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In what can only be considered as another revelation in the 450's, Davi Millsaps rode like a man possessed and kept the hammer down hard in both motos to go 3-2 for 3rd overall. He started right up front and finished right up front in both motos, getting passed only twice in the process (once by Ben Townley, and once by Josh Grant). Let's see if he can keep it going.
In a weekend full of great and somewhat surprising rides, Tommy Searle cannot be overlooked. The FMF/KTM Factory rider briefly held the lead after battling a while with Canard and following Pourcel's crash. He then battled a couple of laps with Pourcel, before the Frenchman finally got around. Searle did end up 2nd in the first moto though, showing extreme speed and also that the new 2011 KTM250SXF he was riding seems to have the bugs worked out. Having said all that, moto two was a mess - a bent shifter dropped him back from around the top 5 to 10th, then a crash on the same shoulder that he's recovering from injury left him unable to hold on and he pulled off. At press time, it was not clear whether he'll be on the line for Glen Helen's GP this weekend, or even for Round 2 of the Nationals in Texas the following Saturday.
Heading off the revelation train for Hangtown was, of course, 17 year old Eli Tomac on the #243 Geico Powersports Honda. In a pro debut that's been sort of purposely downplayed to remove as much pressure as possible, Tomac's on everyone's radar now, that much is for sure. He simply LOOKED faster in both motos, he SOUNDED faster in both motos, and his results show that he indeed WAS faster. He also nailed the fastest 250 laptime of the day and had the fourth fastest lap out of either class all day. Had it not been for a slight mishap in moto one (following, of course by a slight mishap by Pourcel which put Tomac in the lead to begin with), the kid would've taken a double-moto victory in his very first Pro national race. He rode unbelievably well and, despite claiming to be 'beat' while running that torrid pace, he made very few mistakes and had little trouble keeping a good gap on Canard to clinch the 2nd moto and overall victory.
There hasn't been much talk about Nico Izzi, but take a look at how skinny he looks. He's clearly been hittin' the training quite a bit harder than he had been in the past, well either that or he fixed a problem with his diet. Nico went 22-12 for 18th. Not up to speed, but the injuries to his heels he's been trying to overcome were horrific.
Darryn Durham had a remarkable weekend too. His speed's been good in the past during some outdoor rounds, but after a downright miserable supercross series with the Honda of Troy squad, his speed and racing ability was put into doubt. Well, go ahead and forget that, because Durham rode great all weekend and was on the absolute cutting edge of fast guys out front for quite a while in both motos. In moto one, apparently a dislodged contact lens prevented a better finish, but moto two was better and after dicing a while for 2nd, he ended up 6th. After not racing for a couple of months following a hard crash in supercross, Durham should get quicker in no time.
Ryan Dungey's 450 class motocross debut ride could've gone better. It could've gone worse too, but we're betting he's thinking not by much. Ryan never looked like himself and two poor starts in addition to stalling the bike once sure didn't help his result. According to team personnel, Ryan hadn't spent much time at all working on his outdoor setup and he wasn't feeling all that comfortable yet, and that they'd be focusing on that in the following two weeks. The odd part is that the settings should've been similar to what he'd run at the MXoN last September, since the track and surface were somewhat comparable. Regardless, Dungey should find his big bike legs soon and be a force to be reckoned with as the title chase unwinds. 22 motos to go, folks.
Blake Baggett looked awesome in the first moto, even putting a beautiful pass on Jake Weimer early on before eventually getting passed back. Baggett did run right in the middle of the super-fast pack up front though, ending up 6th. The 2nd moto was not so good, as Blake went down hard just before the first turn along with Drew Gosselaar and was very slow to get back up. Word is that he's just fine, nothing's broken, he's just sore.
Dang that Ken DeDycker guy from Belgium looks funky on a bike, but you know what? He goes pretty good! His style is actually a lot of fun to watch, and in the photo report we compared it to a cross between David Vuillemin and Davi Millsaps. While his bike wasn't quite as stock as was first reported (he brought over his own suspension, wheels and pipe), it still wasn't his bike and he was out of his element. Still, all things considered, he finished roughly where he would've in a GP (maybe slightly worse), so his performance was totally solid from just about any angle you look at it from. Plus, it was cool having him there. DeDycker - 9th overall with 8-11 rides.
Grant Langston (or Granite Langstone if he were a character on The Flintstones) didn't have the greatest day, either. The 2007 450 outdoor champ just seemed a bit timid out there, although he did mix it up a few times with the front group. The team formerly known as JLaw Racing, for whom Grant was riding, has apparently folded since the race weekend and that leaves Grant out in the cold for upcoming Nationals and the Glen Helen GP this weekend. Hopefully he'll get something worked out, it'd be a shame for him to work this hard for a comeback and get stiffed.
Kyle Regal had a pretty solid weekend in his return to the sport. A bit of a controversial figure for a rider who's never even completed an entire pro season, Regal is seen by many to have the goods necessary to make it to the top. Apparently, though, his step-dad has a bit of the Tony Alessi Syndrome and insists things be done his way in order to make the best situation for Kyle. For Hangtown, Kyle was on a Honda tuned by Merge Racing, who apparently did a pretty solid job considering the company he found himself in on the track (that's Josh Grant and Ken DeDycker with him here). Kyle went 19-9, which wasn't spectacularly good, but that 2nd moto top 10 in a fairly solid field of non-injured top guys is at least remarkable.
