Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128228
28th Annual NMA Ponca City Grand National MX Championships Ryan Villopoto was the A1essis' top competition all week. He finished second to Mike in the 85cc Stock (14-16) and Supennini classes, and secol\d to Jeff in the .85c~odified . 14"1 ~Vetlt. Virginia, was checking out and winning the first-place trophy on his KTM. Osborne had a perfect 1-1-1 and didn't have any problems winning the two division races and the final main event. Right behind Osborne was Pilot Point, Texas' own Mathew Lemoine on his Kawasaki. Lemoine had 1-2 finishes in the clivi- ~ion races and stormed bacK to finish second, in the main run-off. Suzuki's , . ~co Izzi, from St. Clair, Michigan, had a 2-3 finish in the division races and took third in the main, giving him third overall. Firushing out the top five were Kawasaki-mounted Kyle Cunningham and Yamaha-mounted Gunnar Strum. ..... The 85cc Stock (14-16) class had 41 riders ready to show their stuff. Only 15 from each of the two divisions made it to the big show. And the big gun of the main, as well as the week, was number 800, Mike Alessi, from Apple Valley, California. Alessi holeshot the main with Adam Chatfield tagging along right behind him, followed by Ryan Villopoto. A bobble by Alessi in the first corner allowed Chatfield to close in, but Alessi kept the throttle pinned and managed to maintain the lead. Viilopoto passed Chatfield on the second lap to give Alessi a run for his money. Lap three saw Alessi and Viilopoto side by side with some excellent racing, but when the checkered flag came out, it was Alessi takfng the win, followed by Villopoto for second. The younger Alessi, Jeff, settled for fourth, with Kawasaki rider Bradley Graham of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, capping off fifth. Yamaha-mounted Ryan Wohlberg, of Peculiar, Missouri, grabbed the holeshot in the 125cc Stock Intermediate final, with Kawasaki rider Riley Kurosky in his wake, followed by Suzuki's Josh Lichtle. Liclatle battled his way up to the lead by the second lap and never looked back, leaving the rest of the class battling Jor position. Kurosky held onto second place for the rest of the race. Robert Locke finished third, with Wohlberg and Michael Chiudioni rounded out the top five. Lichtle's 1-1 score plus the main-event win gave Suzuki the title, while Kurosky's 4-2 plus a second entitled him to the second-place trophy, followed by Wohlberg's 3-4 plus fourth for a third-place position. Chiudioni finished fourth, followed by Suzuki rider Chris Nihan. The 125cc Open Non-Pro (thru 16) class saw good race action between Honda rider Josh Grant and Kawasaki rider Justin Keeney in the final run-off. Keeney powered his number-250 Kawasaki to first place in the main but with a 4-1 score was only able to capitalize for a secondplace overall finish, leaving the top spot on the podi'~m to Grant. Grant's 1-2 division race finishes with a second-place finish in the main was good enough to capture the gold. Suzuki riders Nihan, Carlos Gonzalez and Mark Graddy rounded out the top five. Lichtle was once again on the gas in the 250cc Modified Intermediate class, going into the main with a perfect 1-1 score. Kawasaki rider Kurosky grabbed the holeshot, but he had company at his back door as Tyler Dunqn, Leo Tidwell and Lichtle were breathing down his neck. Lichtle passed Kurosky on the second lap and maintained his position to the very end of the race, leaving Kurosky in second place. Yamaha-mounted Tony Sherman finished the main third, but a 13-3 score in the division