GEICO Powersports Honda Race Report - Red Bud

BUCHANAN, Mich. – The GEICO Powersports Honda team has reached the halfway point of the 2008 AMA National Motocross Championship and continues to consistently occupy the front of the Lites pack. At Red Bud Track 'n' Trail in Buchanan, Michigan, for round six, the GEICO Powersports Honda team held down half of the top-four spots, while another two team riders ran near the front of the pack most of the day.

After scoring his first-ever podium moto finish at the last round in Colorado, Trey Canard did one better at Red Bud. Canard started at the tail end of the top five and quickly fought his way up into second place by the end of the third lap. By that point, though, the leader, Ryan Villopoto, had a comfortable gap on him and the rest of the field, but Canard kept the lead at a consistent distance throughout the rest of the moto to finish out in second place.

Moto two was quite similar, as Canard started about fourth, then found his way to second quickly. This time, however, Canard was much closer to Villopoto and pressured him for a few laps, only to fall. He got up still running second, but then had to contend with Ryan Dungey behind him. He held Dungey off until the final lap, when Dungey's bike broke, and Canard finished the day with a strong 2-2 for his first-ever AMA National overall podium finish – second overall.

"I wasn't just trying my best like I was in Supercross," Canard said. "That's what I did in Supercross, was just give it 200%, and I know that saying's kind of old, but that's my style – that's what I do. I think I just put too much emphasis on winning and kind of left out some of the other aspects."

Getting good starts helped Canard a lot at Red Bud, too.

"Starts were my biggest thing," Canard said. "My speed is pretty close, and you can't give yourself a fighting chance when you're 30th place on the first lap. I think we got the starts figured out, and hopefully they keep going like they did this weekend. I've got to thank Kibby on the team for that. He came here Friday and we did starts at some local track and just went through basically everything that we could. I've been doing it a lot at home, practicing starts like an hour a day, and I just really didn't know what to do. But he kind of opened up my eyes a little bit and helped me out with that, and hopefully I keep getting good starts and just do my best and put in some good rides."

Josh Grant took a bet before the first practice of the weekend that he would jump LaRocco's Leap on the first lap. LaRocco's Leap is the track's infamous huge uphill triple, made famous by Mike LaRocco years ago. Not normally a jump that's easily cleared on a Lites machine, Grant not only figured he could do it, but do so on the first lap of practice.

"I said, 'I bet I can do it the first lap,' and he said, 'I bet you that you can't,' so it was on," Grant said. "On the first lap, I came around the corner slow and did it, and that was that. But during the race, it was hard to do from the inside, because it was dug so deep, and to do it from the outside, it wasn't really faster."

Grant said before that even though he finished second in his return race at Colorado, his goal to finish inside the top five wouldn't change. This week, for the second week in a row, he met that goal, going 5-4 for fourth overall with two top-10 starts and two top-five finishes.

"It was just another weekend at the races," Grant said. "Practice was all right, and while it was smooth, the bike was doing real good, but by the time the races came, it got rough, and I struggled with my bike setup a little bit. My goal was to stay in the top five, and that's what I did this weekend. But I didn't feel satisfied with my finish because I know it could've been better."

Jake Weimer continued to make up ground in the points standings, even though his weekend wasn't ideal. He went down early in the first moto and got back going a lap down, eventually finishing 28th. In the second moto, he started outside the top 10 and fought his way up to sixth place at the finish despite a shoulder injury suffered during Saturday practice.

"I fell on like the second lap of practice yesterday and hurt my shoulder pretty good," Weimer said. "I didn't ride the second practice, and then I just kind of struggled with it a little bit. I did the best I could do. In the first moto, I was top 10, and then I ended up falling and it took me a little bit to get going. That moto was pretty much just thrown away. The second moto, I was a little bit better, and I ended up sixth. My starts were just horrible, though, and I'm over getting bad starts."

He says his shoulder should be fine for Budds Creek next weekend.

"I don't think it's anything serious," Weimer said. "It just hurts at the moment. It'll be fine, it just didn't have much time to heal from yesterday."

Weimer is now solidly third in points at the halfway point in the championship.

Dan Reardon fell in love with the Red Bud track right away.

"That was probably the best track I've been to," Reardon said. "The dirt was good, the layout was good, the fans were good... The whole atmosphere, and the whole weekend was just really, really good. Probably the best track I've ever been to in my career. I was real excited to get out there."

Reardon had a strong first moto, fighting his way through for ninth. Then, in the second moto, he passed his way up into sixth and was actually gaining slowly on teammate Josh Grant when he had an encounter with a lapper and went down, ending his race.

"The first moto, I got a pretty good jump but got swallowed up a little bit in the first couple of turns, and then I went forward, then went back, then forward, and then I kind of lost what was going on," Reardon said. "I regrouped and finished ninth. The second moto, I started around about the top 10, and then I started working my way up. I got into sixth, just behind Josh [Grant], and I came together with a lapper with about three laps to go and I went down and that was it. Until then, things were going good, though. I felt that second moto was probably the best I've felt for this whole season, so I'm looking forward to more races like that."

The GEICO Powersports Honda team is now headed for Budds Creek Raceway in Maryland this weekend for round seven of the 12-round AMA National Motocross Championship.

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.

Red Bud Lites Overall:

1. Ryan Villopoto 1-1 Kaw

2. Trey Canard 2-2 GEICO Powersports Honda

3. Martin Davalos 6-3 KTM

4. Josh Grant 5-4 GEICO Powersports Honda

5. Nico Izzi 4-5 Suz

6. Andrew McFarlane 7-10 Kaw

7. Kyle Chisholm 11-7 Kaw

8. Kyle Cunningham 12-9 Hon

9. Brett Metcalfe 10-11 Kaw

10. Ryan Sipes 3-20 KTM

13. Jake Weimer 28-6 GEICO Powersports Honda

16. Dan Reardon 9-32 GEICO Powersports Honda

AMA Lites National MX Championship (After 6 of 12 rounds):

1. Ryan Villopoto (291/5 wins)

2. Ryan Dungey (196)

3. Jake Weimer (167)

4. Brett Metcalfe (164)

5. Austin Stroupe (152/1 win)

6. Trey Canard (127)

7. Nico Izzi (126)

8. Jason Lawrence (120)

9. Dan Reardon (116)

10. Ryan Sipes (101)

17. Josh Grant (74)