STEWART GETS HIS FIRST WHILE HANSEN TAKES ANOTHER WIN
By Brendan Lutes
Photos by Chris Kinman
The second round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series wrapped up inside Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, this weekend with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Yamaha’s James Stewart taking top honors in their respective classes. For Stewart, the win was his first of the season, and solidified him as a title contender as the season heads into round three next weekend in Los Angeles. Currently Stewart sits in second in points only two points back from Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto.
In the Lites class, Hansen once again came away with the win. It was his second consecutive of the season and also boosted his points lead to six over teammate Broc Tickle. With intense battles for second and third behind him, Hansen was patient and rode off to take the win without making any major mistakes.
LITES CLASS
After taking the win in their heat races, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates, Josh Hansen and Tyla Rattray came into the main event as the heavy favorites. When the gate hit the dirt and the pack rounded the first turn, though, it was another Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider, Broc Tickle, taking the holeshot followed by Rockstar Suzuki’s Ryan Morais, Hansen, and Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen. Within only a couple laps, though, Hansen had already made a pass on Morais for second and began to set his sights on his teammate Tickle out front.
As the laps continued, Tickle and Hansen started to open up a comfortable lead over an intense battle for third between Morais, Roczen, and Cunningham. At the halfway mark, Roczen went down hard in the sand section, causing Cunningham to run into him. One lap later, Tickle went down when he lost the front end in a turn, handing the lead to Hansen and bumping Morais up to third. That was all it took for Hansen to open up a sizeable gap over second and never look back. But behind him, a battle began to heat up once again for second between Morais and Tickle. After some close racing, Tickle managed to make a pass on Morais to take over second. From there, the top running order never changed as Hansen ran off to his second consecutive win of the season, with Tickle second and Morais third. Cole Seely and Eli Tomac completed the top-five positions.
RESULTS:
1. Josh Hansen (Kaw)
2. Broc Tickle (Kaw)
3. Ryan Morais (Suz)
4. Cole Seely (Hon)
5. Eli Tomac (Hon)
6. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)
7. Jimmy Decotis (Hon)
8. Travis Baker (Hon)
9. Martin Davalos (Suz)
10. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)
11. Jake Canada (Kaw)
12. Ben Evans (Kaw)
13. Bruce Rutherford (Kaw)
14. Antonio Balbi (Kaw)
15. Nick Paluzzi (Yam)
16. Casey Hinson (KTM)
17. Ryan Marmont (KTM)
18. Scott Champion (Kaw)
19. Ken Roczen (KTM)
20. Christian Craig (Hon)
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS LITES WEST COAST POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 7 rounds):
1. Josh Hansen (50/2 wins)
2. Broc Tickle (44)
3. Ryan Morais (35)
4. Tyla Rattray (35)
5. Cole Seely (34)
6. Martin Davalos (30)
7. Eli Tomac (27)
8. Travis Baker (26)
9. Kyle Cunningham (19)
10. Nick Paluzzi (18)
TAGS: chase field, dirt bike, josh hansen, motocross, mx, phoenix, supercross, supercross 2011, SX
