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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128111
AMA Loretta Lynn's Area Qualifier Washougal Motocross Park WASHOUGAL, WA. MAY 26 awasaki jockey Mike Corder and Yamaha-mounted Ryan Villopoto were two Qf the many riders from nine states who shined brightly at Was~ougal Motocross Park, site of one of three of the Northwest's Loretta Lynn's area qualifiers. Rainier, Oregon's Corder placed his Team Green/Pro Circuit-backed KX into the winner's circle in the 125cc A/Pro-Sport and 250cc/Open A/Pro-Sport events, both times with 1-1 sweeps. Suzuki-mounted Californian Evan Laughridge won the other A classes, snaring wins in the 125cc A and 250cc/Open A victories. Though falling short of similar dominance, Poulsbo, Washington's Villopoto scored a pair of overall wins in the 85cc Stock (12-13) and 85cc Modified (12-13) classes. A fall in the first 85cc Modified moto cost him a sweep. Corder collected holeshots in all four of his A/Pro Sport motos, placing large ground on the competition in all four motos. Corder's first victory in the 125cc A/Pro Sport came in runaway fashion, with only Californian Travis Smith sticking anywhere close to Corder. Yamaha-mounted Dale Ainslie was the top rider in the combined 125cc B Modified class, ahead of KTM-mounted Rory Sullivan. Moto two was much the same for Corder, who jumped out front at the unleashing and remained there to the finish to nab his first overall win. Both Ainslie and Sullivan worked through 48 .JuLv4,2oo1 • a U a • _ the A-class field to trail Corder at moto's end, nabbing the top two in the B class, followed by A rider Garhett Carter (who finished second overall to Corder), Oregonians Tyler Fick, Kelvin Schoen and Joey Mancuso, and Washington's Bryan Thibedeau, all of whom finished ahead of the third-placed A rider, Iowa's Jeremy Riesenberg. Corder came back several motos later to post a similar showing in the 250cc/Open A/Pro Sport class, putting better than a 12-second gap on the competition in both motos. KTM rider Sullivan, riding in the adjoined 250cc/Open B Modified class, trailed Corder in both outings, displacing the entire A/Pro Sport field with the exception of Corder. Overall, n __ • the A/Pro Sport finishing order was Corder (1-1), Iowa's Jason Combes (4-2), Smith (3-4), Riesenberg (5-2) and Carter (2-6). Sullivan scored the B Modifiedclass win with a 1-1 sweep, ahead of Honda-mounted Mancuso (2-2), Ben Morgan (3-3), Sean Stewart (5-4), Adam Beauvais (6-5) and Oregon's Will Wallace, who placed fourth in moto one and was running second in moto two when his KTM quit running, still netting sixth overall (4-11). Laughridge, from Forest Ranch, California, nabbed the overall win in the first class of the day, the 250cc/Open A class. Laughridge leveled the competition in both motos, one of the few combined A/B classes. Smith finished second, ahead of J.R Vielle, Idaho's John Sabo, and Chris Russell, while Sullivan won the B portion, followed by Morgan and Californian Russell Blevins. Laughridge polished off the competition with his decisive moto-two victory ahead of an impressive Vielle, who netted second overall with 3-2 performances, ahead of Smith (2-3), Sabo (4-4) and Russell (5-5), followed by Iowans Combes and Riesenberg. Sullivan's two-class decimation was finalized with his moto-two trouncing of the 250cc/Open B Stock class - also with a 1-1 sweep for the rider from Estacada, Oregon. Blevins finished second with a pair of thirds, leading Wallace (5-2), Kawasaki rider Todd Blanchard (4-4) and Morgan (2-6), who was in the thick of things for second until a last-lap crash dropped him to fifth overall. Villopoto's day didn't start off the way he had hoped. Just after the unleashing of the first 85cc Modified (12-13) moto, Villopoto slid out and handed archrival Joshua Hill the point position. The Kawasaki-mounted Hill remained there to the finish, while Villopoto forged forward to trail Hill at moto's end. The pair again went head to head in moto two, although this time the win went to ViIlopoto, his first of two overall wins ahead of Hill and Canada's Brady Sheren. Sheren was Villopoto's closest competition in the 85cc Stock (1213) class, although he couldn't stick as close to Villopoto as Hill had earlier. Sheren ran some eight seconds behind Villopoto in both motos, while