Race Report - Thunder Valley
Chris
- June 28 2009
- 18,008 views
- 29 comments
MOTOCROSS MOTO ONE
Ivan Tedesco nabbed the holeshot on his Red Bull Honda, followed very closely by Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Mike Alessi who chose to ride despite his fractured knee cap. That decision proved perhaps not be in his best interest as he was taken down after only a few turns, causing him some pain to the point that he needed help remounting, although he eventually pulled off.
But out front it was all Hot Sauce, as the Honda rider certainly turned the heat up and pushed to open up about an eight second lead. Tedesco’s teammate, Andrew Short, who did not have the best of starts had worked his way up to second by the ten minute mark. Following behind the lead Red Bull riders were three Aussies in a row, Lucas Oils/TLD/Honda’s Jake Moss, and Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s teammates Michael Byrne and Chad Reed.
Josh Grant, another rider with a poor start, had worked his way up to sixth on his Toyota/JGR/Yamaha. At the halfway mark, though, Grant picked off another rider, Byrne, on his charge toward the front. Putting in a very impressive ride was Jake Moss, with his best performance of the year running in third place and at times was pressuring Short for second. Running behind the top four were Grant, Byrne, Canidae/Motosport/Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn, and Lucas Oils/TLD/Honda’s Chris Blose.
In the closing laps Reed, the current points leader, began to close on Moss in an effort to maintain his points lead over Short. However, Moss was not ready to give up his position so quickly and held off his elder statesman for several laps before relinquishing third place.
Out front, Tedesco looked strong, smooth, and confident as he rounded the course. In the final lap, he continued to charge and really seemed to finally be coming into his own as a 450 rider. At the finish, Hot Sauce claimed his first ever moto win.
1. Ivan Tedesco
2. Andrew Short
3. Chad Reed
4. Jake Moss
5. Josh Grant
6. Michael Byrne
7. Tommy Hahn
8. Chris Blose
9. Kyle Summers
10. Jimmy Albertson
MOTOCROSS MOTO TWO
With holeshot artist Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Mike Alessi electing to sit out the second moto due to his knee injury, first moto winner Red Bull Honda’s Ivan Tedesco took the holeshot with his teammate Andrew Short close behind, Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Michael Byrne third, Canidae/Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn fourth, and Monster Energy Kawsaki’s Ricky Dietrich fifth. As the first lap unfolded, Tedesco and Short began a close battle for the lead, however, by the completion of the first lap, Tedesco has opened up a relatively comfortable lead over Short.
As the laps went by, Tedesco’s lead began to grow just like it did in the first moto. Short sat in second while Hahn managed to pass Byrne to take over third. From there, things remained relatively calm up front. Meanwhile, current points leader Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Chad Reed was attempting to work his way up from eighth after suffering from a poor start. With roughly 10 minutes remaining in the race, Hahn began to inch closer on Short and pressure the Honda rider for second. A few laps later, Hahn made a pass on Short in a long sweeper turn. After that, Hahn began to open up a small margin over Short, however, it didn’t last long as Short managed to close back up on Hahn and retake the runner-up position. When the raced wrapped up, Tedesco crossed the line first followed by Short in second, Hahn third, Byrne fourth, and JGR/Yamaha’s Josh Grant fifth. The overall win went to double moto winner Tedesco. It was the Red Bull Honda rider’s first-ever Motocross class victory.
1. Ivan Tedesco
2. Andrew Short
3. Tommy Hahn
4. Michael Byrne
5. Josh Grant
6. Ricky Dietrich
7. Chad Reed
8. Cody Cooper
9. Jimmy Albertson
10. Kyle Summers
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June 28th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Sick
June 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Poor Mike ,just trying to get some points and Josh Grant just cleans him out,what a dumb a$$.
June 28th, 2009 at 11:38 am
you might wanna take a refresher course on takeouts mate! cause that wasn't one.. but ya right they all should've taken it easy on him he was just trying to make points in the same championship they are all going for… if mike wants to ride injured he has to take the consequences
June 28th, 2009 at 11:49 am
and while i'm on it how about the pile up he caused when he couldn't get off the track? fair enough if he couldn't get off the track because he got hurt in the crash but that was ridiculous and then apparently it was ok to do some more laps… love drama much?
June 28th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
give the kid a break, that pileup was his fault, but he had to try, now he did, now he can let it recover. Josh grant was simply at a faster pace, he was in front of allessi, mike shoulda let off and let him by, he wasnt at race speed
June 28th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
How do the points look now? Short must be close
June 28th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Short is still 14 points back. He had some bad finishes at the begining of the season.