These two guys - Red Bull Honda Racing teammates Andrew Short and Davi Millsaps - are rumored to be battling for a job for next year. With one of the spots apparently already spoken for by Canard, these guys may be scrambling all summer long for that last spot. If Hangtown's any indication, Shorty may be in for a very long summer, because Millsaps was on fire.
The podium finishers in each class received these sweet copper gold-panning... pans. When they asked Eli Tomac what he was going to do with his, he said something to the effect of 'give it to my mom and she can cook in it'. The area is known as a primary point for the California gold rush in the mid-1800's, and the molehill-like mounds around the area were actually formed by prospectors sifting through the soils looking for nuggets.
Oh and the Rockstar babe's not bad either.
Chad Reed was looking quite content after his hard fought 3rd in moto two which gave him the overall win for the day. Even though Alessi felt he and his KTM earned the overall, Reedy pointed out he was wrong and suggested they get the "real winner's bike" up on the podium. Chad was flawless in moto one, and carefully picked his way through the pack from mid-pack in moto two to end up 3rd. He was just about the only guy truly 'moving through the pack', at least the front pack, all day.
Joining chad on the podium were his wife Ellie and newborn son Tate. When the whole Monster/Kawasaki crew joined Chad for the team photo and everyone held up the #1 salute, Chad gave Tate a hand.
The factory KTM squad has a ridiculously sano pit setup, with the tile floors and big banners separating the work area from the rig itself - it's all straight out of a GP setup. It looked like an Ikea showroom with 2011 factory KTM's sitting in it, and hopefully the other teams took notice because we likey.
Sean Hamblin was a surprise last minute addition to the team formerly known as JLaw Racing. But check out his shroud graphics - no evidence of the "JL" that was on Langston's machine, but HR was on there, and we'll hazard a guess that it means Hamblin Racing?
Now THAT's a row of helmets. The Rockstar/Canidae team had the fullest house of them all, with all of their riders - Jake Moss, Blake Baggett, Tommy Hahn, Ryan Morais and Hunter Hewitt all present and accounted for. It takes a lot of support to get 5 top riders to the line on a given day, and their pits were the busiest ones around. Unfortunately, the team could've had a better day, although Baggett's 6th in the first moto was a positive note.
Rockstar/Makita Suzuki teammates Matt Moss and Ryan Dungey were sporting a new logo on their sidepanels in Hangtown. Teka Group is a high-end kitchen appliance and hard goods manufacturer out of Spain, which also happens to be the primary sponsor of the factory Suzuki team in the GP's. They must have also kicked in some cash to the Suzuki USA based team too, which such prominent placement on the sidepanels. Unfortunately it sounds like Matt may have hurt his still healing wrist (that he'd had two surgeries on already) and is questionable for Texas.
It was an unbelievably gorgeous day (at least for the first 3 motos) at Hangtown, with temps in the upper 60's/lower 70's and big puffy clouds speckling a bright blue sky. Things got a little hairy for the 2nd 250 moto when the winds picked up and things turned downright chilly, but all was well. Hangtown can go either way this time of year, and overall everyone seemed happier with 60's than 90's like we've had in the past there.
Ryan Sipes was almost a revelation at the opener. He is a rookie in the 450 class and seems to have really taken to the bigger machine, as he was always in the top 10 and often in the top 5 over the weekend. This is in a solid field of riders at the beginning of the series, so it's a 'legit' top 5 in anyone's book. Although his results ended up as a 7-8 for 7th overall, he still finished ahead of Dungey, Short, Hahn, and a slew of other riders that typically would've been expected to beat him. Ryan should get better as the season progresses, as he seemed to slow a bit as the motos wore on.
Hangtown also marked the opener of the WMX series, and that was as surprising as anything that happened all weekend. A rejuvenated Energizer bunny of a racer, multi-time past champ Jessica Patterson just never stops trying to regain the title she lost a couple of years back to Ashley Fiolek. This year, Patterson hopped on a Division 7/Star Racing Yamaha 250F, got rid of her trademark #250 for the big #2, and proceeded to beat Ashley Fiolek straight-up in both motos to head into Texas with the points lead.
The 2nd full-on factory rider in the WMX series is Sarah Price under the Monster Energy/Kawasaki tent. Her #4 KX250F sits right next to Chad Reed's #1 and Nick Wey's #27. Sarah's been working her way toward the front in the class and this year has more support than ever. In her second season as a WMX Pro, she's a fun rider to watch and should be able to mix it up in the top 3 all season. At Hangtown, she was riding injured and also went down early in moto 2, forcing a weekend she'd rather forget.
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That's it for What Really Happened from Hangtown. If you made it this far, it couldn't have been too bad, so why not leave me some feedback and let me know what else you'd like to see? Check back next week as we're heading to Glen Helen for the GP and then off to Texas for Round 2 of the Lucas Oils AMA Pro Nationals.
Julia Stiles
Nichole Robinson
Thora Birch
Leelee Sobieski
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