Racer X Notebook: High Point
Monday, June 13, 2011 | 3:20 PM
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Print- No surprise here, but rain was a factor in the Rockstar Energy Drink High Point National. The forecast called for scattered showers, so the track crew, led by Marc Peters and Jeff Russell, left the track a touch drier than normal for the first motos, and they didn’t rip it up as deep. “The track came around perfect a few laps into the first 250 moto,” explained Peters, as by then the riders had dug beneath the dry top layer and found the moisture underneath. After that race, it was tempting to water, since the track was essentially disced up by the bikes, but Peters and Russell had a pretty good idea that the rain was coming, so the left the track dry and let the rain do its thing. A few minutes later, the storm came. The crew wanted to rework the track and push some of the mud off, but there wasn’t any time since the races must start on time due to live TV. So the 450 riders were racing on whatever Mother Nature could dish out.
As Davi Millsaps can attest to, things got a little muddy in the second moto.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Chad Reed had trouble with some other natural terrain in the first 450 moto when a rock nailed him in the collarbone, which slowed him. He sported some ice on his shoulder between motos before going out and winning moto two in the mud.
- Mike Alessi was back to racing at High Point, but fighting two different injuries. First, Mike received a concussion at Hangtown, and his father Tony explained that he had to go through 15 hours of neurological tests to be cleared by a doctor to race, and then also had to receive clearance from doctors at the track after every practice before he was given the green light. Mike was also dealing with a sore shoulder from a crash practicing at Zach Osborne’s Club MX in South Carolina.
- Alessi’s shoulder held up and he made it to the motos, but his team manager Roger DeCoster said the rider next to him on the gate flinched in the first moto, and Mike dumped the clutch and charged right through the gate. He ended up breaking the gate and getting a bad start, but he passed a bunch of riders early to finish in third. He was then penalized one position and credited with fourth. Alessi led moto two early before a crash pushed him back. He finished fourth again.
Alessi was docked a position in the first moto after jumping the starting gate.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
- Pennsylvania privateer Ty Newcomb and Ohio veteran Jeff Gibson qualified for the 450 class on 250 two-strokes. Newcomb scored 31st overall on his YZ250, and Gibson scored 32nd on a KTM 250SX.
- On the other end, privateer Austin Howell got a shot with Team Suzuki City but wasn’t able to make the 40-rider field, taking 42nd overall in qualifying times. Austin will be racing with the team for the rest of the summer.
- Darryn Durham made a big impact by leading the majority of the first 250 moto, but his brother Shane also rode well and grabbed 20th place (and a national championship point) in the moto, despite a late-race crash. Moto two was not as good for the Durham brothers, as Darryn’s team elected to make a late clutch change between motos, and they were late getting to the starting gate for the race. Thus, Durham gave up his fourth gate pick for 39th. After a bad start, he went down in the second turn.
Durham lead for the majority of moto 1, before falling back to fourth.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Reports say that Durham had a few teams talking to him since his strong ride in the first moto of the season at Hangtown, including GEICO Honda and Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha, but he has decided to stay with his ElevenTen Mods Morgantown Powersports Team. The team actually placed two riders in the top ten overall, with Durham’s 4-14 placing ninth and Alex Martin’s 13-6 taking tenth.
- Durham wasn’t the only one missing his gate, as Kyle Cunningham, who finished fifth in moto one, also missed his gate for moto two and had to take the last pick. Cunningham also had a bad start and finished 11th in moto two.
- More bad luck for Cunningham’s teammate Ryan Sipes. He was running second in the first 250 moto behind Durham when he crashed and suffered a concussion. At the moment, Sipes is expected to at least sit out of next weekend’s race at Budds Creek.
Rattray fell short of the overall, but walks away from High Point with the points lead.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- In that muddy second 450 moto, two privateers logged great finishes, with Sweden’s Fedrik Noren scoring 12th on his MX Heaven-backed Honda, and Jimmy Weinert Racing/South of the Boarder backed Tyler Bright finishing 15th.
