Budds Creek - Round 4

250 Class

Moto 1
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Dean Wilson snatched the lead the second the gate fell, and took the win in convincing fashion over teammates Tyla Rattray and Broc Tickle, sweeping the podium. Behind the green freight train, Eleven-10 Mods Honda privateer Darryn Durham, DNA Shred Stix Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham, and Geico Powersports’ Eli Tomac jockeyed for position up and down the hills and valleys, before Durham would suffer from a mechanical DNF. The top ten was filled with the usual suspects of Justin Barcia, Blake Baggett, Nico Izzi, Gareth Swanepoel, and Martin Davalos.

Moto 2
The second moto mirrored the first, as another Pro Circuit tuned Kawasaki took the lead in the early moments, yet this time it was series point leader Tyla Rattray. As the moto approached the halfway point, Geico Powersports Justin Barcia, who had been running second to Rattray, had decimated the South African’s lead, going inside when Rattray would go wide, and stormed around the outside perimeters when the Kawasaki rider took the tighter lines. It seemed that a pass was imminent, as just .700 seconds separated the two. Barcia, who is battling both mono and a nagging wrist injury, dialed back the pace and Rattray again sped away, securing the overall and the points lead for another week.

Overall
1. Tyla Rattray (2-1)
2. Dean Wilson (1-3)
3. Justin Barcia (6-2)
4. Eli Tomac (5-5)
5. Broc Tickle (3-9)
6. Gareth Swanepoel (9-4)
7. Blake Baggett (7-7)
8. Kyle Cunningham (4-15)
9. Martin Davalos (10-10)
10. Nico Izzi (8-13)

250 Class Championship Standings (After 4 of 12 rounds)
1. Tyla Rattray (174)
2. Dean Wilson (170)
3. Blake Baggett (144)
4. Eli Tomac (136)
5. Justin Barcia (116)
6. Kyle Cunningham (114)
7. Broc Tickle (99)
8. Gareth Swanepoel (91)
9. Martin Davalos (75)
10. Cole Seely (72)

450 Class

Moto 1
Mike Alessi was the first rider around the tight left hand turn on his Red Bull KTM 450, although it was TwoTwo Motorsports Chad Reed who initially scored the holeshot. The two would set the pace just momentarily, as Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto made his way around the duo and into the lead before the ten minute mark. Once out front, Villopoto unleashed a blistering pace and stretched his lead to ten seconds over Rockstar Makita Suzuki pilot and defending champion Ryan Dungey. As the laps clicked off, it seemed that a battle for the lead would not materialize in the first moto, but as Villopoto sliced through lapped riders, he stalled his Kawasaki in a rutted right hand turn. The time he spent kicking the bike back to life was roughly the same amount of time his lead had been, and just like that Ryan Dungey was within mere feet of him for the final few laps. The opportunity for a pass that Dungey needed never came, and Villopoto took the checkered flag for the win, his ninth at the Maryland circuit.

Moto 2

Mike Alessi and his Red Bull KTM, yet again, won a close holeshot over Dungey and Windham in the second 450 moto of the day. Alessi took the early lead, but it was Reed who settled into the two spot on the first lap instead of Dungey or K-Dub. Reed made the pass on Alessi only a few laps into the moto, leaving Alessi to fend off Dungey and Villopoto. Dungey and RV made relatively short work of Alessi and set their sights on Reed.
Windham, meanwhile, settled comfortably into fourth with Metcalfe a distant fifth. Up front, Reed and Dungey gained a bit of ground on the third place position as Villopoto put in work to get around Alessi. As time ticked away, Alessi faded a bit, and most of the attention was left to Reed, Dungey, and Villopoto. Late in the moto, Dungey pressured Reed while Windham reeled in Villopoto. Windham, however, couldn’t quite keep up RV’s pace, settling for fourth for the second time in the day. Then, just as Dungey seemed to be moving in on Reed, lapper traffic became a factor. Dungey again missed out on any potential opportunity to make a pass, and was left with a 2-2 finish and third overall.

Overall
1. Chad Reed (3-1)
2. Ryan Villopoto (1-3)
3. Ryan Dungey (2-2)
4. Kevin Windham (4-4)
5. Mike Alessi (5-5)
6. Brett Metcalfe (6-6)
7. Davi Millsaps (7-9)
8. Jake Weimer (10-7)
9. Andrew Short (9-8)
10. Josh Grant (8-10)

450 Class Championship Standings (After 4 of 12 rounds)
1. Chad Reed (183)
2. Ryan Villopoto (168)
3. Ryan Dungey 1(55)
4. Davi Millsaps (130)
5. Brett Metcalfe (118)
6. Kevin Windham (112)
7. Jake Weimer (93)
8. Ricky Dietrich (92)
9. Christian Craig (76)
10. Andrew Short (75)