by Chase Stallo
450 Moto 1 Report: Thunder Valley
Saturday, June 25, 2011 | 3:50 PM
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PrintThe biggest question heading into Round 5 of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship was who could handle the…wait for it…altitude! Altitude has been the theme of the week, and everyone from the riders, to mechanics had to make adjustments heading into the thin air of Thunder Valley.
Christian Craig was once again the darling of the first moto, as the Troy Lee / Lucas Oil Honda rider would grab his second holeshot of the year with all the big guns in tow. Reed would round the first corner in second with the Ryan’s right on his heels. Josh Grant in only his second race of the season would round out the top-five.
Reed would pressure Craig early and often but Craig was steadfast in holding off the point’s leader advances. With Villopoto breathing down his neck, Reed made a strong move on Craig and the two came together with Reed getting the worst of the deal, leaving the door open for Villopoto to move into second. Unlike Reed, Villopoto was able to get around Craig early. Craig would fall off the pace of the leaders shortly after, as he was gobbled up by Reed and Dungey.
With Villopoto beginning to widen the gap between himself and Reed, Dungey began to make his move on Reed for second. But Dungey would make a mistake and drop it in a corner allowing Reed to gain some breathing room. Dungey was down but not out, as he charged right back at Reed and was finally able to chase down the points leader late in the race and make the pass for second.
Villopoto would cruise to the moto one win, followed by Dungey, Reed, and the not yet retried Kevin Windham. Mike Alessi would take fifth, with Craig finishing sixth after a tremendous start. Andrew Short, Ricky Dietrich, Brett Metcalfe and Jake Canada would round out the top-ten.
Just when thing started to go right for Josh Grant he was once again struck down by the injury bug. Grant had to pull out of the race early while running fifth after he reportedly injured his already surgically repaired knee. Stay tuned for more reports on Grant's injury as they come down the wire.
450 Moto 1 Results
- Villopoto
- Dungey
- Reed
- Windham
- Alessi
- Craig
- Short
- Dietrich
- Metcalfe
- Canada
- Hahn
- Albertson
- Wey
- Brayton
- LaMay
- Hames
- T. Sewell
- Friese
- Weimer
- S. Sewell
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holeshot
Get used to it people.VP2 is about to go on a a$$ kicking spree for several weeks in a row.
What a bummer for Grant... hopefully he's not hurt too bad.
You would barely know who the top 3 were if you were watching Fuel TV's terrible coverage! They need to get a moto guy in charge in a hurry. If they are going to show 30 minutes of a moto they need to spend at least 20 of it on the top 3. Especially when the battle for 2nd lasts 15 minutes. Instead they shoy 15 to 20 minutes of 5th through 15th. That is not what we are tuning in to watch unless they are banging bars and pass/re-pass action is going down. Figure it out FAST PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!
I think so too Fred !!!
Dungey and Villopoto are going to make a deadly Team USA this year.
If Reed's streak continues he'll smoke the Ryan's in the 2nd moto, after every first moto I don't think it's going to happen and then he goes out and earns the overall and doesn't lose any points . . . he is a Bad Dude but would like to see RV tighten it up to a 7 point gap in moto 2 . . . bummer about JG33, the look in his eye with Erin leads me to believe his summer is over, hopefully not, he has had a rough 6 months and deserves to be competing.
Great, sponsor-bot wins again. Sounds like he's stuck at 1.5 talking speed when he rambles them off.
Great job RV, and great interview on the podium afterwords. Brillant. Lets hope Grant isnt hurt too bad, and lets hope Reed doesnt rebound for moto 2 like always. RV needs a one one for the day.
This is were Dungey has to fiqure out how to get in front quicker. He made the move on Reed a slight bobble, but lost to much time to Poto.He knows there is 300lbs of love waiting for him at the finish line, daisy dukes and all. So go get it boy, quit messing around, never mind the tattoo of her dad on her back. Its your last chance. Other than that, Poto looked good. Lets see if Reed is saving something for the 2nd moto. Does anybody feel that Grant is Done! I know, dumb question. I know those are working hard out there, been to Thunder Valley, and after 3 days I was beat. And that was from the sidelines.
@bd200, did you even listen to the interview afterwards? He may as well just hold up a sign with sponsors logos on it. I hope Dungery and Reed blow him off the track second race.
Sponsor-bot, how about advertising droid. Like a red haired R2D2 roaming around the pits thanking everyone. Again for Josh, he looked like he was in so much pain.I know he tries hard and is talented, but he is just tearing himself up. That knee can only take so much. Get well Josh! And what happened to Millsaps? Saw he was in the mechanics area.
"everyone from the riders, to mechanics had to make adjustments heading into the thick air of Thunder Valley"
If the elevation is higher, isn't the air thinner?
Wow, go figure that Grant is hurt again. I bet Honda wishes they never signed him.
If moto-poto doesn't stop thanking everyone and get off the podium, he's going to miss the next 2nd moto.
mine came in french had to translate to english, not as clear as alli site but its live :)
http://fr.justin.tv/komersant#/w/1386163968
Is anybody getting tired of listening to Jason W. laughing like a little boy in the background? Is it me or does anybody else hear it? Beside, he don't know moto, he just talks smack, fill in type talk. He don't have a clue. Get David Bailey in there!
Hey Fred,
SEE MOTO 2, YOUR BOY RV GOT HIS A$$ HANDED TO HIM
This is awsome more Windham and less Stewart what a great year !
RV sounds as tired of rattling off those sponsor names as we are of hearing them.
Ahhh @FRED - that's a negative dude. Waaaaaay Off.
Kiwimxer, guess it didnt happen did it?? Reed didnt blow away nothing--hahaha!!
To those of you that are tired of hearing sponsors, just turn off the TV or the computer. You know that they HAVE to mention their sponsors. That is why the sponsors pay them! Part of the riders job is to repay the sponsors for their financial support by mentioning their names on TV and displaying their logos. It is called BRANDING which helps businesses sell products. If you watched the race, why do you need to hear what the riders are saying anyway? Just turn down the sound and quit complaining. Remember this...if the riders didn't have sponsors, you wouldn't have races to watch. There would be no teams, and no coverage at all, just like it was back in the old days. You cannot have it both ways.