GEICO Powersports Honda Race Report - Washougal

WASHOUGAL, Wash. – The final race on a five-week bender of AMA National Motocross, Washougal is a deceivingly slick, tight track in the forests of Washington state, just north of Portland. With Reardon still out, GEICO Powersports Honda's Josh Grant, Jake Weimer and East SX champ Trey Canard were all hoping to leave an impression before the two-week break in action.

Grant has been suffering from a badly sprained ankle since moto two at Budds Creek.

"I just had a mishap in Budds Creek and ended up spraining my ankle, and I haven't been able to train or really ride during the week – I've just been showing up at the races and racing," Grant said. "I'm just trying to do the best I can and finish the season out."

In moto one, Grant grabbed the holeshot and led the first few laps of the moto before eventually finishing third. Then, in moto two, Grant ended up with the last gate pick because he missed the deadline to report to the staging area.

"We had a little issue with starting my bike, and I ended up missing the gate pick, so I ended up with the last gate on the very outside," Grant said.

Still, from there, he started inside the top 10 and began working his way forward, eventually finishing fourth and grabbing third overall.

"I think if I would've started up front with these guys, I would've been in a better position than I was," Grant said. "When you have 39 guys to the left of you... I just did the best that I could. I hit the berm and just hoped for the best, and I came out not too bad – probably around 10th – so I just plugged away and tried to pick off guys. I knew I had to pass Nico at the end to get third, and I had to keep Sipes behind me, and those guys were riding really good, but I'm fortunate to be up here and be safe."

With his performance, he moved all the way up to eighth in the points standings despite missing the first three rounds.

Trey Canard had a fall on the opening lap of the first moto and was only able to fight his way back up to 21st, just out of the points, but in moto two, he fixed that, grabbing the holeshot and leading the first half of the moto. After putting up a valiant fight, he was circulating in third in the late stages of the moto when a lapper pulled into his line unexpectedly and caused him to crash violently. The end result was a broken left femur, which will keep him off of the bike for anywhere from four to six months. He has had surgery, and the doctors indicated that it went as well as possible. However, he is definitely out for the remainder of the championship.

Jake Weimer rode very strong at Washougal. In the first moto, he started midpack and worked his way all the way up to sixth place.

"On the start, I was on the inside, and I didn't get to the first turn first, but I think I would've had a pretty good start," Weimer said, "but some dude on a KTM blew me out in the first corner and I almost went down. I was thinking it was going to be a long race because the roost hurt so bad there, but I felt like I rode pretty good. I was picking people off and ended up sixth."

In the second moto, Weimer was in a battle with a few riders for the whole race, eventually finishing in the same spot again.

"I made a few mistakes on the first lap and fell back a few spots," Weimer said. "Then I settled back into the pace and hung onto Grant and Sipes and those guys. I felt like in the second moto I struggled a little bit with the track with traction, and I was having a tough time in the hard spots. But overall, it was a pretty good weekend. The fact is that I've had three or four bad weekends in a row, so it's nice to at least have two decent motos and get back into the swing of things."

Weimer was sixth overall and still sits fourth in points with three rounds left to run.

The GEICO Powersports Honda team as a whole has a two weekends off before Millville, where team rider Blake Wharton will make his professional debut. However, Josh Grant is going to be taking part in two events at the X Games this weekend, with Best Whip on Thursday night and Moto X Racing (essentially supercross) on Saturday.

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.

Washougal Lites Overall:

1. Ryan Dungey 2-1 Suz

2. Ryan Villopoto 1-2 Kaw

3. Josh Grant 3-4 GEICO Powersports Honda

4. Brett Metcalfe 5-3 Kaw

5. Ryan Sipes 4-5 KTM

6. Jake Weimer 6-6 GEICO Powersports Honda

7. Nico Izzi 7-7 Suz

8. Bobby Kiniry 9-10 Hon

9. Matt Goerke 12-8 KTM

10. Kyle Chisholm 11-9 Kaw

AMA Lites National MX Championship (After 9 of 12 rounds):

1. Ryan Villopoto (438/7 wins)

2. Ryan Dungey (329/1 win)

3. Brett Metcalfe (267)

4. Jake Weimer (229)

5. Nico Izzi (211)

6. Ryan Sipes (187)

7. Trey Canard (173)

8. Josh Grant (153)

9. Austin Stroupe (152/1 win)

10. Kyle Cunningham (148)

18. Dan Reardon (116)