By Bayo Olukotun
Photos by Brendan Lutes
Round two of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series was anything but ordinary. With a first-time winner in the Supercross class, and a battle in the Lites class that went down to the final lap, everyone in attendance at Chase Field was on their feet for most of the night. Bad luck also struck both James Stewart and Chad Reed. Stewart came together with Kyle Partridge during their heat race, ending in a trip to the Asterisk Mobile Medic truck for Stewart, while Reed reportedly injured his hand when coming together with Stewart during the main event in another crash that saw both riders hit the dirt. Following the race, tempers flared between the two riders, with Stewart allegedly paying a visit to Reed’s pits for a few words with the Kawasaki rider. Well have more on this in Monday Kickstart. Yes it was an eventful evening, but for more on all of the racing action, read on to find out exactly how it all went down.
Lites report is on the first page with the Supercross class report on the second page.
Supercross Lites Qualifying
Heat 1
Jake Weimer on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki took the holeshot and didn’t look back on his way to his second heat race win of the season. Behind the leader, TLD/Lucas Oil/Honda rider Wil Hahn established a solid second place, as his teammate, Cole Seely, made his way up to third. KTM Factory Service’s Sean Borkenhagen put in an excellent charge until the last lap as hometown hero, Ryan Clark, passed Sean for fourth.
1) Jake Weimer
2) Wil Hahn
3) Cole Seely
4) Ryan Clark
5) Sean Borkenhagen
6) Travis Baker
7) Jake Canada
8) Robert Kiniry
9) Jeff Alessi
Heat 2
Josh Hansen made an aggressive move for the holeshot, coming out with the lead, followed by Rockstar/Suzuki/Canidae’s Ryan Morais, Phil Nicoletti, and Chris Gosselaar. The tricky sand section began to play a factor, first taking teammates Geico Powersports/Honda Trey Canard and Blake Wharton down, then Ryan Morais a few laps later. At the finish, Hansen was able to claim his first heat race win. Notable finishes go to Wharton and DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin who were both far out of qualifying positions during the heat, but managed to work their way up.
1) Josh Hansen
2) Ryan Morais
3) Phil Nicoletti
4) Tommy Searle
5) Chris Gosselaar
6) Gautier Paulin
7) Blake Wharton
8) Max Anstie
9) Ben Evans
Lites LCQ
Broc Tickle had a great start and never looked back, although Hunter Hewitt snuck into the leave for a second. At the finish though, it was Tickle and Trey Canard making it to the main.
Lites Main Event
Josh Hansen nabbed the holeshot, but went down only a turn later with Blake Wharton taking over the lead. Jake Weimer, Trey Canard, and Ryan Morais followed not far behind. Weimer was not interested in patience and was ready to get out front early, attempting a second lap pass on Wharton, but was quickly shut down. Not far behind the lead pack was the TLD duo of Cole Seely and Wil Hahn.
As the laps wore on, Wharton seemed quite comfortable and secured a two second cushion on second placed Weimer, who was forced to battle with Morais. Canard was still feeling the effects of his heat race crash, and while he was overtaken by Wil Hahn, he began his fight back.
Back up front, Morais was able to get around Weimer, and with Wharton making a small mistake, Morais was able to sneak right up on the Honda rider’s rear wheel.
The ensuing laps were as intense as racing gets with Morais pressuring Wharton, eventually forcing the Geico rider into a mistake with a block pass. Weimer got around Wharton only a few turns later. With free track head of him, Morais put on a charge, but Weimer did not hesitate for the lead, pushing past Morais for the lead with less than two laps to the finish and managed to stay there to the checkers.
1) Jake Weimer
2) Ryan Morais
3) Blake Wharton
4) Wil Hahn
5) Broc Tickle
6) Cole Seely
7) Trey Canard
8) Tommy Searle
9) Bobby Kiniry
10) Phil Nicoletti
11) Travis Baker
12) Gautier Paulin
13) Jeff Alessi
14) Ryan Clark
15) Max Anstie
16) Sean Borkehagen
17) Ben Evans
18) Chris Gosselaar
19) Jake Canada
20) Josh Hansen
TAGS: Blake Wharton, chad reed, crash, first time, jake weimer, james stewart, josh hill, lites, Monster energy, phoenix, Race Report, ryan dungey, ryan morais, ryan villopoto, supercross
