode to a safe and calculated third in moto two to score the overall victory, his fourth of the series.
Ryan Dungey went 2-2 for second overall. Photo by Shan Moore
Ryan Dungey was consistent as usual, going 2-2 for second overall in Michigan, but admitted afterwards that he needed to be more assertive in going for the lead a little earlier in the race. Dungey nearly pulled off a pass on Reed on the final lap of the opening moto to take the moto win, but Reed controlled the line and beat the Suzuki rider to the checkers. In the second moto, Dungey pulled away from Reed but couldn’t stay with Ryan Villopoto, who ran away with the moto.
Ryan Villopoto went 9-1 for third overall. Photo by Shan Moore
Ryan Villopoto was the fastest man at RedBud, turning the quickest time in qualifying and logging a time in moto two that was a full second faster than anyone else. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider won the final moto with 10 seconds to spare over Dungey, but a crash on the first lap of the opening moto shot him over the bars and left him in last place and trailing bits and pieces of his motorcycle when he finally got going again. The newly crowned Supercross champ managed to work his way back into ninth by the end of the moto and went 9-1 for third overall.
Blake Baggett dominated the 250 class, posting 1-1 moto finishes for the overall win. Photo by Shan Moore
Had Blake Baggett not had a bad race in Texas he most likely would be leading the 250 points standings. At RedBud, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider outran teammate Dean Wilson to win both motos to score his fourth overall victory of the season. However, Wilson leads the class standings by virtue of five runner-up finishes on the year. Wilson went 2-2 for second overall, beating out the third member of the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team Tyla Rattray’s 5-3.