- Tyla Rattray won High Point last year but didn’t feel as strong this time, saying he wasn’t quite getting along with his suspension setup. His solid 3-2 scores kept him on the podium, though, and gave him the series’ lead by two points over his teammate Dean Wilson. “Having the points lead doesn’t matter that much right now,” says Rattray. “When I won the world championship in Europe we switched the plate over probably four or five times. It’s a long season.”
- Where was Christophe Pourcel? His Motoconcepts Yamaha team manager David Vuillemin said he was not able to get in touch with Pourcel at all between races, and wasn’t even sure if he was coming to the race or not. So they built his bike and even brought it through tech inspection just in case he showed up. Pourcel never did.
Weimer rode much better than his ninth overall would indicate.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Jake Weimer’s 7-11 scores for ninth overall don’t indicate how well he rode. He was fifth for most of the first moto until he crashed while battling with Chad Reed. In the second moto, he crashed early and fell back to 38th, battling his way back to 11th in the mud.
- Similarly, Dean Wilson’s second-moto ride may have gone unnoticed in the results, but he saved major championship points that may loom large at the end of the season. On the first lap of moto two, Wilson crashed leading, and found himself way back. He clawed his way back for eighth.
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Used to like stewart and not alessi- now i like alessi and really dislike stewart. because i can. oh, and pourcel flamed out
Such a nice shot of Alessi stealing the gate. Loved it! In all seriousness, he is the best starter (period). At least he went for it. They must of purchased that gate in China.
It was awesome that Newcome and Gibson made the main with two-bangers... Wish somebody would make an interview with those guys!
“The crew wanted to rework the track and push some of the mud off, but there wasn’t any time since the races must start on time due to live TV. So the 450 riders were racing on whatever Mother Nature could dish out.” The rain came after the 250’s first moto. Televised racing after those podium interviews is not live, correct? So there should have been time for some of the rework.
Glad to see RV and Alessi are back healthy. Hopefully they dice it up a few times this year and give Tony Alessi another reason to get all heated. Looks like those Yamaha’s ran fine; Millsaps, Hahn, Wey, and Dietrich top eleven. Millsaps was the only guy jumping that huge double after the rain. I guess JGR has that chassis and engine running fine. Millsaps was the only one jumping that wall jump at Freestone as well. You can tell he wants it this year.
I was rooting for DDurham in moto one, but you could just feel that it was only a matter of time before someone from Monster/PC would force a mistake a take the lead. Hell of a race from DD though.
A little surprised by DeCoster's comment about the rider next to Alessi flinching. I think The Man was being charitable to Mikey. Guys flinch all the time. Back in the day, when they had rubber-band starts, I used to flinch on purpose to send the other guy to clear it out. Just had to remember to stay jussst a little behind him so you didn't get hit when it snapped or the starter released it. Lol, forgot all about that. Pretty funny, really. Before the modern backward-falling gate, there was a whole sub-culture in MX revolving around gaming the start. Make a heck of an article, RacerX. I volunteer to write it and feel well qualified. Remember the salute-start? Oh man, I had a doozie for that (depending on the bike). Well, if this is A.D.D., it ain't so bad.
Gee Weig. since you spoke to DV12 about CP377 why didn't you ask him if it was true about his practice bike deal.Why didn't you ask what everyone wants to know?
Does Yamaha ask JGR to share their 450 setup to the rest of the Yamaha supported 450 teams or not? Does JGR tell them to pound sand or not?
As questionable as the YZ450's looked to me so far, the JGR bikes seem to be at a different level than the rest, Milsaps in particular.
I think Yamaha's "no factory team" / "spread the wealth" program has a few chinks in it's armor as of yet, especially considering the YZ450's handling bugaboos. Honda had a lot of work to do on the '09-'11 450 chassis before it got to where Canard, Windham & Reed have it now but, I would wager it was all done in-house.
If #377 isn't going to come out & race, screw 'em. There's plenty of American Privateers that would give blood to have that opportunity.
