There were loads of good battles in each class - whether it was Townley and Alessi, or Cairoli and Alessi, or Desalle and everyone else - but in the MX2 class, the best battles were between the Brit Shaun Simpson (#11 above) and Britain-based American rider Zach Osborne (following behind here). Up to this point, Osborne was having a rather forgettable GP season while Simpson was working on being one of the fast guys again following a slew of injuries over the past couple of years. Osborne showed flashes of brilliance in the qualifying motos Saturday, so everyone knew it was game-on for the Virginian on Sunday and he did not disappoint. Zach shadowed Simpson almost the entire first moto before getting by, and did much the same in moto two which allowed him to snag a 2nd overall. Zach's a one-time GP winner (at last year's GP of Turkey in Istanbul), but has had so-so results since. He was clearly motivated to race in his home country, although California's a long way from Virginia so he didn't enjoy the 'home track advantage' as some may believe. With his 4-2 finishes, Zach also took home a $5,000 check for being the top finishing American rider on the day - an award aptly named the Marty Moates Cup.
Ben Townley is back, folks, and it seems to have happened almost over night. He looked pretty solid last weekend at Hangtown, but by Ben's own admission the bike setup wasn't quite where he wanted it to be and neither was his fitness following a nasty gut injury a couple months prior. For Glen Helen, he'd had another week of testing to sort things out and get in the right place mentally to come out and fight for the victory in his first GP appearance since... 2005 (?). What he hadn't planned on was his CRF450R feeling like a choked-down XR100 when he first took to the track with the FIM-spec exhaust and fuel. Ben quickly adapted, though, and was on a winning pace in moto one while trying to move past Alessi for 2nd and chase down Cairoli out front. That's when Ben hit the ground in what's generally accepted to be a 'racing incident', and his exhaust sustained enough damage that he pulled off for a DNF. Of course it's well known now that Ben came back in moto two with a vengeance and completely smoked the field for the win, making a couple of quick passes early to get out front and stay clean. It was a borderline jaw-dropping ride during a long moto in very hot and difficult conditions and Ben made it look relatively easy. Look out Alessi, Dungey and crew at Texas this weekend, because Ben Townley is back and he's hungry to win.
What we have here are two masters at work: #40 is factory Honda rider and the only Estonian on the track, Tanel Leok and to the right is Simon Cudby, making him look as good as possible. The media turnout for the GP numbered nearly as high as the competitors, which is to say almost as high as the spectator count, so plenty of eyeballs will see what went down at The Glen (even if there weren't many there to see it in person).
Part of the fun of going to any GP is the bizarre and exotic machinery that shows up to compete that isn't allowed in AMA sanctioned competition due to homologation, works vs. production rules, or just plain wacky engines. The factory Aprilia 450 ridden by Josh Coppins falls into all of those categories, and the USGP was it's American debut race. Even though the results weren't so hot (DNF-9), it was actually pretty solid considering this particular version hasn't been tested much and was apparently down on power compared to what they'd been hoping for. Coppins is employed as much as a development rider as a racer, so he's not necssarily looking for top finishes and his top-10 in the 2nd moto must be considered a success for this boutique manufacturer.
The Michael Leib fan club had at least one in attendance at The Glen, although bike troubles apparently held Michael back from a solid finish despite him showing some remarkable speed in qualifying. Leib's first-ever pro races have been at the GP after he was hired as a fill-in for injured fast Frenchy Greg Aranda on the Bud Racing/Rockstar/Kawasaki team. Michael's probably already in France thinking about practice for this weekend's round at St. Jean d'Angely.
Arguably the 3rd best American performance was put in by Kyle Chisholm, who joined all of his MotoConcepts teammates in coming out to play at Glen Helen for the day. Why the entire team chose to come out for this race is a mystery (or maybe it was try to market some of their cool pit gadgets to the visiting Euro teams who have much more sano pit setups than us? hmm...), but Kyle and Travis Baker certainly made an impression on the visitors. Kyle's already got a pretty solid rep in European racing though, since he typically wins all of the European Series SX races that he goes over and competes in every winter - in other words, a lot of these guys are used to getting beaten by him already. Chisholm overcame horrible gate picks and a couple of crashes to charge all the way up to 9th and 11th for 10th overall in hot, long motos against the GP's best riders. Here's betting that if he doesn't land a top ride in the U.S. next year that Kyle may have turned a few European team manager's heads (again) at the USGP.
