Red Bull/KTM Factory rider Mike Alessi put together two solid motos to earn a top five finish at the ninth round of the AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series held at Unadilla Raceway.
Alessi turned the fourth fastest practice time early in the day which gave him the confidence boost he needed heading to the main event. In the first moto he had a decent start rounding the first corner in 6th place. He held 6th position for the first four laps of the race before moving up to 5th on lap five after Christian Craig fell back. He battled alongside Chad Reed and Brett Metcalfe around the middle of the race before losing two positions to them to fall back to 7th, where he finished the moto.
“I definitely struggled with the track the first moto. I made a lot of little mistakes and lost a lot of time, and unfortunately, a few positions,” remarked Alessi after the first moto.
Alessi’s teammate, Andrew Short, had unfortunate luck in the first moto. He started the race inside the top ten and was running ninth for the first few laps. It was on the fourth lap of the race where his chain derailed and he was not able to finish the race. “It’s one of those situations that you never hope happens, but unfortunately, it did and it cost me the first moto. My plan is just to attack the second moto as hard as I can to try and get back some points,” stated Short.
As they lined the gate for the second moto, it was Alessi out front early after pulling one of his signature holeshots. He was able to lead for the first two laps before the top two series point leaders and the local New Yorker, Justin Barcia, were able to get around him. Alessi settled into 4th place and rode a solid race to finish in that position with a huge gap to 5th place behind him. His 7-4 moto scores placed him 5th for the day and moved him to 5th in the overall point standings.
“I am really happy to get 5th here today. It moved me up in points which I am pretty excited about since I missed the first two rounds. I feel good about my season after missing some races and coming out now near the end in the top five. I hope to keep progressing as we head to the final three rounds,” said Alessi.
Short also rode an impressive second moto. He started outside the top twenty and made a remarkable charge through the pack. After 30 minutes and two laps, Short had caught and passed over thirteen riders to move his KTM into 8th position at the checkers.
“It felt really good to go out and get a good second moto under my belt. It was unfortunate that I had such bad luck in the first moto, but my 8th place salvaged 14th for the day and that helps in the point standings,” remarked Short.
The third member of the Red Bull/KTM Factory team is 250 class rider Marvin Musquin. The French rider put together some solid practice times near the top five in what is only his third race since returning from injury. Musquin had a great start in the first moto rounding the second corner in 2nd place before getting pinched off in the following corner and dropping to 4th. Musquin fell a few more positions early in the race and was sitting in approximately 9th position as the moto was nearing a close. It was at this point that Musquin found a second wind and came back up and passed two of the riders that had overtaken him earlier. He crossed the finish line to secure 7th for moto one.
In moto two, Musquin had another good start, this time in 6th position. Unfortunately on the second lap, he fell in an off-camber corner at the far end of the track and lost approximately ten positions. He recovered outside the top fifteen and prepared to begin to make up those positions. He used his time wisely and picked off multiple riders throughout the remaining laps. He passed Alex Martin for 9th with only a few laps to go and he made a pass on Malcolm Stewart for 8th on the final lap. His 7-8 results earned him 6th overall for the day.
Next Event: Southwick, August 27, 2011
Overall Results 250 –
1) Dean Wilson
2) Blake Baggett
3) Eli Tomac
4) Kyle Cunningham
5) Justin Bogle
6) Marvin Musquin
7) Martin Davalos
8) Gareth Swanepoel
9) Alex Martin
10) Cole Seely
11) Tyla Rattray
12) Ryan Morais
13) Nick Paluzzi
14) Gannon Audette
15) Malcolm Stewart
Overall Results 450 –
1) Ryan Villopoto
2) Ryan Dungey
3) Justin Barcia
4) Chad Reed
5) Mike Alessi
6) Jake Weimer
7) Justin Brayton
8) Kyle Regal
9) Jimmy Albertson
10) Jake Canada
11) Nick Wey
12) Brett Metcalfe
13) Ricky Dietrich
14) Andrew Short
