Race Report – Southwick

By Brendan Lutes

Photos by Jeff Kardas

As if the title chase in both classes during this year’s Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship couldn’t get any more exciting; throw in the deep sand of the MX338 race track in Southwick, Massachusetts, along with torrential rains from the approaching Hurricane Irene and you have a recipe for one exciting day of racing at round 10 of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship Series.
In the 450 class, things didn’t disappoint as Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe took home the overall victory, getting redemption after last year’s heart-breaking lose where he ran out of gas while leading the first moto with less than one lap remaining. As for the championship contenders, though, two of the three had bad luck, as Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey missed the start of the second moto, forcing him to play catch up for the entire race, and TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda’s Chad Reed succumbed to bike problems in the first moto, garnering no points and ultimately ending his championship chase.
As for the 250 Class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray took home the overall victory with a 2-1 moto score, while current points leader, and Rattray’s teammate, Dean Wilson finished second overall after finishing 3-2. For Rattray, though, the win marked his second consecutive victory at the sandy Southwick racetrack.

450 Moto 1
When the gate hit the dirt for the start of the first moto of the day it was Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey taking the holeshot ahead of his teammate Brett Metcalfe, Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi, Factory Honda’s Justin Barcia, and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Before the completion of the first lap, though, Villopoto already moved into third behind Metcalfe. His quick move into second, however, didn’t go unnoticed by Barcia, though, as the young Honda rider bagan to put pressure on the Kawasaki rider. As for title contender TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda’s Chad Reed, he sat in sixth behind Alessi. Reed would ultimately, though, drop out of the race due to a mechanical issue with his CRF450R.
Before things got settled down, Villopoto managed to pull away from Barcia and work his way around Metcalfe for second. After roughly half a lap of battling, Villopoto managed to pull away from the Suzuki rider. Meanwhile, Dungey began to open up a sizeable lead over Villopoto and the rest of the field while Metcalfe dropped back and started to get pressure from Barcia for third. It didn’t take long, though, for the youngster to move his way around the Australian for third. A few laps later, though, Barcia’s bike quit, forcing him to withdraw from the race and handing third back over to Metcalfe.
As the race progressed, the riders settled into their respective positions, allowing Dungey to ride away to the moto win over Villopoto, Metcalfe, Alessi, and Canadian rider Colton Facciotti. It’s also worth noting that local favorite John Dowd finished out the moto in ninth.

Results:
1.    Ryan Dungey (Suz)
2.    Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
3.    Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
4.    Mike Alessi (KTM)
5.    Colton Facciotti (Yam)
6.    Jake Weimer (Kaw)
7.    Justin Brayton (Yam)
8.    Les Smith (Yam)
9.    John Dowd (Kaw)
10.    Robert Marshall (KTM)

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450 Moto 2:
The second moto is where things got interesting for first moto winner Dungey. Due to unexplained bike issues, Dungey missed the start of the race and was forced to come from behind. When the pack thundered through the first turn, though, JGR/Muscle Milk/Toyota’s Justin Brayton jumped out to the early lead ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer and Barcia. Behind the frontrunners, Reed went down in the first turn, effectively ending his day. Meanwhile, Dungey’s team got his bike running and quickly delivered the bike to him at the starting line just as the pack was concluding the first lap.
During the second lap, Barcia worked his way past Brayton to take over the lead while Weimer held down third with his teammate Villopoto in fourth. A lap later, though, and Villopoto had moved his way past Weimer, and soon after Metcalfe also moved around Weimer when the Kawasaki rider bobbled. Shortly after that, Metcalfe worked his way past Villopoto down a muddy rough straight to take over third. From there, Metcalfe set his sights on Brayton in second and before the moto concluded, the Suzuki rider closed the gap and promptly passed the JGR MX rider to take over the runner-up position. From there, the running order remained the same as Barcia motored away to take his first-ever 450 moto victory ahead of Metcalfe, Brayton, Vilopoto, and Weimer. In the overall, Metcalfe’s consistent 3-2 score netted him his first-ever overall victory, while Villopoto took hom second overall, with Dungey completing the podium after climbing his way all the way up to seventh before the second moto concluded.

Results:
1.    Justin Barcia (Hon)
2.    Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
3.    Justin Brayton (Yam)
4.    Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
5.    Jake Weimer (Kaw)
6.    Mike Alessi (KTM)
7.    Ryan Dungey (Suz)
8.    John Dowd (Kaw)
9.    Les Smith (Yam)
10.    Kyle Chisholm (Yam)

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