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Oh boy, after one of the best Supercross seasons of the year I was so excited to head into the fresh air of the 2011 Lucas Oils Outdoor MX Championship. Stop 1, Rockstar Energy Drink Hangtown MX Classic. In all honesty I like Supercross but I love Motocross. A common misconception (somehow) believed by outsiders is that riding a dirt bike is not that difficult. “How hard can it be? You don’t even have to pedal”. Two 35 minute motos in full gear in high temperatures alone? Tough. Add in the roughness of the track and imagine yourself being in a can of paint while the paint shaker at Home Depot mixes you as you are PEDALING an old Huffy bicycle up Mt. Everest. That should about sum it up. I was fortunate enough to get some time on the track myself Friday thanks to Aaron Cooke and the Athlete Recovery Fund. My temporary step out of retirement focused my eyes on the roughest track I can ever remember. And at the time I was thinking it was my lack of any sort of preparation after not riding for 3 1/2 years. Then I overheard several of the top riders in the world in peak conditioning say the same. The track formed in ways I had never seen and there was no where to catch your breath. There was in fact one rut on the track that pretty much came up to my radiator shrouds. Well at least I was able to dust off enough rust to clear all the jumps. I have so much respect for these guys and their commitment to being the best they can be. What a start to the series and the racing did not disappoint, as I’m sure the 21,000 plus fans in attendance can attest.

I would like to believe that Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey earned more respect for his performance in the 2011 Supercross season. Although he was not able to back up his championship winning effort of 2010, Ryan was in it until the last gate drop of the season with every player on the line. Although you can say every rider on the gate had a bad race here or there, Dungey’s only real faux pas was his chain derailing. That single moment took away his ever present consistency. Add those missing points to his tally just for fun and do the math. Just sayin. Enough about SX. In my honest opinion it won’t be easy, but Mr. Dungey is my favorite to take home the outdoor title for the second consecutive year. My prediction felt pretty good as he pulled away for the win in Moto one at Hangtown. The second moto didn’t go quite as well as he finished in the runner up position. Not to take anything away from the stellar performance by Chad Reed in winning the overall for the day, but when the tracks get longer, the humidity higher and the temperatures soaring above 100, Dungey will be tough to beat. It’s amazing when Ryan comes off the track with no appearance of fatigue whatsoever. Talk about hard work paying off, and it most certainly will. As far as points go, RD sit in a tie for first.

A person who I’m sure is just as excited to move outdoors as I am, is Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe. It’s no secret that Brett is one of the strongest moto guys on the track. His 2nd place finish in last year’s series was not a fluke and he will be a contender in every moto this season as well. Metty started out great in the opening moto of this season right up near the front. I thought for sure I was going to have two guys on the podium right off. Unfortunately Metcalfe went down on the tough track. He got up however and rode his tail off to get back into 5th place by moto’s end. It was clear his speed was there. In the second go around, Brett did not get the same result going into turn one. But still by the time the checkers waved, he had moved into the 5th position once again, which is what his overall tally for the day and series ended up after round 1. Although 5th place is a very commendable place to be, I’m sure the 24 was not satisfied. Brett will be shooting for nothing less than a podium finish in Texas next week. A place that claimed many riders with heat exhaustion last year. He will have to overcome the one of the hottest races of the year, but I know Metty works hard to succeed and surely will.

Coming from the Off Road Racing scene is Valli Motor Sports Rockstar Yamaha’s Ricky Dietrich. Ricky has done a couple nationals in the past as a fill in rider, but in saying that his experience is also minimal in this discipline. 2011 will mark the first motocross season that Dietrich will be full time. In his first race on board with VMS for outdoors, he locked up a top ten with a 9th place overall position. Awesome! He will continue to learn as the year goes on as well. Coming from Off Road, Ricky can probably do 6 motos a day and be just fine. The downside of that is working on sprint speed. Already one of the toughest guys on the track in the last five laps of course, when he decodes the key to the first five laps he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. I would get used to seeing a triple digit well in the top ten as well as top five for the rest of the year. Keep your eye on the #539 Yamaha.

-Professor James Hanson

450 Class (Moto Finish)
1. Chad Reed, Australia, Honda (2-1)
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (1-2)
3. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki (3-3)
4. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda (6-4)
5. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Suzuki (5-5)
6. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha (4-7)
7. Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Yamaha (8-8)
8. Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha (7-11)
9. Ricky Dietrich, Menifee, Calif., Yamaha (11-9)
10. Christian Craig, Hemet, Calif., Honda (14-10)

450 Class Championship Standings
1. Chad Reed, Australia, Honda – 47
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki – 47
3. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki – 40
4. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda – 33
5. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Suzuki – 32
6. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha – 32
7. Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Yamaha – 26
8. Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha – 24
9. Ricky Dietrich, Menifee, Calif., Yamaha – 22
10. Christian Craig, Hemet, Calif., Honda – 18
11. Michael Byrne, Dade City, Fla., Suzuki – 18

250 Class (Moto Finish)
1. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki (2-1)
2. Dean Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki (1-3)
3. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki (5-2)
4. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (3-4)
5. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (4-6)
6. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Yamaha (9-5)
7. Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha (8-8)
8. Darryn Durham, Butler, Pa., Honda (10-9)
9. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (11-5)
10. Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (7-13)

250 Class Championship Standings
1. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki – 47
2. Dean Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki – 45
3. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki – 38
4. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda – 38
5. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 33
6. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Yamaha – 28
7. Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha – 26
8. Darryn Durham, Butler, Pa., Honda – 23
9. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha – 22
10. Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda – 22

May 23rd, 2011 | TAGS: Brett Metcalfe, Hangtown Motocross Classic, motocross, MX, racing, Rancho Cordova, Ricky Dietrich, Rockstar Energy Drink, rockstar makita suzuki, ryan dungey, valli motorsports rockstar yamaha

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