Sacramento, CA - Warm weather and a new track kicked off the second round of the AMA Motocross Championship at the 40th annual Hangtown Classic and the MDK KTM Factory Team riders were prepared to take on the challenge.
As the gate dropped for moto one of the Motocross Lites class all three MDK KTM riders hopped out front off the gate. Unfortunately their bout toward the front end of the pack would be short-lived as they were cut off at the first turn and pushed back near the bottom twenty. By the end of lap one, Matt Goerke had moved into 11th position, followed by his teammate Ryan Sipes in 13th and Justin Brayton in 20th. As time ticked on, they charged hard to move through the pack. Soon Goerke and Sipes were side by side in 11th and 12th. Sipes passed Goerke to take the 11th place position. Goerke stayed close by until he made a few mistakes causing him to lose a couple positions as he moved down into 14th. At the end of moto one, Sipes finished a hard fought 12th, Goerke was two positions back in 14th and Brayton worked his way up from near last to 17th.
In Motocross Lites moto two, Ryan Sipes' luck changed as he charged forward to come around the first turn in 4th. His teammate, Goerke, was immediately behind him in 5th. Unfortunately, Brayton got pinched off again at the start and came around in 39th. By lap 4 Sipes had moved into 3rd after passing Dan Reardon. Goerke had begun to slip back into 7th while Brayton was busy plowing through traffic now sitting in 23rd. After a strong race Sipes managed to finish a solid 7th for the moto, Goerke hung on inside the top ten to finish 9th while Brayton worked up from his bad starting place of 39th to 16th. After combining both moto scores, Sipes finished a respectable 9th overall, followed by Goerke in 11th and Brayton in 16th.
MDK KTM Factory Team rider Nick Wey was looking forward to the first moto of the Motocross class after finishing 9th overall at the first round at Glen Helen the week prior. When the gate dropped for moto one he was 12th off the start. He continued to hold his pace and battled back and forth with Honda's Andrew Short through the majority of the moto. With a couple laps to go, Wey made the pass on Short and went on to pass Cody Cooper for 10th.
As Wey pulled off the line for moto two he was pinched off and stuck near the back of the pack in the bottom thirty. After the first lap he had moved into 24th. He put his game face on and charged forward to fight through the pack for the remainder of the moto. At the end of the moto, Wey had moved his KTM into 14th. His 10-14 results gave him 12th overall for the weekend.
Next Event: Freestone Motocross National - TX - June 8, 2008
Motocross Lites Overall Results:
1. Ryan Villopoto 1-1
2. Ryan Dungey 2-3
3. Jason Lawrence 5-2
4. Austin Stroupe 3-4
5. Brett Metcalfe 4-5
6. Trey Canard 11-6
7. Jake Weimer 7-10
8. Branden Jesseman 6-12
9. Ryan Sipes 12-7
10. Dan Reardon 15-8
11. Matt Goerke 14-9
12. Kyle Cunningham 10-13
13. Broc Tickle 9-14
14. Kyle Chisholm 18-11
15. Nico Izzi 8-38
16. Justin Brayton 17-16
17. Jake Moss 19-15
18. Thomas Hahn 13-34
19. Wil Hahn 16-35
20. Sean Borkenhagen 22-17
Motocross Lites Overall Points:
1. Ryan Villopoto - 91
2. Ryan Dungey - 82
3. Austin Stroupe - 80
4. Jason Lawrence - 79
5. Brett Metcalfe - 72
6. Jake Weimer - 53
7. Trey Canard - 47
8. Kyle Cunningham - 40
9. Branden Jesseman - 36
10. Broc Tickle - 32
11. Dan Reardon - 29
12. Matt Lemoine - 27
13. Ryan Sipes - 27
14. Matt Goerke - 27
15. Nico Izzi - 26
16. Thomas Hahn - 23
17. Kyle Chisholm - 21
18. Jake Moss - 19
19. Justin Brayton - 19
20. Andrew McFarlane - 16
Motocross Class Overall Results:
1. James Stewart 1-1
2. Tim Ferry 2-2
3. Ivan Tedesco 4-3
4. David Millsaps 3-5
5. Steve Boniface 6-6
6. Ben Townley 8-7
7. Mike Alessi 16-4
8. Michael Byrne 9-10
9. Josh Hill 11-9
10. Andrew Short 14-8
11. Jeff Alessi 7-15
12. Nick Wey 10-14
13. Cody Cooper 13-12
14. Sean Collier 5-21
15. Ryan Clark 37-11
16. Chris Blose 17-16
17. Sean Hamblin 15-18
18. Charles Summey 12-35
19. Juss Laansoo 38-13
20. Michael Blose 32-17
Motocross Overall Points:
1. James Stewart - 100
2. Tim Ferry - 80
3. David Millsaps - 76
4. Ivan Tedesco - 68
5. Mike Alessi - 67
6. Steve Boniface - 49
7. Michael Byrne - 49
8. Ben Townley - 42
9. Jeff Alessi - 40
10. Nick Wey - 40
11. Cody Cooper - 39
12. Andrew Short - 36
13. Sean Hamblin - 35
14. Josh Hill - 28
15. Antonio Balbi - 20
16. Sean Collier - 16
17. Charles Summey - 16
18. Bobby Bonds - 13
19. Juss Laansoo - 12
20. Ryan Clark - 10