On a side note, if #377 goes back to MX1 & daddy's bikes / team, Carioli, while I do have tremendous respect for what he's done, will have a legitimate struggle on his hands to repeat his 2010 title run.....IF he continues to be 350 mounted (and I don't think it's even an option in MXGP, it's either 350 or nothing).
Anyone else see problem with them making people sit out with concussions? i mean it seems like a good thing up front right? but eventully you will have a points leaders avoiding medical attention to ensure that they are able to race the next weekend.
Isn't Douche a French word? That explains it CP377 you are acting like a DOUCHE BAG!
I have to make make one small correction. Jeff Gibson was riding a KTM XC 250 that until a short time ago was sporting bark busters and a kick stand!
Alex Martin rocks and Izzi sux.
They did water the track right before the rain storm. If they would of left it dry the conditions would have been perfect.
Yeah here I am late agian no holshot, lol. I saw the Allesi gate destoy on Ali Sports I was LMAO cause I was known as a holeshot artest myself. There a lot of secrets to itand it gets harder against the better comp. I never got to rip off the gate though but got my front wheel over it before it was down.Not sure about those holeshot rigs as I never used one. It was real good that he came out as good as he did with the gate in his front end. Ya cant flinch but it is hard not to.Wonder why we dont use the old forwards falling starting gate anymore?????? Duh... they made a good jump.
@ Elsinore racer yes I remember the rubber band starts and would make the starter flinch for me. Saw A guy at Cole Valley ILL get hit with the band and it knokned him off the bike, It was from the class before us and someone took the band with them on the start The welt on that guy was not pretty.
Yea, saw guys get hit by the band (surgical tubing, I believe) , clothes-lined with the band, saw it break and get caught up in guys bikes. Sometimes the starter would release it (well, two of them) from the center, One would release and the other stick. The guys behind the stuck one would go anyway. I was on that side once, right next to the "holeshot" guy, and somehow it got up by his neck. I was right next to him, hung off sideways & ducked, and then kept on going. I heard carnage behind me. Ohh, the stories.
It seems to me that Millsaps isnt having any trouble sorting out his Yamaha, he seems fine with it..
@kilroy, buddy you gotta be the most observant person of the day around here, they did not water the track after the first moto's, mother nature took care of that for them.
Reed is the man!!
Tony Alessi went through 15 hours of neurological tests to be cleared by a doctor to attend the race.
After having looked & re-looked at the video and now the photo on this page, even after having blasted through the gate, Alessi was holeshotting the comp. Take away the hanging gate and that boy would've been G O N E!
Good to see Welker posting again......Welcome back.
Is Millsaps' contract up at the end of the MX season? I see no other reason he is trying so hard.
Who cares about CP anyway?? What a dickhead ! I know guys that would give their left nut for a chance like that!! He's always been pampered and waited on to his every whime. He was paid to race dirtbikes on the pro-level. He can't blame the Yamaha because he had plenty of time to get it setup right--I believe he seen he didn't stand a chance of running with RV,Chad,Dungey,Millsaps and Alessi so he did what he's good at-----weasle out!! If I was DV12--I would put one of the MANY young guns on that bike and send CP back to france. I feel for DV12--I'm sure going though all that trouble for him and getting a half-ass effort (no effort at all at Mt. Morris) would be plenty good reason to send him packin!! But any way--Good job RV---Millsaps-I was rootin for ya,you looked like you having fun!! Untill that little spill in the mud!
LOL Bill ur right that gate prolly is from China. CP is unhappy with the team. I agree with CP there;s a feel every rider looks for to be comfortable. No body hates on Reed for leaving Kawi. Bottom line Reedy said he never agreed with the bike so on that note its no secret that CP was not comfortable. The haters wont help CP when he gets hurt on that bike and trust me CP would not leave all that money on the table if he wasnt ready. Just like Theres a reason why PC bikes and the Geico are really good. I heard Malcolm looking to join PC 2012
Awsome pick of Alessi destroying the gate, JLaw could learn something here.
