Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thanks to the extended day here in Colorado I actually have time to blog! I also drank a lot of iced tea at lunch today, and somehow it had the same effect/affect as an energy drink. Perhaps it's the altitude or perhaps I'm just a wuss. Anyway, here's the scoop from Thunder Valley, and remember, we're live on SPEED tonight at 11 pm EST.
Mike Alessi is here, racing and ready. He was actually walking around on the starting line before practice to stay loose, and he told me he's gonna go for it--not racing is not an option. He has rip tape all over the left side of his bike, even the shroud is all grip tape, because he has no strength in the leg and needs every bit of help hanging on as he can. The report earlier in the week was that Mike couldn't sit down in turns because he couldn't bend his leg enough, but he was able to both sit and stand today. He was pretty off the pace in the first session, but improved to 14th in session two, and his times seemed to get faster and faster each lap.
What's his biggest concern? His dad told me the quad muscle (thigh) is connected to the knee cap, so Mike has a really hard time lifting his leg up for corners.
Josh Grant was the fastest rider overall in the 450s today, but Ivan Tedesco and Andrew Short looked really good to me as well, and they were third and second fastest. IT looked especially strong to me. But how about Jake Moss topping everyone in session two. Yes, Jake Moss, fastest out of every rider in 450 session two. Way to go Ping, and now the motoxdream.com fantasy site is blowing up with people adding Moss to their team.
Tim Ferry is here racing again and he was tenth fastest. Good to see Red Dog back again.
In 250s, "The Crafty Frenchman" turned in the fastest time overal based on his fast time in session one, but in session two he totally cruised the whole time--I love the mind games from this guy. Everyone is talking about how the kid never rides or trains. I say, don't believe everything he's putting out there. Also, The Monster/PC Kawi team has won every 250 race here, and I think their bikes are an even bigger advantage than usual when power is at a premium in the altitude. So I expect Weimer and Rattray to be up there, too.
Martin Davalos is back after battling a broken leg from supercross (the he hurt again at Glen Helen), and he was second fastest. But Davalos was in the unseeded practice session so he rode a different track than everyone else.
They added two more light banks this year so we have nine instead of seven, that's about 30 percent more light so it should help.
Women's moto is about to begin...I gotta get to the TV truck. Enjoy the show tonight!
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
