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250 Words: Thunder Valley

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 3:02 PM

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In this article…

Riders

Races

  • Jake Weimer won his first-ever AMA National one race after scoring no points at High Point. His 2-1 score still leaves him 10th in points.
  • Christophe Pourcel again won the opening moto, where he's perfect on the year, but a bouncing gate in moto two got him started at the back of the pack. He went 1-6 for second overall.
  • Tommy Searle fought of a gaggle of riders in the second moto and earned every inch of his third-place trophy on the way. It was his second podium finish in a row.
  • Justin Barcia got a horrible start in the first moto and caught up to ninth, but in the second moto, he gated second and inherited the lead for a while after Weimer fell. Weimer eventually got back by to win, but Barcia hung on for second, and fourth overall.
Jake Weimer has a special kind of voodoo surrounding him. His very first supercross win, which came at Phoenix in 2008, came one week after failing to make the main event at Anaheim I. And then this last weekend, his very first AMA National win came one race after failing to score a single point at High Point two weekends prior.

While he denies a link, I don’t think it can be dismissed that easily. Racing is a zero-sum game. There are only so many points available in every race, and it’s up to you to take the largest chunk, thus leaving less for everyone else. Well, when you get beat down to the point that you’re constantly scoring no points, or just far less points than your competition, that can be a serious motivator, mentally speaking. Riders get angry, and the anger leads to hate, and the hate leads to winning. Sorry, Yoda, but I think that’s what happened with Weimer in 2008.

However, maybe not this year, as the anger led to over-training, and the over-training led to worse results. What Jake needed was a change of perspective, and the way to change his perspective was to step away both mentally and physically for a little while. He did that by working on his R/C cars and driving them constantly – his brain then occupied by something new, not dwelling on the bad things, he was able to put it all back together in a jiffy.

Congratulations, Jake.

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Check out THE ROADS TAKEN

in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
THE ROADS TAKEN Click to Look Inside

One of the most skilled and stylish riders in motocross, Kevin Windham is on the short list of all-time fan favorites. He tells his story here. Page 116.

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