Not really a fan of arrogant riders, and CP is both arrogant and unprofessional. DV and his team do not deserve to be treated that way. RC would have ridden the bike till the wheels were square and showed up prepared. CP needs to go home and let a rider that wants to race have his ride.
Carlsbad.. All the testing JGR do and the amassed data are being sent back to yamaha.. Whether yamaha shares it with the other teams.. That I do not know.
As for CP... he's done... He's a real emberassment to the sport... ut hey? He's a frog.. So no surprises there... Maybe he's affected by what Strauss Kahn is going through? Ha,ha
And yes... KTM will stick by any means on the 350 program... They have pumped way to much resources in the program..
Shorts is choosing wisely to stick by KTM's strategy... He wants to ride next year.. Alessi... He better show some good results.. I see him making place for a certain Ryan.. ha,ha
Good to see RV2 back in the pack... And Milsaps is riding awesome!!! I tell you.. He's riding over his head as he wants to keep his ride... I hope he keeps going strong.. Talented rider!! And JGR deservs some success.. like their concept!!
Oh yeah... Motoconcept and CP are parting ways... Not yet official but will be made in the coming hours.. Or days... Ha,ha
Good riddance...
Motoconcepts let Pourcel go, finally. I hope he will return to Kawasaki next to Villo, top 3 every race
Jeez, I don´t believe all the unadulterated and misinformed crap I´m reading on here. You all act like you have inside information on the lowdown regarding CP and DV.
There is and always has been bad blood between the two of them and it don´t come from CP´s side. Trust me, I know a thing or two. But of course you nationalistic blinkered yanks would love to see CP piss off back to France (he´s French after all) so that he doesn´t whip your yankie asses. Damn, you guys are pathetic. Get over yourselves. Sorry, but the mighty USA is a thing of the past, history. Get used to it.
Mike... hey... CP is a talented fu**er..Never questionned that.. But the guy has a some attitude problems... And strangely, the frogs have a bad habit of giving us riders...
I have no problem with that as long as you make the results speak for themselves...
Sadly.. CP did not do this... Being a MX champion and winning 2x indoor titles are all great and well... Let's face it... You want to be the best.. Winning the SX crown and to a some lesser extent, the MX crown on US soil... Makes you einfach the best rider in the world.
And I am not even a yank...
I am sure, CP will head back to France and do a 2nd career a la Pichon... And rave on that.. And give a couple of hard ons to the frogs community... Good for France and the fans of CP...
Unless CP has the balls to go on another team and prove everybody wrong... But I seriously doubt that as he has tarnished big times his credibility...
And to my knowledge.. We are still in a middle of some crisis... Which really baffles me, how someone like CP acted as such...
CP377 is your typical Non-American wierdo.
Mike, See you at MXDN. =)
Certainly Alessi's holeshots have nothing at all to do with the fact that he weighs 47 pounds.
That starting gate apparently has slots at the pivot instead of holes.
He didn't jump the gate, the photo tells the tale that he was still behind the gate 10 feet out of the hole!
In recent years, all the euros that won MX2 championships and moved to USA to compete at the highest level have 0 USA MX titles. I will give you Langston's title = right place right time applies. Much like Dungey's SX title. Reedy won in 09, but we all know he is really American (spent the last 10 years in USA) and vacations in Australia.
@Mike.... HAHAHAHA. Yup CP has been kickin but over here.... SURE
hey mike- we would love to have CP racing here you fool. we just dont like whinning bitc-es like you. and see you at des nations and you can watch how washed up we are.
@mr.g. Sure you will show us how washed up you are. We hear that every year from someone in Europe. You guys act like Europe is one big country and will root for anyone from any country except the US> That mentality is what has driven American fans to not cheer for the majority of the riders who come here from the GP's. That Europe against the US that you Euro's push so hard. There are Euro's here in thier mid-twenties still racing the 250 class, and not winning titles. And they cant ride the Des Nations for thier country because they are too old. That should tell the guys it's time to move up..