The storied racing facility delivered yet another excellent night of racing. As is always expected, the Daytona track designed by Ricky Carmichael broke down significantly as the night went on, challenging racers and thrilling the fans. More than a few riders hit the dirt but the championships in both classes grew ever more interesting. Read on to find out who were the victors, who is still in the hunt, and who needs to get back to work.
Lites Qualifying
Sean Lipanovich jumped out to an early lead ahead of his Honda of Troy teammate Darryn Durham, MotoConcepts/Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes, and Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Austin Stroupe. All were able to over take Lipanovich in the first lap, and Durham suddenly had a comfortable lead. Stroupe was evetually able to make his way past Sipes but then had a battle on his hands with Durham. Further back, Dean Wilson, who had a terrible start, quickly made his way through the pack, and in the closing laps was able to make it up to fourth. Out front, Stroupe put up a very strong fight with Durham and after several laps, was finally able to seal the deal. At the finish it was Stroupe, Durham, Sipes, and Wilson.
In the second heat, Brett Metcalfe on his Geico Powersports/Honda and TISCO Racing’s Kyle Cunningham had an early lead but both were quickly over taken in the second straight by the number one machine of Christophe Pourcel on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki. Justin Barcia was not far behind in fourth and was quickly on the move, overtaking Cunningham through the rhythm before the finish line. But Pourcel did not wait long to take over the lead and never looked back and the finishing order behind the winner was Metcalfe, Barcia, and Cunningham.
Lites Main
Austin Stroupe grabbed the holeshot, followed by Blake Baggett who put in a quick move to over take the lead by the second turn. Stroupe was not about to led that stand though and was able to retake the lead over the tricky triple step on step off section. Christophe Pourcel, who began within the top five rapidly worked his way into second and began to work on catching his current series rival, Stroupe.
In the opening laps the running order was Stroupe, Pourcel, Baggett, Wilson, Sipes, and Metcalfe. On the fifth lap, things heated up as Pourcel reignited his charge for the lead, forcing his way up to, and then past Stroupe through one of the rougher sections of the course. Impressively, two rookies in the field, Blake Baggett and Dean Wilson were both holding within striking distance and holding. In the closing laps, Wilson was finally able to make the pass on Baggett. Wilson was still within passing distance of Stroupe, and with the track rapidly breaking down one little mistake would have allowed Wilson to make his move. But the mistake never came and at the checkered flag it was the red number one machine of Christophe Pourcel, taking his third race in as many tries. A noteworthy ride came from Justin Barcia who pushed his way from seventh for most of the main to making a last lap pass on Ryan Sipes for fifth.
Results
1) Christophe Pourcel
2) Austin Stroupe
3) Dean Wilson
4) Blake Baggett
5) Justin Barcia
6) Ryan Sipes
7) Brett Metcalfe
8) Darryn Durham
9) Kyle Cunningham
10) Martin Davalos
11) Vince Friese
12) Alex Martin
13) Nico Izzi
14) James Decotis
15) Josh Lichtle
16) Jake Moss
17) Troy Adams
18) Kyle Keylon
19) Michael Willard
20) Levi Kilbarger
Points
1) Christophe Pourcel 75
2) Austin Stroupe 66
3) Dean Wilson 53
4) Brett Metcalfe 50
5) Blake Baggett 44
6) Justin Barcia 39
7) Ryan Sipes 39
8) Nico Izzi 30
9) Vince Friese 29
10) Jake Moss 27
TAGS: Austin Stroupe, Christophe Pourcel, daytona, dean wilson, Race Report, racing, ryan dungey, ryan villopoto, supercross, trey canard
