Andrew Short was probably thrilled to be heading to his hometown track in Colorado without Ivan Tedesco in the mix. ONE Industries team rider Ivan Tedesco won both motos last year at this event and has been a thorn in Shorts side for several years in Lakewood. Andrew jumped out to an early lead in moto one on Saturday followed by Ben Townley, Ryan Dungey and Josh Grant. Townley fell in a slick corner and lost several positions before re-starting. Dungey took over second followed by Grant and ONE Industries rider Tommy Hahn. Just as Short seemed to be settling into a rhythm he lost control of his factory Honda and gave the lead to Dungey. Andrew struggled to get his bike started giving up any hopes for a podium in Lakewood.
Josh Grant was the fastest rider in practice and proved to be the fastest in moto one as he worked his way past Ryan Dungey and was able to pull out a comfortable lead. Dungey held on for second place just ahead of ONE Industries team rider Tommy Hahn.
The second moto started much like the first with Andrew Short grabbing the holeshot ahead of Dungey, Townley and Metcalfe. First moto winner Josh Grant was down in the first turn and would have to battle through the entire pack to salvage any hopes of a top five finish. Short began to fall off of the pace on about lap number three and was passed by Dungey, Townley and eventually Metcalfe. Short worked his way back by Metcalfe but could not gain any ground on Townley or Dungey. The second moto ended with Dungey taking the moto win and first over-all for the day with 2-1 moto scores. Ben Townley finished second in moto two and second over-all with 6-2 moto scores and Brett Metcalfe finished the moto in fourth but was able to grab the final spot on the podium for the day by posting 4-4 moto scores. ONE Industries rider Tommy Hahn was forced to withdraw from moto two nursing a shoulder injury from last week. Chad Reed also struggled in Colorado and finished ninth over-all with 10-7 moto scores.
The 250 class saw points leader Christophe Pourcel grab the holeshot in moto one ahead of team-mate Dean Wilson and Geico Powersports rider Trey Canard. The three riders would battle for most of the moto but finished in the same order that they started. Pourcel finished first ahead of Wilson, Canard and Tyla Rattray in fourth. Moto two saw Trey Canard grab the holeshot ahead of his Geico Powersports team-mate Blake Wharton and Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson. First moto winner Pourcel would have to battle from outside the top five early in the moto if he had any hope of backing up win in moto one. At the half way point in the moto Pourcel worked past team-mates Tyla Rattray and Wilson as well as Geico Powersports riders Blake Wharton and Trey Canard to eventually win the moto. Canard put up a great fight but was unable to slow the Frenchman down and followed him to the finish line in moto two.
Christophe Pourcel swept both motos with 1-1 scores followed by Trey Canard who finished the day in second with 3-2 moto scores and Dean Wilson grabbed the final spot on the podium with 2-3 moto scores. Tyla Rattray had a very solid day to take fourth place over-all with 4-4 scores just ahead of fifth place over-all Blake Wharton with 6-5 moto scores.
The series heads back east to Red Bud Michigan for the annual 4th of July weekend event. The summer heat in Michigan is expected to test every riders fitness next Saturday. Check back here for a full re-cap on the weekends racing.
