GEICO Powersports Honda Race Report - Glen Helen

May 28, 2008

SAN BERNARDINO, Cal. – With the Supercross Championship over and decided, the GEICO Powersports Honda team began its chase for top honors in the AMA/Toyota Motocross Nationals at Glen Helen Raceway on Memorial Day Weekend.

With Kevin Windham sitting out the majority of the Nationals, the team is concentrating on the Lites class over the summer. However, they were without star rider Josh Grant, who won round two last year at Mt. Morris. Grant suffered a concussion in practice at the series-finale Las Vegas Supercross. He'll be back soon, but East Region SX champ Trey Canard, Jake Weimer and Dan Reardon were all ready to get going outdoors.

Weimer was the team's top rider on the day. He went 7-7 in the day's two motos for sixth overall.

"It was all right," Weimer said. "I was there, and I got two decent starts, and I rode and didn't make any major mistakes. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. It was just, for the first round, I'll take it. It was good, because I've seen a lot of areas where I can make improvements that should make a pretty big difference. I was nervous, big-time, so it was good to get it out of the way."

Canard was the fastest rider on the team in practice, but after a decent start in the first moto, he was taken out and had to start the race from nearly dead last.

"I think I was ahead of two guys, so I don't think it was the worst start I could've gotten," Canard said, being very literal. "It could've been worse, actually. I was pretty upset, because I had a decent start going, and it was just kind of a bummer to get cleaned out the way I was. I just had to forget about it and try and stay calm and make the best out of it. I put my head down and went for it. I've had some really awesome races this season, and I've had a couple of bad ones, so if they all went really well, I'd be wondering what was up."

He recovered from his extremely poor start to grab 14th in the first moto, which won him the new Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award – an award, new for this year, that goes to the rider who passed the most riders in any single moto on the day. According to the official tally, Canard passed 22 riders in the first moto.

For moto two, Canard was understandably exhausted – although not physically.

"I think it was more mentally than physically," Canard said. "I don't think I was tired after moto one, and I didn't get tired in moto two, but I had a bit of a brain fart there at the end and was in La La Land and made a bunch of mistakes. But the weekend's over and we're on to a new one."

Canard ran fifth for much of the moto, then finished sixth.

For former Aussie SX and MX champ Dan Reardon, it was his first-ever Lites AMA National MX event, and he finished a strong 11th in the first moto, but had some bike-setup issues in the second moto and struggled a bit on his way to 23rd in the stacked Lites field.

Now that the first-race jitters are gone, the GEICO Powersports Honda team heads to Hangtown this coming Sunday near Sacramento, California, for round two of the AMA/Toyota MX Nationals.

Team Sponsors: GEICO Powersports, Honda, Planet Fitness, No Fear Energy, AMSOIL, Factory Connection, Torco Racing Fuels, No Fear, Shoei, Gaerne, Spy, DVS, Cycra, Dunlop, EK, Ferodo, Hinson, Ogio, One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Showa, TAG, Twin Air, and Works Connection.

Glen Helen Lites Overall:

1. Austin Stroupe 2-3 Kaw

2. Ryan Villopoto 5-1 Kaw

3. Jason Lawrence 1-5 Yam

4. Ryan Dungey 4-2 Suz

5. Brett Metcalfe 3-4 Kaw

6. Jake Weimer 7-7 GEICO Powersports Honda

7. Matt Lemoine 6-9 Yam

8. Trey Canard 14-6 GEICO Powersports Honda

9. Kyle Cunningham 10-11 Hon

10. Tommy Hahn 15-12 Kaw

17. Dan Reardon 11-23 GEICO Powersports Honda

AMA Lites National MX Championship (After 1 of 12 rounds):

1. Austin Stroupe (42/1 win)

2. Ryan Villopoto (41)

3. Jason Lawrence (41)

4. Ryan Dungey (40)

5. Brett Metcalfe (38)

6. Jake Weimer (28)

7. Matt Lemoine (27)

8. Trey Canard (22)

9. Kyle Cunningham (21)

10. Tommy Hahn (15)

17. Dan Reardon (10)