I feel bad for alessi too. They guy just wants to go out and compete. I tore my acl 2 weekends ago and it kills me not to race.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Alessi didn`t cause the pileup ,that corner was a mess it had two lines that ran together over an off camber. Hell Mike tried to go wide but Grant came across and took has front end out. Also Grant could have easly passed him later in the race ,so why does he have to be a dick.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
yep
June 28th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Karma, that guy has been the dirtiest rider in the industry. We all clap when it comes back to roost. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, and on top of all that Tedesco got the win. Do we remember Glen Helen when Mike stood on Ivan's bike to try and make him loose the championship. Props to Ivan
June 28th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Josh Grant is my new HERO! Not only is he cool as all get out, but when he took a$$ munch out, I laughed so hard out loud - yes LOL! Go 33!!!
June 28th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
hell yeah, I'd love to see tedesco keep this up..
June 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
yea team honda!!!!
June 28th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Maybe you as watchin somethin different. Mike's front end came out of the rut and he made the contact with grant. Josh didnt do anything, he was holdin his line and Mike hit him. And also, Mike should really keep his dad off the camera, he makes the whole Alessi family look like shi*. He shulda got his facts together before making such a bold statement
June 28th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
ok you just contradicted yourself in the same post, confusing much? You said the lines came together but Grant still tried to take him out? The truth is it wasnt either of them that is at fault, that corner had an inside (which grant used) that shades to the outside and is on the outside by the end of the corner. The outside (which alessi was in) sahdes to the inside and is on the inside by end of the corner, two lines that cross have a comtact point in the middle just to take us back to geometry real quick. so what more is ther to say about this situation? GO TEDESCO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 28th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
good to see the honda riders up front, its about time, where the hell is josh hill at did he even race?
June 28th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
That was the stupidest move by Josh Grant! Why would he cut clear across the corner to take alessi out that early in the race when he could've easily passed him probably down that next straight. Also "The Truth," Mike has no control of whether his dad is on camera during the race.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Fu$%in please. If you go back and watch it, Josh cleary did not go wide to take Alessi out. Alessi popped out of his line and it just happened to happen where both lines ran together. So technically it was neither of there fault. Maybe you people should watch it again and get your shi$ straight, and stop tryin to find somethin to bitch about. From the sound of it the majority of you have never even been in a MX race (D class does not count). Shi$ happens, people get hit, people go down, its part of the game.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:41 am
hell yea for my honda boys
June 29th, 2009 at 3:22 am
A dick? Dude, do you watch many races? The first laps are carnage, a scramble for everyone to pass as far up as they can while the pack is tight. Alessi was clearly off the pace and most passes at that track were pretty close - the track was tight. He put himself in danger by getting in front of a bunch of faster riders, and that particular turn was a mess as far as the lines go - Grant just dove to the inside to make a pass, he didn't brake check him or anything. Totally a racing incident and more so Alessi's fault than anyone's.
And it would suck to always have to be embarrassed by a dumb ass father.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:28 am
Wow! Drama. The Alessi's are not very good at losing but did anyone notice the interview with Reedy after the first moto? Erin asked him about his thoughts on Alessi's return and boy did she get a quote! You really want to like these guys but sometimes their mouths make it so hard. On the upside Tedesco and Short make nice guys look good on the podium. Tedesco looked great, he starting to look like Carmichael out there! Here's looking for a great finish to the series!
June 29th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I agree whach the moto 1 highlites slowly and you will see
June 29th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Ooops thats not Tyla. its Searl
July 1st, 2009 at 7:48 am
its funny when people argue on this forum swap, hahah thanks for making it into twmx.com, some of this stuff can actually be mildly enertaining (btw ur boy mike sleeter was killing it at starwest 2day)
July 1st, 2009 at 5:30 pm
to all you wanna be bench racers, shut up, and to THE TRUTH Grant did take Alessi out because mike wouldnt have flipped like that just by popping out of the rut, and GRant almost went off the track, so get your facts right before you criticize others. 2nd to all alessi haters, he is not as much of a dirty rider as you think, he may have had a mishap back in 2005 at glen helen with standing on tedescos bike, but he also crashed later in that moto and got landed on which fractured his wrist and if you go back to 2007 at glen helen, instead of him taking langston out, langston let him by and he waved to him. Also grant has no room to talk because he has taking people out before not only at lakewood with alessi but back in the 2008 supercross season when he hit villopoto, which caused villopoto to dnf the race and screw up his title run. And i didnt see anyone else racing lakewood with a knee broken in 3 places like alessi was doing
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:34 am
I hate to wish ill will on a rider but I hope Josh Grant gets a taste of his own medicine real real soon.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 am
I enjoy not knowing whos going to win the race before it starts as much as the next guy, but let's have a little reality check here. If Stewart were out there it would be another easy 24-0 that's a fact. The best chance we had at a real top level battle for the title would have been Villopoto vs the only guy to stay on the same lap as Stewart last year Mike Alessi ( Who consistenly beat all these other guys by 30+ seconds last year and early this year). With all due respect to Ivan and Shorty and Reed we are watching Busch not Nascar right now.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
What? I couldnt hear youwith Mike's co@k in mouth. And noone else raced with broken kneecap bc they arent dumba$$e$ like mike. And if Grant was to take mike out, it woulda bee a hell of alot wore than him fallin over.