A few things of note in this photo: 1) #1 Marvin Musquin smoked the field a la Ryan Villopoto in MX Lites a couple of years back in the U.S. Nationals. Holeshot, checkout, done. 2) there's snow on that mountain in the background (it's not Big Bear, although it had snow too. We think the consensus was that this one is called Mt. San Jacinto), and 3) During a National, that entire parking area in the background is full of campers, partiers and other racers. One of the plethora of reasons and/or excuses given for the low crowd turnout (estimated Sunday to be in the 5,000 range) was that there was no amateur program at all and, for Nationals, there's always a few extra days of racing which no doubt draws quite a few more people.
Check out the fancy "pit road" entrance up to the double-decker signaling and VIP area. Also notice the berm worn in, as there was plenty in-and-out during practice and racing, with riders adjusting their bikes and themselves throughout the day to deal with the heat and intensity of racing at GH. The MX Sports guys could take notes on this setup, although the need for double-decker signaling area seems dubious at best.
Another way that the series differ is the hype generated regarding the "Pole Position" awarded from Saturday's qualifying races. The 20 minute +2-lap races serve one purpose only - determining gate pick for both of Sunday's motos. Following qualifying, the top 3 (or 4, in this case) riders are called in to the press tent for a full-on press conference with photos, etc. and the "winner" posing in front of the pole position banner seen to the left above. It's a litte bizarre that there's a press conference after qualifying, but then again, it gave U.S. media an extra chance to get to know these riders a bit better. From left to right are Ken Roczen, Zach Osborne, Max Anstie and Marvelous Marvin Musquin.
Antonio Cairoli pretty much owned Mike Alessi at Glen Helen. Not that there's anything wrong with that, really, since the Italian is a brilliant rider and has proven time and again with his multiple world titles that he's the best rider across the pond without a doubt over the past several years. But disappoint wasn't far from the surface for Mikey, because even though he clearly tried his hardest, both Desalle and Cairoli (not to mention Townley) all pretty much had him covered all day. Yet even though he didn't win, full respect must be given to Mike since he came out and raced on what could've been a training/recovery weekend between Nationals to take on the top GP riders in longer than normal motos on a very hot day. Chances are good that he'll be better in Texas this weekend because of it, too.
The crowd that DID show up at Glen Helen were all having a good time, that much seemed certain. It was a relief in such heat to just walk around and watch wherever you wanted without worry of trodding under somebody else's 'private space' marked by their EZ-ups, etc. like at the Nationals typically held here. The belief for next year is that the place will be much fuller, but to be honest, it was a surreal and unique experience to see riders of this caliber on a track like The Glen with so few other people. In a word, it was refreshing.
Travis Baker. Did he leave a mark? You bet. Did he impress team managers from Europe and everywhere else? You bet. Did he increase his own worth and personal belief in his speed and fitness? Uh huh. Is he going to be running closer to the front in the Nationals now? We're thinking yes. Watch for T-bake at Texas this weekend to make a similar impression.
Check out those track markers to Marvin's left. It's like someone expected vampires to be attacking or something.
After seeing Zach at a few races over the past few years, we gotta say he looks a little more like the Snack-Attack than the Zach-Attack. Regardless of his current training or diet regimen, Zach was really strong at the USGP and hopefully can turn around a mediocre series. These guys are entering round 7 this weekend in France, and Zach's currently 6th in points so all is not lost quite yet, with 7 rounds to go.
Antonio Cairoli: Defending and likely 2010 MX1 World Champ, with no intentions of coming to the U.S., has shown he can beat just about anyone just about anywhere, and at just about any time. Well, except for Budds Creek in 2007 vs. RC and RV, but that's ancient history.
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That's it from the USGP at Glen Helen. Join us again this weekend for full (and photo-intensive) coverage of Round 2 of the 2010 Lucas Oils AMA Pro Motocross Championships from Freestone MX in Texas. We'll be out there sweating for you.
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