Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM Race Report – St. Louis Supercross

St. Louis, MO – Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM Factory rider Wil Hahn was the only East Lites Supercross rider to compete at the St. Louis Supercross after his teammate Martin Davalos announced Friday that he would sit out due to a broken fibula suffered at the New Orleans Supercross.

Hahn currently sat 5th in points heading to St. Louis and was looking to increase his total. Although he turned the 6th fastest practice time earlier in the day the heat race would not allow him time to show his speed. Hahn got a great jump in his heat and rounded the first turn in 4th, however, a turn later he lost the front end and lost his qualifying position. He remounted in 19th and had already passed four riders when he crashed once more with another rider. This time he was not able to continue the race and was forced to go to the LCQ.

Wil Hahn.

The LCQ was no more promising than the heat when Hahn suffered a bad start and had to charge through the pack in the quick four lap sprint. He was able to move up to 6th by the end which was not enough to qualify into the main event. “I didn’t ride as well as I could have in my heat as a result of two crashes. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the main tonight and I am pretty bummed because I was 5th in points. I will use this as motivation for next weekend where I hope to do much better,” commented Hahn.

Justin Brayton.

West Lites teammates Brayton and Sipes showed up as teammates in St. Louis but this time on big bikes. Both riders had decent practice times and even better heats. Brayton was up first in heat number one. Brayton had a mid-pack start and remained just outside the top ten for the majority of the race. On lap six Brayton received a gift when three riders in the top qualifying positions went down right in front of him. He was able to safely get around them and move into 9th place to qualify into the main event.

Ryan Sipes.

Sipes was on fire in Supercross heat number two. He got a top five start and remained 4th throughout the race. “Getting a start is very important on this track and I got my KTM up front early and then maintained my speed to qualify in a decent position,” commented Sipes.

Both Brayton and Sipes did not get the start they needed in the main event but they stayed close together in 15th and 16th place respectively. By the second lap they both moved up and Sipes had also passed Brayton for 13th. The two would stay in position within half a second of each other for the majority of the race. It wasn’t until lap thirteen when Brayton passed Sipes back and began to close in on the 12th place rider. Sipes encountered a couple of problems on the last few laps which lost him a couple of positions and he eventually finished 16th overall. Brayton remained consistent and moved into 11th after making two passes on both Broc Hepler and Matt Boni in the final laps of the race.

Next Event: Toronto Supercross – March 28, 2009

Overall Results Lites Supercross –

1) Blake Wharton

2) Austin Stroupe

3) Nico Izzi

4) Matt Goerke

5) Christophe Pourcel

6) Matt Lemoine

7) Stephen Clarke

8) Daniel Blair

9) Darryn Durham

10) Shane Sewell

11) Chad Ward

12) Jason Thomas

13) Cody Gilmore

14) Teddy Parks

15) Jacob Saylor

16) Vince Friese

17) Spencer Dally

18) Kyle Keylon

19) Tyler Wharton

20) Kyle Gills

Overall Points Lites Supercross –

1) Christophe Pourcel – 131

2) Austin Stroupe – 106

3) Nico Izzi – 102

4) Blake Wharton – 91

5) Brandon Jesseman – 73

6) Matt Goerke – 68

7) Wil Hahn – 68

8) Matt Lemoine – 66

9) Stephen Clarke – 65

10) Daniel Blair – 63

Overall Results Supercross –

1) Chad Reed

2) James Stewart

3) Josh Grant

4) Andrew Short

5) Jason Lawrence

6) Ivan Tedesco

7) Mike Alessi

8) Davi Millsaps

9) Kevin Windham

10) Paul Carpenter

11) Justin Brayton – KTM

12) Matt Boni

13) Kyle Chisholm

14) Broc Hepler

15) Josh Hill

16) Ryan Sipes – KTM

17) Heath Voss

18) Billy Laninovich

19) Tyler Bowers

20) Tommy Hahn