Motocross:Reed and Pourcel dominate the Retro Weekend at Unadilla

Tyler Hopper
AllAboutBikes Staff Writer

Round 9 of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship celebrated 40 years of racing at Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, New York. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider Chad Reed dominated the retro weekend at Unadilla, increasing his points lead to 82 points ahead of Andrew Short. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Christophe Pourcel ended victoriously in the 250 class.

In the 450 class, Jeff Alessi shot to the lead of the first moto at the start, and began to pull away from second-place Honda Red Bull Racing rider David Millsaps. Alessi crashed out in lap three, handing the position over to Millsaps as Reed was making his way toward the leaders.

After only five laps, Reed caught and passed Millsaps, and started to pull away instantaneously. Millsaps began to lose pace with Reed and with four laps to go became a victim of Canidae Motosport Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn, who moved into second place. Millsaps was left to fend off Reed’s teammate Michael Byrne, as he nipped on his heels with only laps to go. Taking victory in the first moto, Reed fought a hard battle for that win and the war was half over.

Short took the hole-shot in Moto 2, but Reed quickly closed the gap and put pressure on him until lap five, when he stole the lead. Short stayed in second to finish ahead of Michael Byrne, who currently sits in the number five spot in points.

Chad Reed leads the points standings 82 points ahead of Short.  Ivan Tedesco and Josh Grant make up the third and fourth spots respectively with 286 and 272 points with one win each. 

450 Overall Results:

1. Chad Reed (Suz)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Michael Byrne (Suz)
4. Justin Brayton (KTM)
5. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
6. Gareth Swanepoel (Kaw)
7. Ivan Tedesco (Hon)
8. Kyle Regal (Yam)
9. Tommy Hahn (Kaw)
10. Timmy Ferry (Kaw)

According to Alli Sports, Muscle Milk KTM’s Martin Davalos got the holeshot to start the opening 250cc moto but was quickly overtaken by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel. The slick, rutted Unadilla surface obviously agreed with Pourcel, and he quickly pulled out to a massive lead as championship rival Ryan Dungey worked his way through from outside the top five.

Pourcel’s teammate Jake Weimer chased him in second early on, only to lose a spot to Dungey when the Suzuki rider finally made his way up to that position.

Pourcel took the easy win over Dungey, Weimer, and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Brett Metcalfe and Blake Wharton.

Sure not to give anyone a chance, Pourcel actually got the holeshot in the second moto and split. He led his teammate Weimer, Wharton, Austin Stroupe, Justin Barcia and Dungey early on. However, by the end of the moto, the second moto looked much like the first, with the top four repeating from moto one.

Although Pourcel and Dungey came into the event tied in points, they left with Pourcel leading Dungey by six points with three rounds left to run.

The “other” rider in the class, GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham, qualified third and raced his way to a decent finish in the first moto, but he missed the staging call for moto two and was forced to take the last gate pick on the far outside. His horrible start led to a un-Windham-like finish.

250 Overall Results:
1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)
2. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
3. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
4. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)
5. Broc Tickle (Yam)
6. Kyle Cunningham (Kaw)
7. Tommy Searle (KTM)
8. Justin Barcia (Hon)
9. Matt Lemoine (Yam)
10. PJ Larsen (Kaw)