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The final round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Steel City offered up a chance to check out two titles (250 and Women’s) get clinched, as well as a last chance for riders looking for rides in 2010 to put a good result on their resumes.
After a DNF by Christophe Pourcel (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) in the first moto at Southwick, the 250 championship chase got turned on its head, which made this one Ryan Dungey’s (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) to lose.
When the gate dropped for the first moto, it was Muscle Milk MDK KTM’s Ryan Sipes grabbing the holeshot, but Geico Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia took over the lead before the end of the first lap. Behind him, both Pourcel and Dungey were on the move, with Pourcel sprinting to the front on lap three. But when Ryan Dungey joined him to run 1-2 on lap five, Pourcel’s tactics changed. Instead of trying to put as many riders as possible between the two of them, they jockeyed back and forth, exchanging the lead a couple times. Pourcel clearly wanted Dungey to run up front, but Dungey wasn’t buying it, content to ride in second. Pourcel took the first moto win, but was clearly frustrated that he couldn’t do more to help his title hopes.
In moto two, Pourcel just rode away from the field, taking another win and the overall, but with Dungey in second spot, the Suzuki rider took the title by 11 points.
In the 450 class, Chad Reed was back in action after his hard crash at Southwick, but he also was suffering from the same stomach problems that troubled him earlier in the season. He scored a second in moto one, finishing behind first-time winner Tommy Hahn (Canidae Motosport Kawasaki). Hahn had taken the win after battling with the Honda Red Bull Racing duo of Andrew Short and Ivan Tedesco, and putting both of them behind him not once, but twice. Michael Byrne (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) finished in third spot, and all three of the top three riders in the moto say that they’re still hunting for new rides for the ’10 season.
In moto two Jägermeister MDK KTM’s Justin Brayton grabbed the holeshot ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Moss, and he never relinquished it, adding yet another first-time moto winner to this season’s list of overachievers. As for Reed? He dropped out after nine laps in moto two.
The podium for the 450 class went like this. Tommy Hahn (1-1) in first spot, Ivan Tedesco (4-3) in second, and Justin Brayton (11-1) in third. Andrew Short clinched second in the series behind Reed with 12 points between him and Ivan Tedesco.
There was one other title title to decide, and the women’s finale came down to this…Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ashley Fiolek had a big points lead, and needed a tenth or better in moto one if Jessica Patterson won to wrap up her second straight title.
When the gate dropped for moto one, Jessica Patterson took off en route to another moto win, but the championship drama was going on behind her. Fiolek was riding well, but a crash with a few laps left to go put her in the precarious spot of having to finish the moto, and within the allotted positions to clinch the title. She did finish in seventh spot, which was enough to lock it up, and still was able to throw in an arm pump over the finish line, despite suffering a broken collarbone in the crash.
In moto two, Fiolek was on the sidelines, and once again, it was another Jessica Patterson win. She’s really shown improvement in her program since moving over to the Geico Powersports Honda team as a substitute rider, and could be a threat to Ashley next season.
Mariana Balbi finished second overall with a 2-2 score, ahead of Muscle Milk MDK KTM’s Sara Whitmore, who put a last lap pass on Tarah Gieger (Yamaha/Red Bull/Etnies) to take third overall.
That’s it for the 2009 season. Check the links above for much more in the photo galleries.
Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Results
Steel City Raceway; Delmont, PA
250 Overall
1. Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki) 1-1
2. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) 2-2
3. Blake Wharton (Honda) 8-3
4. Ryan Sipes (KTM) 6-5
5. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) 4-8
6. Justin Barcia (Honda) 3-13
7. Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki) 5-10
8. Brett Metcalfe (Honda) 9-7
9. Tommy Searle (KTM) 13-6
10. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki) 17-4
11. Broc Tickle (Yamaha) 11-9
12. Steven Clarke (Suzuki) 10-14
13. Matt Lemoine (Yamaha) 16-11
14. Taylor Futrell (Honda) 12-15
15. Ryan Morais (Kawasaki) 7-22
16. Kyle Cunningham (Kawasaki) 18-12
17. P. J. Larsen (Kawasaki) 14-30
18. Alex Martin (Honda) 14-38
19. Matiss Karro (Suzuki) 25-16
20. Phil Nicoletti (Honda) 19-18
250 Final Point Standings
1. Ryan Dungey 503
2. Christophe Pourcel 492
3. Brett Metcalfe 378
4. Jake Weimer 353
5. Justin Barcia 340
6. Tommy Searle 332
7. Broc Tickle 285
8. Blake Wharton 273
9. Tyla Rattray 236
10. Matt Lemoine 189
11. Kyle Cunningham 186
12. Darryn Durham 150
13. Trey Canard 139
14. Steven Clarke 126
15. Ben Evans 126
16. P. J. Larsen 121
17. Austin Stroupe 120
18. Max Anstie 107
19. Wil Hahn 104
450 Overall
1. Tommy Hahn (Kawasaki) 1-4
2. Ivan Tedesco (Honda) 4-3
3. Justin Brayton 11-1
4. Jake Moss (Kawasaki) 10-2
5. Andrew Short (Honda) 5-5
6. Michael Byrne (Suzuki) 3-9
7. Davi Millsaps (Honda) 6-10
8. Timmy Ferry (Kawasaki) 12-7
9. Matt Goerke (Yamaha) 7-12
10. Chad Reed (Suzuki) 2-34
11. Jimmy Albertson (Yamaha) 15-6
12. Robert Kiniry (Kawasaki) 9-13
13. Nick Wey (Yamaha) 13-11
14. Antonio Balbi (Honda) 31-8
15. Christian Craig (Yamaha) 8-21
16. Carl Nunn (Suzuki) 16-16
17. Adam Chatfield (Kawasaki) 17-17
18. Weston Peick (Honda) 37-14
19. Cody Cooper (Yamaha) 20-15
20. Tyler Bowers (Honda) 14-22
450 Final Point Standings
1. Chad Reed 481
2. Andrew Short 388
3. Ivan Tedesco 376
4. Michael Byrne 348
5. Tommy Hahn 302
6. Josh Grant 280
7. Justin Brayton 249
8. Nick Wey 200
9. Cody Cooper 191
10. Jimmy Albertson 185
11. Davi Millsaps 175
12. Matt Goerke 154
13. Mike Alessi 142
14. Ricky Dietrich 136
15. Jake Moss 127
16. Kyle Regal 107
17. Tyler Bowers 102
18. Antonio Balbi 94
19. Jeff Alessi 88
20. Timmy Ferry 87
Women’s Overall
1. Jessica Patterson (Honda) 1-1
2. Mariana Balbi (Honda) 2-2
3. Sara Whitmore (KTM) 5-3
4. Tarah Gieger (Yamaha) 4-4
5. Jacqueline Strong (Honda) 5-3
6. Elizabeth Bash (Kawasaki) 6-6
7. Sara Price (Kawasaki) 7-8
8. Allison Vrba (Yamaha) 8-10
9. Penni Cyrus (Kawasaki) 9-9
10. Alyssa Fitch (Honda) 10-12